Take that, real news

The Colbert Bump is Real. I have to assume that the guy who designed this study is awesome, and somehow I have a feeling we'll be seeing him on a comedy news show someday soon... maybe that one that comes on after Jon Stewart.

A Monday Gallery of Randomness

Well, here are a handful of fun things to start off the week... also, I titled this a Monday post, but looking at the time it we have officially skidded into Tuesday. Oops!

Here's some fun for your April:

Go to Barack Obama Is Your New Bicycle, and click on the text, then click again, then again... revel in the wonder of randomness. So fun, so random. This has got to be the most simple and fun website I've been sent in awhile (thanks Corinne!)

Fun thing about snipers, not only do they inspire cool movies, carry and occasionally use impressive weapons, and have important jobs like protecting oh... Presidents and the like. They also get to poop on rooftops.

Finally, this is less fun, unless you put it in the category of fun and inspiring things that make you consider what's possible. Turns out, if you're voting in Italy's upcoming senate campaigns you can choose from 14 political parties. Now, if you ever feel like 2 isn't quite enough... you know, we could do things differently. Check it out. One thing I like about the post I just linked to is that it talks about some ways that choice doesn't fix everything. Food for thought.

Need to Clean Up

Old Mess, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

Wow... life has been flying along lately... weeks pass, time flies, and I have to be honest, I can't really complain.

That said, I have been noticing lately that the superfast pace leads to more and more and more clutter until someday soon I'll eventually just have to go back into cleanup mode. That's ok.

Until then, I've been happily buzzing along. This weekend I was up in Boston, for a fun and all-too-brief visit (but aren't they all?). This coming weekend I don't know if I'll lay low in New Haven or hatch some other plan... but we'll see. Meanwhile, I need to finish taxes, find local doctors (overdue on that task) and generally do some... tidying... wait! That's where I started.

Baaaaahhhh... well, anyway, above is a fun picture of a paint mess long dried... another fun snippit from my recent trip to DC.

From the Dept. of Things Worth Remembering

Fourty years ago tonight Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave an address that ended as follows. The next day he would be taken from us all.



Many many thanks to Americablog.com for posting this, and for the reminder of this date. I think any day is a good day to remember with pride the great strides America has taken, thanks to the hard work and determination of people like Dr. King. I also find inspiration here to believe that we can and should continue fighting for a more just and equitable world, and I hope you do too.

Both Please

Both Please, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

Some folks just can't make up their minds. If you're going to be indecisive, you might as well toss in a chunky little frog and some daffodils. I've been wanting to doctor up and post this picture for a few days now. Don't get me wrong, I actually am one of those people who isn't exactly sure a joint ticket would be a good idea. Still, the sentiment of a yard, a home, a family or a group that supports both made me smile. The fun composition of their yard takes that charming sentiment and raises it up to something else.

I think I might be rambling. Oh well!

More from DC

Central Safe, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

I've got a ton, a TON of pictures still to edit from my DC wanderings but I'm making progress. 40some are up on Flickr already in a slideshow, and this is one of my favorites to date. There's something about the combination of sign falling apart and "safe" that makes me smile. I snapped 5 or so shots to get soem different angles on the e-n peeling out off the sign.

Anyway, it's a beautiful day in Connecticut. I've had an avalanche week of work where tasks, to-dos, requests, phone calls and all sorts of other bizarre stuff just keep tumbling in, but I've got dinner plans with friends and I'll see my brother and his wife on Friday! YEAH! Also, there's a new 3am add from Hillary that I think is kinda Hillarious... perhaps I'll toss it up here later.

All in all, life is good!

Hope folks out there are feeling the goodness wherever you are and whatever you're up to!

What a Weekend

Bike Glare, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

Wow... so, this weekend I decided to get a little more active than I've been in... let's say months. I joined in a Critical Mass bike ride through downtown New Haven Friday evening, and I played softball for over 3 hours Sunday afternoon. Between one activity and the other I did some hiking in the woods, and now... I am sore.

But happy!

It was nice to get lots of fresh air, and after all of that I sat down Sunday evening to continue editing photos from my recent trip to Washington DC. Above is a photo I took in Columbia Heights. I like the combination of the sun glare on the lens and the happy flowers on the bottom.

I think this week is gonna be a pretty great one, and I hope yours is off to a great start!

And Now for Something Completely Different: Monks in Your Printer

What is the essence of social entrepreneurship? How about a group of monks who sell toner via a very successful web-based business, with a CEO who makes an annual salary of $0.00?

Want to learn more? Check out their wonderful story on the San Francisco Chronicle website.

Yet Another Ode to the Random

Adams Morgan Chair, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

Here is a random chair I discovered sitting beside a trash can outside an apartment building. It's not even like it was outside a restaurant where it might belong to a lazy bouncer or have been dragged from the outdoor seating space... how odd.

Powerful

So it's yet another interesting and, I'm sure, to many disheartening week in what Steven Colbert has dubbed Democralypse Now! How is it all striking you?

Have you seen the strange Barillary/Hillarack character The New Republic put on their cover (strange)?

Did you tune out long ago?

Here's a quote that struck me as coming from a balanced place that lies for the most part wonderfully outside the fray:


"The Reverend Jeremiah Wright is an outstanding church leader whom I have heard speak a number of times. He has served for decades as a profound voice for justice and inclusion in our society. He has been a vocal critic of the racism, sexism and homophobia which still tarnish the American dream. To evaluate his dynamic ministry on the basis of two or three sound bites does a grave injustice to Dr. Wright, the members of his congregation, and the African-American church which has been the spiritual refuge of a people that has suffered from discrimination, disadvantage, and violence. Dr. Wright, a member of an integrated denomination, has been an agent of racial reconciliation while proclaiming perceptions and truths uncomfortable for some white people to hear. Those of us who are white Americans would do well to listen carefully to Dr. Wright rather than to use a few of his quotes to polarize. This is a critical time in America's history as we seek to repent of our racism. No matter which candidates prevail, let us use this time to listen again to one another and not to distort one another's truth," - Dean J. Snyder, Foundry United Methodist Church, March 19, 2008. Snyder is Hillary Clinton's pastor, although I'm not sure how often she attends his church.

Many thanks to Andrew Sullivan's blog which collects many such wonderful tidbits.

A Remarkable and Troubling Point

From the Jed Report:

"What if Osama bin Laden publicly endorsed one of the central tenets of Barack Obama's candidacy?

What if this statement was made while Barack Obama was overseas?

What Barack Obama embraced that endorsement, and offered it as proof that his foreign policy views were right for the country?

What would the media say? Would they ignore it? Quote it approvingly? Or would they spend the next week endlessly looping video footage of bin Laden and Obama, joined at the hip?

What if John McCain did the same thing?

Well, as rawstory reports, it happened..."

Read the rest of the post, a fascinating piece of this past week's political terrain.

Peacable Zone

Entering a D.C.P.S. Peacable School Zone, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

Visiting DC this weekend has been a wonderful and refreshing experience, a reintroduction to all the reasons I love it down there. It was a chance to see old friends, wander in familiar and yet changed environments.

The changes are drastic in some spots, hardly noticable in others. For tonight, however, it is late and I am sleepy, so I'll leave it at that, as I head off to a peacable zone for some dreams.

Sweet dreams world.

Happy Easter.