Melissa at lavender kitchen made a thought-provoking post recently about skinnydipping at a hotel in Utah. It got me thinking about teenaged girls swimming naked, which I think is something that should be encouraged, especially in public places, as it is a Good Thing for Everyone. Female readers: please take note of this.

She mentioned something about a leering old man up in the second-story gallery, who smiled and went away when she made eye contact with him. If it had been me, I would have done a cannonball from the upper story right into the deep end, still wearing my work clothes.

But everyone is different, I suppose. What is your skinny dipping story?

The children from the local music school who won prizes at the recent provincial contest were honored at a recital tonight. Beta, who won a second prize, played “Glenlivet” (which is an amazing tune) at tonight’s thing. There were speeches before the kids played, and afterwards, then pictures were taken for the newspaper and there was a buffet.

Alpha and I were there, together with Beta’s harp teacher and Gamma. The harp teacher thinks Gamma is a riot, for some reason. Tonight it was way past Gamma’s bedtime and she was squirming throughout the whole thing. She stayed relatively quiet through most of the kids’ performances, but was still the squirmy little girl from hell. I used all my powers to keep her form disrupting the performances, distracting her as well as I could, holding her mouth closed when necessary.

Then the final two speeches, though, there was nothing more I could do. A city councilman spoke and spoke. Gamma snarled. This was pretty funny so I let it go. Grr.

Then, a woman from the parents’ association spoke. Gamma snored loudly. Zzz. This got a lot of laughs. The woman bravely spoke on, heckled by a 4 year-old. Zzz. Afterwards, we ate tidbits at the buffet. They also served wine and champagne. Gamma got orange juice and cake. “And which instrument are you going to play?” she was asked. She liked the guitars and the pretty girls best.

I would have guessed trumpet or accordion. We’ll see.

Hey, has anyone else heard about the tweak for AIM that lets you see who’s blocking you?

blogtank global consulting.
[via michael o'connor clarke]

What’s the use of this activity called weblogging? (Or, as some prefer to call it, frequently-updated cerebral kineticism, which unfortunately lacks a catchy acronym). Millions of people are alleged to do it, but Pet Rocks were a big hit once too, as was CB radio.

On the one hand, it’s about voice and writing your way, which is what makes articles and books on “how to write for a blog” bizarre and ridiculous. It is about the appeal of having one’s own voice, and of reading a variety of voices and experiences, watching them evolve, whatever.

It is not, however, about mindfulness or helping one focus on life more sharply. I used to think so, but I was wrong. I even tried to start a group blog about mindfulness, but it failed, because, I think, blogging draws one away from life. Initially it seems you are paying closer attention so you can describe something more clearly. But in time – depending on the style of your blog – you end up living for publication, for an imaginary audience. This is perhaps not true for humor blogs or thoughtful writing; it is however my experience with Feral Living. I mean, the whole point here is, “is Miguel going to get in trouble from Alpha for saying that?” I am walking a thin line between having this site enrich my life – which it does – and detract from it.

I am not going on hiatus, though. On the contrary. The biggest benefit I have had from my experiences with this medium is that I am no longer a misanthrope. People are just as stupid as they ever were, but I have met, through their words and in some cases even in person, funny, interesting, intelligent, caring and generous people who have changed the way I think about earthlings. I have become more tolerant. I won’t analyze this any more deeply, but contact and interaction (even collaboration) has been a positive surprise. This ranges from looking at the site stats and seeing who’s visiting and linking to reading and writing comments to publishing on group blogs and having IM conversations and e-mail exchanges.

New collaborations are in the works, more on that later, and it even looks as if there may be another surprise encounter with some bloggers I’ve been wanting to meet for a long time. More on that later as well.

On the other hand, it’s just blogging. I mean, who are you people? Who am I, for that matter?

Three Asian Bastard-related links in two days, sue me. This is the most ingenious links page you’ll ever see.
[First praised by kd]

I want to work for Asian Bastard.
[via twistypants]