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Older Than Anne Elliot

Here's to wishing . . . note that Edward Ferrars is at the bottom of the heap.

You scored as Captain Wentworth.

Your husband/boyfriend is Captain Wentworth of Persuasion, who some believe to be the most romantic of Austen's heroes. He is entertaining, yet he will always come to your aid before you even need to ask. Prone to jealousy, you can be certain he will protect you. The two of you have an active, endearing relationship that stands the test of time.

Who is Your Jane Austen Boyfriend/Husband?

I Respect Her the Most

My results aren't terribly surprising, although I would much prefer Mr. Bingley (or Mr. Darcy, for that matter) to Edward Ferrars.

You scored as Elinor Dashwood.

As Marianne's older sister, Elinor lives at the other end of the emotional spectrum. She rarely reveals her intense feelings and is more concerned with being honest and loyal than having what she deserves. Even though her intentions are pure, she sets herself up for loss by constantly placing other people before her own needs. Overall, Elinor is gentle and rational but is just as capable of radical emotions (despite her withholding them) as her sister.

Indeed, when I went back for my tie-breaker question, I ended up with

You scored as Elizabeth Bennet.

As one of Austen's most beloved characters, Elizabeth Bennet represents what most women would like to become: strong, independent, and loyal. Of course, she has her faults including a stubborn will of iron and a clinging to first impressions. Overall, Lizzie is bright and lovable...something to admire and aspire to.

Which Jane Austen Character are You?

Sniff Your Poison

Inventors are on the verge of creating the first mobile 'smellophone', a gadget which can capture an odour and then replay it back later, just as camcorders do with images.

If I could choose a smell for the smellophone, it would be the smell of diesel oil, which reminds me of my dad.

No Longer a Choice

Janice posted this in the comments of another post, but Chinese infanticide is so blatant and grotesque that it deserves repetition:

A Chinese county has been ordered to conduct 20,000 abortions and sterilisations before the end of the year . . .

Most recently, a woman was reported to have died while trying to escape from officials who were attempting to sterilise her.

Have I mentioned that I find the United Nations equally grotesque? With Japan so worried about not having enough babies and China worried about having so many that they have to exterminate the ones they have, it seems like there might be some sort of obvious agreement which could be reached, if the countries could just overcome certain regional prejudices.

The Man They Call Joss

Firefly has inspired On the Drift by the Badlam Bards.

(Hat tip Kevin Miller.)

Blue as My Blood

I am 40% Dixie and definitely a Yankee.

Are You a Yankee or a Rebel?

(Hat tip to Gary Pryzbocki.)

Moped Restrictions

Tim Schwarzenberger has sent me some very disturbing information:

This is upsetting, thought I should pass it along. Check your driver's license... Now you can see anyone's Driver's License on the Internet, including your own! I just searched for mine and there it was..picture and all! Thanks to Homeland Security! Privacy, where is our right to it! I definitely removed mine, I suggest you all do the same..... Go to the website and check it out. Just enter your name, City and state to see if yours is on file. After your license comes on the screen, click the box marked "Please Remove". This will remove it from public viewing, but not from law enforcement.

I went through the website and there I was, plain as day!

The Zolpidem Solution

A pill may reverse the vegetative state:

A sleeping pill can temporarily revive people in a permanent vegetative state to the point where they can have conversations, a study finds . . .

"But it's the dormant areas which 'wake up'."

Technically, this study may actually be further evidence that "permanent vegetative state" - like "the common cold" - is a poorly defined condition.

In any case, it's exciting. There is so much left to learn about human physiology!

(Hat tip to Father Kish.)

Definitely Not Chewbacca, Andrew

Not to put too fine a point on it, but I think agreeing that "I am a girl" greatly skewed my results:

You scored as Padme Amidala

Which Revenge of the Sith Character are you?

(Hat tip to Brian Preston.)

Save the Dragon Eggs!

Have you tried Green Eggs and Pan?

Huzzah for Cornell University!

By the Dew of Your Spirit

The words of the Mass are to be changed:

Perhaps the most noticeable revision would be heard after the priest says, "The Lord be with you." The response of the people would change from "and also with you" to "and with your spirit."

The profession of the faith known as the Nicene Creed, for example, would change at the beginning from "We believe" to "I believe." The line that says "one in being with the Father" would switch to "consubstantial with the Father." In addition, "He was born of the Virgin Mary" would become "by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary.

There are a few other exciting changes too. I read through all the ones I could find and the changes really made me think about what the Mass is trying to say.

Still, it will be disorienting at first. I'll bet the biggest change will be that the priests will be reading the sacramentary very closely for a while.

When are the changes in effect?

The U.S.A. is 2.03

I am confused by the confusion that surrounds falling birth rates.

Japan’s fertility rate slipped to 1.2888 in 2004. Demographers say a rate of 2.1 is needed to keep a population from declining.

Japan’s slumping birth rate has been attributed to long working hours for both men and women, the high cost of putting children through a highly competitive school system, and barriers to women advancing in the workplace while raising kids.

What about the promotion of contraception? And abortion? What about the lower social status of stay-at-home mothers? What about the societal pressure of "achievement now and family later."

It's really not surprising that marriage and family are taking a backseat to personal achievement in industrialized nations. The consumerist culture demands it.

Large Families Rule!

Matt C. Abbott has interviewed the family of Walt and Wendy Cukierski, with children Walter Jr., Weston, William, Wellsley, Wyatt, Wade, Waylan, Woodman, Walker, Wiley and Wilson.

I am a big fan of the "W," but I had no idea that so many "W" names existed. This must complicate the name-calling process. As children from large(r) families know, each child has a lengthened name for summons. I, for example, am "Laura" (or "Laura Marie" when I am really in trouble.) My younger sister is "La-er-Janice." The sister after that is "La-er-Ja-er-Anne." The first boy got a reprieve and was mostly "Steven," (although a couple "La-er-Ja-er-Anne-er-Steven"s have crept in.) Barbara is "La-er-Ja-er-Anne-er-Bonnie." And poor Patrick doesn't really know his name, which is sometimes a hodgepodge of his brothers and sisters, or sometimes just "Ste-er-Patrick." I can't even imagine the confusion that reigns in the Cukierski family!

And - as in the Walker family - I'm sure they wouldn't have it any other way. :-)

Thérèse-esque

Father Kish sent me an article about Opus Dei which placed it in one of the more interesting lights I've seen. It was written by an English professor at the University of Houston.

I knew early on that I wanted to pursue a deep communion with God, since that's what allows me to be truly happy. And I wanted to enjoy all the richness of the secular world . . . Can one be totally focused on God, praying meditatively for hours a day, and also be totally focused on the world - making money, competing or collaborating with colleagues, going out with drinking buddies? . . .

Our ideal is the life Christ lived before his public life, his life of ordinary work in an ordinary family. God became a man and made human realities divine.

For some reason, this concept really jives with me. I love the Church more than anything else in the world, but I have extreme difficulty with leaving the world behind. I think on some level this is a weakness or a dependency which it would do me well to eradicate, but I really do enjoy my family, my friends, and - above all - the independence to come and go as I please, to see different places and to try different things. (Even as I type that, it seems very self-indulgent to me, which is concerning.) Maybe the attitudes are not quite as disparate as they seem to me, but it's frustrating to seek a balance between enjoying all the beauty and goodness of creation and recognizing the parts of the world I should be giving up for the greater good.

In any case, the priest who hears Confessions on Saturday - whose name I can't remember to save my life - tells me I should try to "keep it simple." And from what little I know of Opus Dei philosophy, figuring out how to turn daily work into prayer is about as simple as one can get.

In the Land of Cheese

The Milwaukee Art Museum has a "Masters of American Comics" exhibit until mid-August.

And I want to try The Safe House before too much more time passes.

It sounds to me like a Milwaukee road trip is in order.

(Hat tip to Vered Miller.)

Are You Laughing at Me?

Falstaff
You scored 0 evilness, 18 romance, 45 tragic, and 45 comic!

Falstaff is a heavy drinking coward who gives much comic relief in "Henry IV Part I" but is destined to come to a tragic end in "Henry IV Part II." He also appears as a lead comic character in "The Merry Wives of Windsor" and was reputed to be a favorite character of Elizabeth I.

The Shakespeare Character Test

(Hat tip to Barbara Walker.)

She's My God-Sister . . .

. . . because we share a godmother.

My darling cousin has had her first (of many, I'm sure) interviews.

Huzzah for Genna White!

Not Under a Desk After All

Reading from unclassified portions of a document developed by the U.S. intelligence community, [Sen. Rick] Santorum said, "Since 2003, coalition forces have recovered approximately 500 weapons munitions which contain degraded mustard or sarin nerve agent. Despite many efforts to locate and destroy Iraq's pre-Gulf War chemical munitions, filled and unfilled pre-Gulf War chemical munitions are assessed to still exist."

So . . . there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?

The news is being all kinds of downplayed in the press because the weapons are old and have degraded. However, if I recall correctly, Hussein was supposed to destroy all such weapons, not just the shiny ones. Apparently, he did not.

Big surprise.

(Hat tip to Misha Voloshin.)

Visit the Misspelled Cemetary

What on earth is the Kingdom of Loathing?

Stamping Up and Out

Jen Caputo is selling a bunch of her Club Scrap stuff.

Must . . . resist . . .

Have You Done a Shot of Guacamole? I Have.

Between Meson Sabika on Tuesday, Sal & Carvao and the Poison concert on Wednesday, and Feast of the Senses last night, I have consumed enough food and beverage to ensure somnolent hibernation for, oh, the next five weeks or so.

On a more reserved note, the food from Zealous was awfully good.

The Battle Cry

I don't find the image particularly appealing, but why the fuss over the Wayne Rooney picture?

Ostensibly, it's offensive to Christians and Muslims. Who knew?

'It's quite a disturbing image and because the paint is wet, it really looks like blood,' [Rev Rod Thomas of Church of England evangelical group Reform] said.

'The other aspect of it is the aggression contained in it, bound up with the flag of St George, which you might see as a throwback to the Crusades, which is hardly going to go down well with Muslim countries. It's offensive on several different levels.'

I suppose if someone is anticipating offense, offense will be given. But, to me, the images sorta looks like a painted warrior. Or the Red Cross. Or the mirror image of the Swiss flag. But I can honestly say that parallels to the crucifixion of Christ didn't even occur to me.

Where's the Beef?

A $100 hamburger is a ludicrous item.

At about 5 1/2 inches across and 2 1/2 inches thick, the mound of meat is comprised of beef from three continents — American prime beef, Japanese Kobe and Argentine cattle.

The bill for one burger, with garnishing that includes organic greens, exotic mushrooms and tomatoes, comes out to $124.50 with tax and an 18 percent tip included.

The concept of paying $125 for something so transient is beyond my ken. It's a heap of meat, for goodness sakes! Give the money to charity if you want it devoured!

Although I suppose I have no room to talk. I admit to indulging in an overpriced Fuddruckers burger every now and then.

Grace Stewart Lives

Nicole Kidman is more Catholic than I thought.

Preparation for actress Nicole Kidman and country singer Keith Urban's anticipated June 25 wedding has helped guide her back to the Catholic Church, said a priest who knows her . . .

"Catholicism guides me. I certainly have a strong belief. I try to go to church regularly, and I try to go to confession," she told the Philippine Daily Enquirer.

Regular confession and church attendance is more than I can say for many Catholics. Perhaps she is recovering from the Cruise factor after all.

(Hat tip to Mark Shea and his blog which I discovered today.)

He Conquers Rugged Rocks

Forget Superman. Krrish has arrived.

He also sings and dances.

Which Tool Are You?

(Hat tip to Stephanie Klyber.)

At the end of this post, you will be asked a question. Answer it immediately. Don't stop and think about it. Just say the first thing that pops into your mind.

Once you are finished with the calculations, click on the extended entry. Look at the bottom line for text in all caps for your directions.

What is . . . ?

15 + 6

3 + 56

89 + 2

12 + 53

75 + 26

25 + 52

63 + 32

I know! Calculations are hard work, but it's nearly over . . .

Come on, one more!

123 + 5

QUICK! THINK ABOUT A COLOR AND A TOOL!

Worth No Words

Perhaps non-digital cameras may have a use after all.

Georgia Institute of Technology scientists say they've created a prototype device that can block digital video cameras from working in a specific area . . .

Associate GIT Professor Gregory Abowd, who led the study, says the camera-neutralizing technology shows commercial promise in two principal fields -- protecting areas against espionage photography and stopping video copying.

I'm sure the tourist industry (and, in particular, the postcard printers) will be most pleased.

Alive Alive-O!

I went on the Dublin Literary Pub Crawl and ended up singing "Molly Malone" in the middle of Grafton Street.

I also started brew number 1566 at the Guinness Storehouse. Let me know if you imbibe a pint.

On to Sweden!

Flying the Wired Skies

I would be more excited about the technological advancements of JetBlue and their air-ground wireless license, but the airline goes nowhere of use to me.

See that big blue nothingness in the center? There am I.

SmokeEasy

Smokers are going underground:

Almost six months after the nation's toughest statewide smoking ban went into effect in Washington, smoke has virtually disappeared from all bars and restaurants in Seattle.

Smokers say the locations of smoke-easies are spread by word of mouth and usually involve a swearing of secrecy. In most of the five smoke-easies visited in neighborhoods across Seattle for this story, the transformation from otherwise-law-abiding bar to underground nicotine den happens late in the evening. There is no official witching hour, just the sense that for the most part only the regulars are left.

What a way to fight The Man.

(Hat tip to Ray Reskusich.)

Shall We Sing?

Happy Birthday to You!!
Happy Birthday to You!!
Happy Birthday, dear Chrispy!!
Happy Birthday to You!!

T-Mobile Objects

'Twas only a matter of time before those pesky lawmakers decided to legislate a convenience right out of existence:

The proposed Lawrence ordinance — up for discussion Monday by the Traffic Safety Commission — would ban the use of both hand-held cell phones and hands-free cell phone devices by motorists . . .

“I think, initially, people assumed that the problem with using a cell phone while driving was the holding of the phone and the dialing of the phone, but now the body of research is suggesting that the conversation itself is the major distraction,” [Russ] Rader [a spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety] said.

So let's ban conversation! And radio! And children! And those stupid TVs screens that have found their way into the newer vehicles! Honestly, why doesn't Uncle Sam just leave people alone and let them shift for themselves? We don't need him to mommy us.

An Unlikely Adversary

At least one U.S. war veteran is suing Michael Moore:

A U.S. war veteran who lost both arms in Iraq has sued Oscar-winning director Michael Moore for $85 million, saying television clips were used without his permission in the anti-war documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11" and gave a false impression that he opposed the war.

"It was kind of almost like the enemy was using me for propaganda. What soldier wants to be involved in that?" Damon told CBS's local television news affiliate. "I didn't lose my arms over there to come back and be used as ammunition against my commander-in-chief."

I don't like Michael Moore's political diatribes and I express my displeasure through the money I don't spend at the box office. However, I am torn between my disgust with the "sue one, sue all" mentality so prevalent in society and the morbid satisfaction of seeing Michael Moore called on the carpet.

I fear my better nature shall lose this particular struggle.