Conceptual Inflation

I realize that I am just a cranky literalist, but there are a few instances of "conceptual inflation" that have been bugging me lately.

Riding to work this morning I heard a character in a radio commercial say that she "would be more than happy" to do something. How can you be "more than happy?"

I also keep hearing that people are "110 percent" in support of things, or "120 percent behind" something. That's just not possible.

The problem is, I think, that we have debased our conversational currency to the point that we feel a need to inflate what we say. We've been too happy to do things. We've been too much in support of each other.

So now we have to be "more than" what is reality just to keep pace.

I'm happy to say that I think it's time for a market correction. I would be 100 percent behind that.

I Think I Like This, Sam I Am

Dylan-parody, as an art form, is about played out. But I've never heard anything like this: Dylan Hears a Who!

Why didn't anyone else think of this? Bob Dylan (classic 60's voice version) singing the words of Dr. Seuss.

I think this version of Green Eggs and Ham is definitive. But that's just me.

Have a Cookie

Christina made peanut butter chip cookies this morning. She's home sick with what I hope won't become a serious sore throat. I've taken a sick day to nurse her away from ill health. It doesn't take much; she's a sensible kid and knows when to chill out.

My work day was to be heavy with conference calls and on-line training. I've actually been able to take part in most of that, using my cellphone, a hands-free ear-piece, and the "mute" button.

I can report that the dozen or so state GIS coordinators who took part in training for the RAMONA GIS Inventory Tool were all jealous of these cookies during this morning's call.

Rotors: I, II, II at M, B, M

J Q W Z D V

K K

P D H

M M D Q S

D I

P N X K X

Q A X Q

E T N

L T A H S A

A Visitor from 1919

I got a thin, well-worn penny in change at the Safeway this noon when I bought my little salad. It looked elderly to me, so I shuffled the other quarters and dimes out of the way with a slight shake of the hand that cupped the change. When I saw the coin clearly, I was looking at the "tails" side and saw the twin wheat sheaves. I knew I had an early one. This coin is from 1919, which makes it one of the oldest I've seen.

Oh, For Jack's Sake!

Sometimes a headline is just perfect:

Suit tries to put the 'Christ' back in 'Halloween'

This was the headline on an AP story on the News Journal web site this afternoon. A family in suburban Philadelphia are suing school officials because their 10-year old wasn't allowed to dress as Jesus Christ for Halloween.

The school has a policy against promoting specific religions, according to the story, and "the boy and his mother are Christians who object to the pagan elements of Halloween."

If I may be multiply politically incorrect for a moment, let me say that here we have dueling stupidness.

Christian fundamentalists, please calm down. It's Halloween. Just a day when kids put on costumes and ask for candy. Grow up and let the kids be kids.

School administrators, settle down too. If the boy wants to dress as Christ, let him. If he's proselytizing and annoying the other kids, I suspect they'll sort the little prick out in their own way. There's no reason to let this escalate into a media case.

This is just so stupid. And now we have a story for everyone to comment on. This will not go well.

Though it does give me a great example of what depresses me about the anonymous commenting on the News Journal web site. Someone calling him- or herself SaneHatter had this to say:

GOOD! About time people of Christian faith stood up to the anti-christian morons in this country with their hypocracy and whinny crybaby I'm offended crap. God bless you son, may you win many times over.*

I followed the links back to the whole wonderful collection of SaneHatter's thoughts. This is a very unpleasant and angry person.

* (No, I did not bother to edit for spelling or grammar)

SiriuXM? I Say "Yes!"

There's word this evening that Sirius and XM, the two satellite radio competitors, plan a "merger of equals." Looking at this from a purely personal standpoint, I think this could be a very good thing.

Sirius and XM said as a result of the merger it hoped to offer listeners an "a la carte" option, allowing them to pick and choose the channels they wanted, such as Sirius' "Martha Stewart Living Radio" or XM's "Theme Time Radio Hour" with music legend Bob Dylan.

I like this idea. I chose Sirius based on their jam-band and NPR offerings. I regret the fact that all the baseball games are on XM, now maybe I will have a chance to get those as well.

Some object to this merger based on the idea that it would create a monopoly which might result in higher costs to consumers. That's a valid concern, but I think it would be worth it if we, as listeners, get a wider range of choices.

Our First Husband/Wife Blogging Combo?

I was pleased last month to discover Dino's Journal, a blog by an Indonesian gent who has moved to Newark to work on his MBA at the University of Delaware. This week-end, my internet drift-net caught a post by Dina Hakimi, who had posted a photo of Lehigh Road, in Newark.

Her "About Me" includes a note that she is from Yogyakarta, Indonesia. How many Indonesians, and from that city, I wondered, can there be in Newark?

So I read on and discovered that Ms. Dina is married to Mr. Dino. He refers to her as Mita and includes her in his blog-roll.

It has me wondering whether there are any other husband/wife bloggers in Delaware.

Meanwhile, it will be interesting to read the impressions of two very new newcomers to our little state.

Photo-Haiku #1

Ocean Beach, Winter.
Three shells washed onto the sand.
Wind blows. Time passes.

Is It Something About Places Called Delaware?

My standing Google search for Delaware mentions turned up a posting from a blog called "I Live in Delaware County" today that had me fooled for a moment. I thought I'd discovered a new Delaware Blog.

The title -- Sounding off on "Sound Off" -- threw me off.

One of Delaware's two daily newspapers, the State News, features a regular "Sound Off" column in which readers can call in, anonymously, and comment. It's a good example of just how foolish you can be when you are speaking anonymously.

It turns out that the Daily Times in Delaware County features that same low level of public input. At least according to one Delaware County blogger:

Sound Off is supposed to be a part of the paper that gives a chance for the "people" to speak. The problem with that concept, however, is that the average person is completely stupid and misinformed and basically just wants to read their messages in the paper the next day.

That sounds so familiar, though I will admit that I haven't read the Sound Off column in the State News for years. I can't take it. I do still read some of the comments on the News Journal's web site, though it pains me.

Here's an example:

What a friggin moron. Gives a false name, most likely an undocumented alien, and a total moron to boot. Why is it that the second I read " a Georgetown man", did I suspect he was going to be hispanic. Go figure.

If nothing else, having a look at some of the comments in Delaware County's paper makes me feel a bit better: it's not just here.