Well Connected

Today's quote from the Quote of the Day feed:

We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men.
- Herman Melville

The first thing I thought of after reading that was one of the final scenes in Melville's "Moby Dick" movie version where Captain Ahab was entangled in the ropes surrounding the great white whale.



I'd say he was well-connected, wouldn't you?

A thousand fibers might very well connect us with our fellow men, but I try my best to sever *some* of those "ties that bind". I may be doomed to the fate of being lashed to the great beast, but instead of being like Ahab, with his lifeless body seeming to wave with the whale's every breech, I'm hoping rigor mortis extends my middle finger as a parting shot.

(if you think it's aimed at you, it probably is)

Call me Ishmael, why dontcha?

What's the Story in Balamory?

Just about my favorite program for kids.

(I don't think there's been anything since to compare to Captain Kangaroo)

I had a thing for Miss Hoolie. (although Josie Jump was pretty hot, too) Edie McCredie could drive me anywhere she wanted.

If you're not familiar with this BBC produced program, here's the Wiki entry.

Goodbye, MSN Groups

Goodbye to MSN Groups, a source of much fun and also much frustration.

My "main" group (because I, like so many other mgrs., had several) would have been ten years old this July. It seems like only yesterday....and sometimes seems light years ago...that my friend elle and I decided we would have a go at running our own group.

I'm not going to miss Groups. Most of my lasting online friends had moved on long ago anyway. I'm certainly not going to miss the over-officious mgrs. of *some* groups. I won't miss the drama queens, nor will I miss the stifling censorship of those same mgrs. I'm sure I don't hold the record for deleted posts, nor for banned Passports, but I certainly had more of those than I deserved.

In all my "non-MSN" experiences, I've had but a couple of posts denied/deleted. All-in-all, I'm satisfied with that. I can't say the same thing about my time in Groups. At times I feel as though the majority of my time spent in Groups was time wasted.

Aw, I could gripe about Groups forever but it's time to move on, forget the past. I'm so pleased to have discovered Blogger and love how it lets me express myself without fear of having this site deleted/shuttered because I posted a graphic of a mooning smiley.

(Blogger lets me make an ass out of myself without getting in trouble for a cartoon one)

So, here's a salute to you, MSN Groups!

It's definitely "the end".

Friendship 7

On Feb. 20, 1962 at 9:47 am EST, John Glenn launched from Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 14 to become the first American to orbit the Earth. In this image, Glenn enters his Friendship 7 capsule with assistance from technicians to begin his historic flight.

Glenn rejoined NASA in 1998 as a member of the STS-95 Discovery crew. This 9-day mission, from Oct. 29-Nov. 7, supported a variety of research payloads including deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope Orbital Systems Test Platform and investigations on space flight and the aging process.

Image Credit: NASA

---

I admire Glenn, but was really angry when he was chosen (or lobbied) to go on the shuttle mission. I think Chuck Yeager should have been selected to make the trip.

Glenn, along with John McCain, was implicated (and both were later exonerated) in the Keating Five scandal and was reprimanded for "poor judgment". It forever tarnished his otherwise honorable career, IMO.

Dots My Word!

Seriously, it's my word. I use it enough, so it's my word. I even had it as a topic label, then decided I'd trim down the list a little bit.

If only I had kept it....

---

From the Word of the Day feed in the right-hand column:

ellipsis \i-LIP-sis\, noun:
three dots used to show an omission in writing or printing;
the omission of a word or words in text

Trop de sucrerie !

(Too much candy!)

Just about the most adorable thing I've seen in ages.


Too much candy from Capucha on Vimeo.