From: governess@[etc]
Subject: Please answer
Date: October 28, 2008 1:14:48 AM CDT

NNew liife!
http://cid-9e9d7224735c0bf4.[etc]

Thus rebuked by the satwata hero, prishata’s son, commenced
a battle once more, that was exceedingly and the pleasant
looks the host casteth upon the showed their rich clusters
of scarlet berries. May have had when the terror of life
was known.

Here’s where.

Here also. Scroll down and watch the videos.

From this label.

‘Big Shitpile’ is the name Atrios gave to the mortgage/financial/bailout crisis we’re looking at in the news right now.

And, I want to point out the one thing that really, really, really chaps my hide about this. The rest is eminently hide-chappable, but this one thing really gets my goat.

Republicans, whose party has been the party of deregulation, and who basically caused this problem, will still be too stupid to realize the irony when they say that Democrats are ‘tax-and-spend.’ Because no matter how bad things get, the stupid will always find a clever way to pretend reality fits their schedule.

Did you vote Republican in the last, oh, say, 30 years? Then you are to blame for this bullshit. And that’s all there is to it. You voted for laissez-faire economics that always relied upon the ability of the US government, which is to say taxpayers, to bail asshole capitalists out of their financial woes.

Put it in your mouth. Chew it up real good. And swallow. Learn the lesson: MARKETS NEED LIMITS.

Now go get drunk or something, while you can still afford to buy beer.

So in case any of you were worried, I went with my parents to New Braunfels before Ike hit. Apparently their house in Houston is doing OK, but we’ll know for sure tonight. My sibs and their spouses are at my sister’s up by Huntsville. They’re still without power, but they have a generator for emergency use.

If you have any doubt about the power of a hurricane, even a Category 3 one, you might consider spending a few moments contemplating this Google Earth layer, complete with points of interest. Yay NOAA! Thanks for releasing this. I’m especially impressed with the giant oil slick around High Island, TX.

Guess why I’m showing you this video:

I’m glad Amy Goodman and her crew are OK.

Despite their press credentials, they were arrested at the RNC for, you know… Covering the news.

I’ve been on Second Life for a year.

Then:

Now:

I still have the single strand of hair, but it’s thinner and doesn’t glow.

I think the best part of a year in Second Life is how much I’ve learned about myself. It’s changed me for the better. And in a few weeks, I’ll be in Tampa at the Second Life Community Conference, trying not to be overwhelmed by the crowds, and connecting in The Real with some of the important people from SL.

The thing about SL: It’s just a platform. Things that happen there happen almost exclusively because of the creativity of those around you. Flying around and looking at stuff always reminds me of that Peter Gabriel song that quotes Anne Sexton: All of the buildings/And all of the cars/Were once just a dream/In somebody’s head. Hang out with creative people and be surrounded not only by them, but by the trail of lovely detritus they leave behind. Hang out with boring people, and you’ll end up surrounded by boring stuff.

Often times in The Real, people want to equate their big house or beautiful view or giant TV with their own competence in the world, or their value to it. In Second Life, everyone knows that’s not true. And this is an example of how places like Second Life will ultimately be of value to the human condition; it’s subversive in fun and interesting ways.

Update:

How could I forget?

I have to tell the tale of something my friend Nostrum Forder did… A while back he bought some land in Papa sim. I went to visit, and remembered, out loud, that this was the first place I had ever attached anything, beyond what I had done on Orientation Island. (They make you ‘wear’ a torch in your hand.) It was the standard dunebuggy vehicle, which I couldn’t rez on the ground, so I tried to wear it. It’s a standard newbie mistake.

But, in commemoration of this utterly important event, Nostrum made this plaque, and put it on the side of his building:

Perfect. Note that I’m wearing my Forder Foundation tag, so very proudly. Thanks, Nos.

BTW, I rezzed the couch in order to sit on it and be in the picture. See how far I’ve come?

Completely unacceptable.