Sourcerer.

I have no headline for this, and I am pretty good at writing headlines. So there! :-)

Gimme a second and let me figure out where it starts.

People make all kinds of claims about Southern Culture. Most of those people don’t actually know what they are a talking about. The only way to know a culture is to live in it. Internalize it. So today I will try and give you a walk in my shoes.

What if you missed the Civil Rights Movement by a few short years, and you began your life…

I am not a believer in labeling people trolls, no matter what I see them doing on the Internet. I learned that one the hard way, and only decided it recently, but I think it is a sound policy. I do see a bit of trollery, though, especially on Feminist discussion threads that I frequent and on Facebook. It comes in many forms and…

Weekend Coffee Share: In Which I Find Myself at a Crossroads

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you I miss writing for the #WeekendCoffeeShare linkup. I also miss writing the pop culture posts, and wanking about social media, and occasionally ranting about politics. Writing — especially high-frequency writing that’s done just for fun — has to be a habit if you’re going to do it consistently. Sadly, I’ve gotten myself out of the habit. I’d tell you I miss…

A Serious Personal Finance Question

Calling all you finance geeks. I have a “friend,” *cough*, who is using a balance transfer credit card with a long zero-interest introductory period to freeze the interest on some debt and aggressively pay down the principal over the next year or so. He is seeking advice. He’s gonna be smart about this and do things like not use the transfer card for any purchases, and not use the other cards…

Adventures in Middle Earth – First Impression.

It’s out! I downloaded my electronic copy this evening. Just spent an hour scanning it. My first impression is this is a clever and well-executed adaptation of Middle Earth into the Wizards of the Coast d20 system. Highlights, etc. D&D “Playable races” are translated into #MiddleEarth cultures. I can’t wait to roll up my first character, which will no doubt be a Rider of Rohan. Equipment lists…

#WeekendCoffeeShare: I'm Still Alive!

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you the last two weeks just flew by and I’ve barely had time to think about this blog. Weekend before last, we went to Little Jedi’s birthday party and a good time was had by all. Sadly, we all picked up a nasty bug at the arcade, and I spent half of the following week flat on my back in bed. I did…

#WeekendCoffeShare: Welcome, Newcomers!

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you I don’t have a whole lot of time to talk. I am on my way to NOLA (that’s how we say “New Orleans” on the internet) for Little Jedi’s birthday. If you don’t know who Little Jedi is, he is Diana’s youngling. My grandson is a year older, and he is also a Jedi, but since internet handles must be unique, we just call mine The Kid. These two have their birthdays…

What I’m up to

Since I missed the #WeekendCoffeeShare at Part Time Monster last weekend and also haven’t brought the political chatter this week, have a post about my life. It’s a list of things I am engaged in right now. Sadly, there are no actual numbers because the list-numbering on WordPress got stupid while I wasn’t looking, and isn’t playing well with the visual stuff. Taking care of my dog. She’s a girl…

#Election2016: Arizona and Utah Edition. #Politics

Arizona primaries, Utah caucuses, and the Democratic caucus in Idaho happen in a few hours. Here’s what I’m paying attention to once the returns start coming in tonight. On the Republican Side Trump and Cruz are expected to win Arizona and Utah, respectively. Cruz needs something like 80% of remaining delegates to win, but he might just do that, and Trump’s path to an easy nomination is so…

I'm not voting third party in November. Here's why you shouldn't either. #Election2016 #MondayBlogs

I’ve seen a definite uptick in heated (and worse) conversations between Clinton and Sanders supporters lately, so I’m gonna go ahead and toss this one out. I’ve been open about the fact that I like Bernie Sanders. I think he’s done great things for us in this election. He still has a chance of winning, but it’s an outside chance at best. At one time, I was ride-or-die for Hillary Clinton. I’m…

#WeekendCoffeeShare: In Which I May be on the Mend

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you this has been the best week I’ve had since I can remember. My stress level is as low as it’s been since May. I’ve had a bit more free time than usual, so I’ve done more blogging in the last seven days than I did in all of January and February. I don’t know how long it will last, but the words seem to be flowing for me again. I think the move into social…

An Open Letter to the Rest of You #election2016 #trumpocalypse

I don’t care how you swing politically. Liberal, conservative, anarcho-syndaclist, socialst, communist, capitalist, Republican, Democrat. I just don’t care. I’m talking to you. Our politics have gotten quite corrosive and infuriating lately. I am tired of it. I had a conversation on this Facebook thread with a Republican yesterday. And basically we’re in the same boat. We both feel as though we…

About Last Night #Election2016

Here’s my take on the outcome of last night’s election. When I talk about what my expectations were going in, keep in mind I was going more on gut feeling this time around than on polling info. I will say though, the polling ahead of this latest round of primaries was pretty spot-on. The hard info here is from three sources: The New York Times‘ public election results page, which is basically…

Little Pitchers Have Big Ears #Election2016 #MakeAmericaKindAgain

I’ll tell you a little story while we wait for the polls to close and election returns to come in. If you’ve started following this blog recently, you might not know that I have an elementary-aged grandson who I spend copious amounts of time with. He’s truly precocious when it comes to analyzing things. That’s because he’s one of those mechanically-inclined little dudes who prefers math to…

On Polling and Primaries

My friend Luther wrote a post “On Michigan” at InfiniteFreeTime last week. I agree with all of it, and it set me thinking. Luther and I have compared notes on this election a bit. I’ve learned some things from him, and he’s proven himself smarter than me about several of the electoral dynamics. If I’ve been making sense to you with these political posts, you should be reading Infinite Free Time.…

Make America Sensible Again #SundayBlogShare #BlackLivesMatter @1000Speak @parttimemonster @gkelly73 @nfinitefreetime

Last weekend, a Facebook friend of mine explained the Trump situation as the outcome of a Faustian bargain GOP elites made with racists and anti-intellectuals some decades ago. He was riffing on this WaPo editorial which asks “Where Were Republican Moderates 20 Years Ago.?” In the article Fareed Zakaria criticizes the Republican leaders who are now scrambling to fend off Donald Trump for allowing…