@StitchInTime  @Missy

I really like what @ichabod has to say. I have been writing most of my life, and have at this point accumulated three novels that exist in a “complete” form (that is to say, they have beginnings, middles, and ends), and one still incomplete. The oldest of these is also the biggest, and after much rewriting has been…[Read more]

@janetteB      Yes, it’s the always popular Universal Stacking System. But your version sounds far more ambitious as it involves more types of media. Mine is largely limited to paper, although right now I’m also seeing a couple of cd’s, some AA batteries, and seed packets over there. Also some kind of a strap that I think belongs to a suitcase.

@puroandson    I have many lists, I make them on the interminable notepads that arrive in my mailbox from realtors who would like to have a go at selling my house (which I don’t own!). The problem is that, all too often, the lists end up in the aforementioned piles. Then I make new ones, which is why there are so many. For awhile, I tried doing th…[Read more]

@StitchInTime      Well, there are two main kinds of situation. The first, and more common one, is the stuff I just can’t be bothered to take care of when it first shows up: things to be filed, forms to be filled out, bits of newspapers that I saved for some reason, etc. These I just put into a pile at the corner of our kitchen table, between my s…[Read more]

@StitchInTime      Ha. Unfortunately, I am also one of the organizationally challenged. @Puroandson has the right idea, a friend of mine has an “organizer” who has helped her a lot. Unfortunately, I’m not dealing with quite the situation that Puro describes. It’s a more small-scale situation, although it comes up over and over, so I don’t real…[Read more]

@Miapatrick  @StitchInTime     I find my collection of Big Finish really useful for chores, particularly the ironing, and the sorting of the piles of stuff that seem constantly to build up in my house. For cleaning the kitchen, I tend to put on some lively music, I sort of dance and sing around the room as I’m cleaning up. It livens things up.  🙂

@Miapatrick      When I said “mental space”, I guess I really meant having a large piece of a day available where I’m not constantly having to jump up and deal with other things. Because I find that I will sit down to it, and get so absorbed that suddenly far more time has gone by than I intended. I’m not one of these people who can say, “I will…[Read more]

@pedant     Really weird and delightful to think that Danica McKellar is 41 now, and a brilliant mathematician with part of a proof name after her.

Is she? That’s really cool. She was lovely as Winnie, it was a great show altogether. I loved it. And I always like hearing about these multi-talented people, who can send off their bolts in dif…[Read more]

@Miapatrick    Thanks for that well-articulated defense of Game of Thrones. I have never watched it, so I can’t call myself either pro or against, but the impressions I have had have never tempted me. Regardless, the story elements that you describe suggest more complexity than I have ever seen hinted at elsewhere (many people’s stated reasons fo…[Read more]

@Missy     Outing myself now as one of the ranks of the great unpublished, I would have to say I haven’t had that experience, as I have only rarely had the good fortune to be required to write anything (not counting uni assignments and so forth here). My problem is more that if I allow myself to get going, it ends up being to the detriment of the…[Read more]

@lisa   Thanks!

I wonder if hardcore punk fans would argue that the Clash is not punk enough, because people like me like them?  🙂

That’s a great Bowie/Pop track, (I love the movie clips). Something about the quality of Bowie’s voice marries amazingly well with Iggy’s edgy sound. Thanks for posting!

@puroandson      PuroSolo, I loved your comments about God Save the Queen. Of course, it’s impossible to avoid the comparison, so here’s this:

@puroandson     Son of Puro, I feel your pain and your Mom’s, too. The struggle is real. Arbutus Jr. is dealing this year with a nightmare of a physics teacher, and as a result his grade has dropped considerably. He went from an A to a B, and it’s looking like his third term mark will be in the C+ range. I’m in a rage about it because the rea…[Read more]

@Whisht    Thank you! I haven’t heard Iggy Pop in an insanely long time, that was great fun. And the PCO is just wonderful. I will have to add them to Bela Fleck on my list of musicians I don’t have enough of (in the case of PCO that would be none at all, and there’s no good reason for it!).

Thanks too for your good wishes, @StitchInTime and @puro…[Read more]

@puroandson     Thank you for your kind words, sweetie!

I think that the internet is a great development for education, because in theory it forces the curriculum to become less about facts and more about analytical thinking. I’d say my son’s experience has been about 50/50, with some teachers really embracing that and others basically threate…[Read more]

@Missy    I’m sorry! A lot of us around here enjoy a good debate, and you are as entitled to express your opinions as anyone else. No bad is meant on any side.

@puroandson   In Vancouver, we have had the parks/beaches etc. smoking ban in place for a couple of years. There was some griping at first but there’s been remarkably little compla…[Read more]

@janetteB    So interesting that you should say that, because I have discovered the same thing recently. A friend of mine, a well-educated woman with a son graduating this spring, had to go to the school and forbid counsellors to pressure him anymore about uni applications. He is not academically inclined (either in her view or his own), and th…[Read more]

@Missy   It’s hard to imagine how anyone could ban smoking in someone’s own house? Or do you mean condos and townhouses, perhaps? If so, I must admit that I have some sympathy, as I suffer from allergies and a sensitivity to tobacco smoke (apart from the whole second-hand smoke issue). We have had problems over the years with the smoke from n…[Read more]

@pedant   Fair point. I don’t disagree with regard to the responsibilities of social workers (and in many cases, they are not only underpaid but massively overworked). In that particular case, the response seemed excessive. But it is also true that they are frequently damned if they do and damned if they don’t.

@puroandson    Oh, boy, I was auto…[Read more]

@purofilion    Way back on the thread, you asked me about experiences here regarding acceptance of differing sexual orientations, etc. I have to say that in my city, acceptance and equality are not really issues any more. Not everyone likes it, but the predominant social and political culture support it. I always have to remind myself, however, th…[Read more]