Asides

What’s the proper MLA format for citing a weblog comment? More specifically, how does one acknowledge the comment author and comment title (if applicable), and does one need to acknowledge the weblog title and weblog author? Does Gibaldi’s 2003 Handbook edition entry 5.9.9.k, “An Online Posting”, feel adequate? I’d be grateful for any advice from folks who are teaching writing classes where students read and cite weblogs.

I’ve got the pieces of the RSA paper put into the order I want, and I’m working on transitions and a works cited. As always, it’s taking longer than I thought.

Zeugma saw her black-capped chickadee today. She froze stock-still and I followed her gaze up to the birdfeeder, watched her hunker down, watched the front legs tense and the tail lash as the little bird scolded and hopped and took its seed, and — just as the hindquarters started to quiver — I saw Zeugma’s pupils dilate. The black center to those green eyes got huge, so fast. Taking in more light: gauging.

She sleeps on my desk. She’s learned not to chase the cursor on the screen, learned that it’s not something she can catch. She still sometimes wants to touch the caps lock, but mostly — when she’s not asking me to throw crumpled-up Post-It notes for her to fetch — she’ll lie down next to the keyboard. Now, I watch her, watch as those front paws twitch, as the back legs scrabble a bit, as that little ribcage suddenly speeds its up-and-down, as her ears and nose and whiskers flutter, and I have to stop myself from waking her up, worried that she’s having a nightmare after the thunderstorms, hoping that she’s dreaming the chickadee instead.

In a recent post, Clancy asked for advice on buying a laptop. When I came home today, there was a message from my dad on my answering machine: his computer died, and he wants to buy a new desktop, and he needs advice.

Now here’s the thing about my dad: he won’t upgrade incrementally (no new hard drives, no new cards), so the stock original model he buys will probably have to last him seven or eight years, and being retired, he mostly uses his computer as a typewriter. And I’ve been trying to get him online since 1996, so this might be my opportunity.

He’s a Windows person, and while I think many of the differences between the Mac and Windows OSes are appeals to taste and taste alone, I’m also aware that — if he actually does get online — he probably won’t bother to download the occasional Windows security update. So that’s an excuse for me to suggest a Mac. But he may do just as well with a Windows machine, which leads me to ask: what would you suggest to him? I’ve heard good things about Dell’s reliability, and some good things about Sony’s reliability too; as far as customer service goes, Sony seems to have the better record, and most of the other folks kinda suck. Can folks recommend a long-lasting Windows desktop machine?

Today is a fine day.

My old Army buddy Rob noted that I managed to get the dress-greens photo reversed, so it looks like the medals are on the wrong side. He’s suggested that it means I’m a spy, but of course that’s precisely what a dangerous communist fiend like him would say. Other folks who know me would more likely attribute it to me thinkin left-handed.

Speaking from personal experience, I’ll just say I’m an idiot. And I’ll leave the picture that way, for the time being. I kinda like the left-handed excuse.

Well, today’s the day: the girls are one year old.

They wanted to have a little celebration, but as is often the case with young folk, things got out of hand. I was dismayed at the scene I found upon coming home this afternoon.
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Ah, yes. Highs of 74

Via Leslie Harpold’s Historical Present: a personal essay like no other.

Early draft of my part of a panel proposal got done, and coordination of the “Defining Class” workshop is proceeding well, with some kind and enthusiastic feedback from folks who might participate, and some really helpful comments. In between these two conference-organizing activities, I think I’ve received and answered more e-mails in the past week than I’ve done all semester. For a shy person and an introvert like myself, that’s a pretty big deal, and takes some not inconsiderable psychic energy. Still, the weather’s improved — seventy degrees! — and it feels like things are moving forward.

My favorite part about owning the new boots from San Antonio is getting back into the regular rhythm of polishing them. Casual shoes don’t require as much care as boots, but the care that you give boots gets rewarded: I still have my twelve-year-old pair of basic training combat boots, and the leather has come to fit my feet absolutely perfectly. There’s something relaxing and almost zen-like about the physical movement of polishing a boot; of cleaning it with a lanolin-based lotion, then applying the Lincoln wax with a dauber, and brushing out the wax, buffing it with a soft, dry cloth, and finally taking it to a high gloss shine with just the tiniest bit of lotion on the cloth.

The boots were expensive, but I anticipate I’ll have them twenty years or more. That’s far better than any rubber-soled shoe I’ve ever owned.

Not much else to tell. I’ve been reading and enjoying Greider’s The Soul of Capitalism, but haven’t been taking notes. The dissertation still has that days between stations feel.

Presentation and proposal planning for next year’s conferences continues. A workshop on defining class, and a panel on intellectual property, among other possibilities. Busy stuff. I still haven’t adequately responded to comments: I will, I promise, I will.