A Roll in the Universe

Yesterday all flags were flown at half-mast in Norway, in honor of all those who lost their lives Friday July 22 2011 . I offer my own condolences to all those who have lost loved ones, and to Norway itself. It's been an intense week. I have learned that those of us who actually turned off the TV and distracted ourselves with something totally different did the right thing. It has been non-stop in the media and now I find myself praying that my daily newspaper will have a normal cover tomorrow. For the seventh day running I have been treated to a single photograph with one large title covering the whole front below the masthead, all related to the horrible, unbelievable events of July 22. I’m looking forward to some photo and blurb above the fold, the usual sidebar and something below the fold including the ads, which I never read. Norway's holding up pretty good. People are always better than their reputation: Humanity tends toward good, not bad, though it sometimes tak

Wordless Wednesday

Ten years ago I got to see the Manhattan skyline for myself. This photo was taken with not so good camera 10 years ago this month. Two months later, the two characteristic towers of the World Trade Center were gone. I bring this up now because, right now, as I type, rescue workers are still searching through the office buildings belonging to the Norwegian parliament, looking for more explosives, as well as injured or killed. The main theory is that a car bomb went off around 3:30 pm today in downtown Oslo and blasted out windows in a 1 kilometer radius. The pictures of twisted metal window frames many floors up on a run-of-the-mill office building coupled with the knowledge that this is taking place in quiet, out-of-the-way Oslo is both unbelievable and upsetting. I hate that this is happening here. I hate that this is happening again. Bizarrely, someone dressed as police are shooting at a summer camp for Labor party youth while the bomb search goes on. A talking head on the news

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

I have a bookmark that reads, "You are never lonely with a book." Books have been my allies for as long as I can remember. Getting immersed in a story that takes double-digit chapters to resolve or following someone's theory or life over hundreds of pages adds a break from life like nothing else. And unlike other pauses in life, what you read in a book can stay with you for years, and maybe even change your life. Alice has written about the paper-based book and has linked to an article whose author feels that a Kindle would be as distracting as his computer apparently is. First of all, anybody who wants to have a good read will shut their computer off. You are not a Real Reader if you can’t figure out how to hide away (i.e. have an arsenal of sneaky tricks and good excuses) from things and tasks and people and clocks so you can Read! Secondly, when I’m reading something that really interests me, I lose all sense of time and place, anyway. (Which is absolutely wonde