December 18, 2003
How it's going - in quotes

From a lady at church Wednesday night:

"When I see you, it makes me smile inside."

What the supervisor for the moving crew said when he saw my apartment:

"Did anyone tell you you're moving today?"

The guy at the car place who sold me two tires, changed my oil and fixed the headlight:

"You know how you said to tell you if something else is wrong? Well, your inspection sticker is expired... by more than a year."

Me, as I look at what remains to be done before I leave in the morning:

"AAAAACK"

Posted by susanna at 06:42 PM | Comments (3) | Trackback (0)
December 17, 2003
Flight of fancy

Today is the 100th anniversary of the first manned flight in the US, by Wilbur and Orville Wright. I remember the first time I flew. I was in my mid-twenties, flying by myself from Louisville, KY, to San Francisco for a conference. It was scary, but exciting, and I sat at a window in the nearly empty plane engrossed by the changing landscape so very far below. I was startled when we passed over the first fingers of cloud. I've flown several times since then, and I still enjoy it.

Take a little time today to think about what a different world we live in because of airplanes, and read up on the Wright Brothers.

A virtual museum on the brothers.
The national park.
Their writings about the plane.
A Scots look at the scheduled reinactment.
An article about what they did.

And, because everyone needs to know the downside, I give you this:

A century of powered flight:

Passenger planes belch carbon dioxide, water vapour and nitrogen oxides directly into the vulnerable lower atmosphere. Emissions reduce air quality and bolster the greenhouse effect. Around 3% of man's total effect on the climate may be due to aviation, which is not regulated under the Kyoto Protocol...

Even with reduced emissions, aircraft noise remains a big problem. Although today's aircraft are around 20 decibels quieter than those of a generation ago, they still give thousands of people sleepless nights.

Those Wright Brothers! Releasing such horrors on humanity!

For those of you who are normal, I suggest you take a few minutes today to thank the Wright Brothers. For those of you who find the dark cloud in every silver lining, I suggest you never fly again.

[Thanks to Curt Mazzo for calling this anniversary to my attention.]

Posted by susanna at 01:33 AM | Comments (2) | Trackback (0)
December 16, 2003
The beat goes on

I'm up to my neck in alligators boxes, and no end in sight. Except the movers get here at 8 a.m. tomorrow, so I guess that's some type of end. The question is: just how bloody will it be? I suspect I'm going to be up all night.

So it's a good thing that I have this laptop, and yesterday did invoke my six months of free Earthlink dialup, which will be good anyway since I'll be living in other people's spaces for the next six weeks or so. I'll be creeping onto their phone line with my modem in the dark hours of the night...

Although I've been forcibly and lengthily reminded of how much faster DSL is.

I've managed to run through about twice as much tape as most normal people would. I am notorious in my family for taping even gifts up so tightly that it takes an electric saw to get into them. I'm in my element with dozens of boxes and half a dozen rolls of tape.

I've not dropped the hammer on anything else, but there's still time. And it's amazing how much stuff I've had squirreled away for years without using, yet which still seems crucial to my day to day functioning in my new space.

You won't be hearing much from me for the next few days, although I'll still try to update daily. Not likely to be much news commentary or linking, though, as I haven't time to browse the Net. Thanks to those who've sent encouraging email; I appreciate it. And to those who I'll be visiting over the weekend on my long trek to KY - I'll be in touch with final arrangements probably sometime tomorrow, after my apartment has been reduced to dust bunnies.

Posted by susanna at 10:18 AM | Comments (8) | Trackback (1)
December 15, 2003
How's the packing going? Glad you asked

I have to disarticulate my computer so I can finish packing; hopefully I'll be able to connect tonight from My New Laptop. But this little story will let you know how things are going generally:

I like to buy interesting stemware because they make even the most mundane beverages fun. One lovely goblet is a pale green glass with etched leaves on it; not expensive, $5 at Marshall's, but pretty. I carefully set it down between a stack of boxes and the radiator in my kitchen, to keep it out of the way until I was ready to pack it. Safe, right?

I dropped a hammer on it.

There's just nothing else to say.

Posted by susanna at 09:15 AM | Comments (2) | Trackback (0)
Miracle on 34th Street

Macy's windows are always a pleasure, intricately detailed tableaus with a common theme. This year, it's Miracle on 34th Street and A Christmas Story. Closer to Christmas, there's usually a roped-off viewing area along the windows, where crowds of people file past. Fortunately when I was there last week, the velvet ropes were not yet in evidence. Here are this year's Macy's windows:

Announcing... Macy's!

Macys sign 12-03.jpg


Miracle on 34th Street

Macys Miracle on 34th St 12-03.jpg


A Christmas Story

Macy living room couple 12-03.jpg


Macys display - dogs 12-4-03.jpg


Macys schoolyard 12-03.jpg


Macys stuck tongue 12-03.jpg


Macys street scene 12-03.jpg


Macys case dismissed 12-03.jpg


Santa tableau w pple 12-03.jpg

Something to see, one time in your life. I'm planning to go to see the Rockefeller Center tree on Thursday night, so I'll post on that Friday before I leave on my trip home to Kentucky for Christmas.

UPDATE: Edited to correct the fact that I apparently couldn't read what's on the windows, as Chris kindly pointed out in comments.

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December 14, 2003
SADDAM CAPTURED!

I woke up this morning to the news that Saddam Hussein has been captured. What wonderful news! Let's pause for a moment to enjoy it.

10_26_121403_hussein.jpg



Okay. I also woke up to hear the news media spinning it as it "Yeah, but it's not that big of a deal! There's still going to be insurrection!" Not all the media, but I've heard it from about five reporters or pundits already.

On NBC, Campbell Brown said, to Tom Brokaw, "This is a big victory for the Bush Administration." And Brokaw, bless him, said, "This is a big victory for the Iraqi people", and went on to discuss why that is true. I guess now I'll be watching Brokaw if I have to watch any of the network newscasts. Meanwhile, someone needs to slap Ms. Brown.

While I wish Saddam was dead, I also see the value in the Iraqi people trying and convicting him. And the image of Saddam meek and disheveled in the hands of the Americans has to be very powerful for the Iraqis and the Arab world in general. I'm so proud of our military, but I'm also so very happy for the Iraqi people. This, I think, is a turning point.

Here are the articles: Fox News, MSNBC, CBS News, ABC News, the NY Times, WaPo.

UPDATE: Jeff Jarvis has a summary/transcript of the high points of the press conference, and excerpts from Iraqi bloggers with links.

I suggest you keep an eye on Jarvis's Buzzmachine - he's the one who's stayed in closest contact with the Iraqi bloggers, and will likely be the first with news and summaries from them.

God bless the Iraqis. God bless America.

UPDATE: This is going to come up a lot, so let me just link it now. Jason Steffens has a very worthy sentiment, urging that we pray for Saddam and decrying the joy in his ill-fortune to be captured. It's a good thing to pray, always, and concern for another's soul is likewise a good thing. However, God is not a pacifist when it comes to excising evil. For those who are interested, my comment on Jason's post quotes and links several passages about God's reaction to evil, and also points out that governments are God's instrument of justice in many instances. That's to head off anyone who starts quoting, "Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord" at me. Yes, I shouldn't wish horrific torture and debasement on Saddam - more for my sake than his - but don't forget that God is not easygoing about evil, and Jesus was not an effete blue-eyed ascetic. He ran blasphemers of God's house out of the place, overthrowing their tables. And David, who is called "A man after God's own heart", was also a warrior. Toughness is not anti-Christian.

Posted by susanna at 07:55 AM | Comments (5) | Trackback (4)
December 13, 2003
Christmas in New York

When I went to the Simon & Garfunkel concert last week, I took photos of Manhattan in its Christmas dress. Tonight, I'm posting a few photos from around 33rd Street, where I disembark from the PATH train. Tomorrow, there'll be photos of the Macy's windows, always a high point in the "what to see in Manhattan at Christmas" tour.

Lights on Sixth Avenue

Lighted trees 33rd and 6th Manh 12-03.jpg


This looks very Manhattan to me - beautiful, elegant, and all those yellow cabs crowded together. Taken right outside the Manhattan Mall, on 6th between 33rd and 34th.

The moon over the Empire State Building

Empire State best 12-03.jpg

The Empire State Building is lighted by the season and at specific holidays. Of course Christmas finds it in red and green. Not easy to photograph well with a little digital camera (wielded by someone who has yet to read the instruction booklet), but still impressive, I think. And yes, that white dot on the right is the moon.

Rudolph as Swami?

Swami christmas raindeer Manh Mall 12-03.jpg

I wasn't quite sure what they were going for here. It's in Manhattan Mall, which sits above the PATH station at 33rd Street. The mall is an atrium style, with an 8 story center area, a clear glass elevator and shops around the first few floors - the rest is office space. The tree was amazing, but this reindeer... well. Whatever they were going for, it didn't quite work.

Christmas in New York - a wonderful time of the year.

Posted by susanna at 11:14 PM | Comments (0) | Trackback (0)
December 12, 2003
A hometownstate boy makes good, sure as shootin'

The car approaching the US outpost in Iraq looked suspicious.

The soldier on guard duty for the 300-soldier base opened fire. He kept shooting until the car blew up, leaving a 9-foot crater. Nearly 60 of his fellow soldiers were injured, some seriously, but none died.

That soldier is Kentucky boy James Lawrence Ross III.

And he's modest too:

"I've had a lot of people come up to me today to thank me for saving their lives," Ross told the Telegraph, a British newspaper. "But I tell them I was doing my job. It's a miracle no one was killed."

It's because of young people like Ross that we're safe, and the Iraqi people are free and moving toward a democracy. We know it, he knows it, they know it - we just need to make sure he knows we know it:

Because his tour was to end in six months, Ross recently re-enlisted, his mother said. She told him a friend thought he was crazy for re-enlisting during a war.

"He said that the next time someone asks me that, 'Tell them I am over here protecting them.' "

We know you are, JR, and we're over here praying for you.

Sparkey tells us about another military man about to deploy to Iraq, and he'd like some advice from anyone who's done their time there. Read what Sparkey has to say, and help out if you can - especially if you know how to protect your electronics from that talcum-powder sand.

And Scrappleface relieves our minds.

Posted by susanna at 08:55 PM | Comments (2) | Trackback (0)
They gave me flowers

I'm officially unemployed.

But I do have a nice bouquet of white lilies and red carnations scenting up my living room. It was a sweet sendoff, and I appreciated it very much.

I'm happy that I'm done there. But it's a bit disorienting.

Now, back to packing.

Posted by susanna at 08:08 PM | Comments (1) | Trackback (0)