curmudge's Xanga

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 03:55:44 GMT

I AM NO LONGER MAINTAINING THIS BLOG.

PLEASE SEE MY WEBSITE AT:

HTTP://WWW.GRAMMARMUDGE.CITYSLIDE.COM

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Tue, 31 Oct 2006 15:18:54 GMT

HAPPY

HALLOWE'EN

This is the day that the Great Pumpkin rises in the pumpkin patch and brings toys to all good little boys and girls.

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Wed, 16 Aug 2006 01:09:28 GMT

TESTING THE NEW PHOTO BLOG FEATURE

Here's a shot of our remodeled kitchen. Our son-in-law did all the work (new cabinets, counters, sink, the whole deal) in less than two weeks.

Monday, May 22, 2006

Mon, 22 May 2006 02:17:26 GMT

A SOURCE FOR GUARANTEED HIGH-QUALITY CUSTOMIZED DVDs

My daughter has gone into business creating customized slide shows and videos on DVD, something she had been doing as a hobby but has decided to turn into a business. I am quite literally awed at the quality of what she is doing – and this goes beyond fatherly pride. The testimonials of her first wave of customers are glowing – no surprise because I know how devoted she is to quality and how hard she applies her creative talents to achieve it.

For more details, visit "Making Memories Come to Life" or find out about the project indirectly at this section of my website. If you have a high-speed connection, check their promotional video here.

NOTE: This blog has been neglected because I'm concentrating on my Grammar Curmudgeon website. I have also terminated the private URL that used to link to the blog, so my traffic is minimal. Still, I think that anyone who has the slightest interest in customized DVDs will benefit by checking the links given above.

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Thu, 02 Mar 2006 16:39:23 GMT

TIME TO GET OUT

Much to my surprise, a friend who is an avid supporter of George W. Bush, a lifelong conservative Republican, and a person of considerable patriotic zeal said to me recently that it's time for us to get out of Iraq. I admit to some satisfaction at hearing this because my friend and I tend to disagree emphatically on political matters.

I thought it was a mistake to go into Iraq in the first place; he did not. I predicted that, though the military victory would be swift, the aftermath would destabilize the Middle East even more than anyone suspected and would make us seriously regret what we had done; he disagreed. When I made these predictions, he was in the majority. My view was not shared by the pundits, the government, or any of the experts on the Middle East (which I decidedly am not).

I hoped I was wrong but feared I was not. How could I have been right? I am not, as I said, an expert on international politics. Compared to my friend, I am an ignoramus about history and not very knowledgeable about politics (which is virtually a hobby for him). From our government to the press to most of the people I spoke to, everyone had a much more optimistic view of what would happen in Iraq than I did.

Amazingly and unfortunately, despite my abysmal ignorance, the scenario has played out exactly as I thought it would. The Iraqis are at each other's throats, the country has become a breeding ground for terror (which it will continue to export), and the possibility of establishing anything resembling democracy in Iraq becomes less likely with each passing day. A venture that was supposed to go entirely differently has turned out to be one of the most costly (in lives, money, international stability, and American prestige) mistakes that the US has ever made.

The invasion was supposed to pay for itself in Iraqi oil. Wrong -- the Iraqis and the terrorists are sabotaging their own oil production. The invasion was supposed to bring some peace and prosperity to the Iraqi people. Wrong -- it has brought chaos. The invasion, coupled with American know-how, was supposed to restore the country's infrastructure. Wrong -- the Iraqi people are frequently without power or drinkable water, and the country is a shambles; American contractors, riding a typical government boondoggle, have messed up, either through greed or incompetence or both.

As the "wrongs" pile up, it's time to admit a mistake -- something our present administration is chronically incapable of doing. It's time to stop saying "Stay the course" when the course leads only to more chaos and the sacrifice of more young American lives.

The outlook (if I dare to make another unpopular negative prediction): civil war of increasing intensity, with other countries in the area taking sides. American withdrawal with the job undone is inevitable. Indeed, the longer we stay, the worse matters will become. It's apparent that we cannot stop the Iraqis from indulging in their inexplicable passion for killing one another. The least we can do is to keep our troops from being caught in the cross-fire.

Will we have learned anything from this? I doubt it. The US has a recent history of not learning from its mistakes. Possibly the only reason that we are still a great nation is that other nations are even worse at learning from history. Certainly Iraq has not; freed of the brutality of Saddam, the only thing Iraq has reconstructed is more brutality.

Sunday, January 29, 2006

Sun, 29 Jan 2006 15:18:23 GMT

Today is my birthday. I make no secret of my age; I am more than 40 and less than 100.

Please don't place any "happy birthday" wishes in the comments. We don't make a fuss about my birthday in our house, so there's no reason for you to do so. When people say "happy birthday" to me, I respond with, "What's the big deal? I'm only a day older than I was yesterday."

In some societies, it is customary to give other people presents on one's birthday instead of receiving them. I think this is a great idea. A few people I know deserve presents for having put up with me for as long as they have. My wife certainly does. My parents would too if they were still alive.

The best thing I can hope for as I continue to get older is to still be having fun. So far, I think I've accomplished that. I'm having more fun now, it seems, than I did when I was younger. Perhaps that's because I don't waste much time worrying about matters over which I have no control; they will take care of themselves. Perhaps it's because I have defined "fun" a little differently. It's not the woop-dee-doo kind of fun anymore. I can find fun in everyday tasks. Even a nice nap is fun.

I'll spend a good part of this day correcting student compositions. It would be going too far to call that fun, but I can still look on the brighter side. At least I still have the mental capacity to do it.

If I live to be much older, people may start to ask me to what I attribute my longevity. I'll probably tell them that the secret is to stay alive. That may sound like a simplistic answer, but there's wisdom behind it. That wisdom is to not make explanations more complicated than they need to be.

Speaking of wisdom, I'm convinced that I'm wiser but not smarter. Being smart consists in part of feeling that we know a great deal. The older I get, the more I recognize how clueless I am. That's wisdom. Only fools think that they have all or most of the answers.

One of the benefits of getting older is that other people expect less of us. We can say and do pretty much as we damned well please because others think that we have become senile and don't know any better. We do, but we don't care. Inside, we're quietly amused that other people think that we don't know any better. Because we find this misconception quite liberating, we aren't about to let on that it's untrue.

Younger folks will think I'm nuts. People my age and older will know exactly what I'm talking about. Both will be right.

So happy birthday to me. I'm already enjoying it so much that I think I'll have another tomorrow . . . and the next day . . . and the next.

Friday, January 20, 2006

Fri, 20 Jan 2006 06:17:04 GMT

Booper the Cat, pictured here, is the mascot of our main website, www.grammarmudge.cityslide.com. Please visit us there.

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Thu, 19 Jan 2006 17:11:39 GMT

NFL PLAYOFFS
I'm not much of a sports fan, but I can't resist the playoffs in the professional football season. The teams I'll be rooting for are Pittsburgh in the AFC and Seattle in the NFC (not that I care much about anyone in the NFC). However, I have a long and honorable record of backing the losing team. Therefore, I predict that Denver (AFC) and Carolina (NFC) will win. If I'm right, I may very well skip the Super Bowl this year.

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Thu, 05 Jan 2006 06:21:01 GMT

Just posted on my main website (The Grammar Curmudgeon), my Fearless Predictions for 2006 (click that link.)

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Tue, 22 Nov 2005 11:40:06 GMT

SIGN IN STOP 'N SHOP – FALMOUTH, MASS.