Random thought

An article about the rescued Christian Peacemaker hostages mentioned that a) during the time they were kidnapped, they had little to know information about world events, and b) they got a phone call from Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

It occurred to me that, depending on their politics, the conversation might have gone something like this:

Harper: "Hello, this is Prime Minister Stephen Harper..."
Hostage: "YOU'RE PRIME MINISTER? Oh shit!"

Pet peeve of the moment: gratuitous PDFing

It is perfectly reasonable to make a PDF when it is essential that you preserve the physical appearance of the document, like if it's a form to be filled out and mailed in, or sheet music, or camera-ready copy, or a situation where the arrangement of elements on a page is absolutely essential.

But it is absolutely ridiculous to make a PDF when you're just posting textual information on your website for average website readers to peruse. A PDF you have to download and wait for it to open, and if you have a particularly fussy computer that might affect your multitasking, and the search function isn't nearly as user-friendly as the web browser search function. This is especially annoying if you don't know if the PDF will contain the information you're looking for, and have to wait for it to load and use the unfriendly search function only to find that you didn't need it after all. PDF format simply does nothing to make things easier for the user, but can contribute greatly to making things more annoying for the user.

So if you're posting information that can be expressed in plain and simple text, and there's no usability reason why page layout is important, just post it as part of your HTML document. If you really feel it's necessary to have a PDF available, you can post a link to the PDF on the HTML page. But don't just post a PDF instead of an HTML document. It's really not helping anyone.

Weird dream

Last night I dreamed I was on a group tour in Poland. I stopped in a store to buy a book about North American aboriginal people (I don't know why I would buy a book like that in Poland of all places), but the bookstore lady (who looked very much like the lady who runs Artus Books on Ronce)refused to sell it to me unless I could tell her the Polish word for aboriginal. I didn't know, so I said "autochtone" (the French word) because I thought it might be similar to the Polish (I don't know if it is IRL). But that turned out to be incorrect, so she wouldn't sell me the book.

How to get an abortion in South Dakota

They are setting up an abortion clinic on the Pine Ridge Sioux Reservation.

Here's how to make a donation

This has been a public service announcement.

Silly plot holes

I'm watching a particularly stupid episode of Voyager, where they're all trapped in a Holodeck simulation of WWII France. Anyway, in this simulation, a troop of Nazis captured a bunch of French Resistance people and ordered them at gunpoint to line up against a wall so they could be executed. The Resistance people complied. (Then a bunch of Klingons came in and disrupted the whole thing so they didn't get executed, but anyway).

So you are ordered at gunpoint to get up against the wall so they could shoot you. Why would you comply? Why wouldn't you try to run away? What are they going to do, shoot you?

I don't think I'm in for a good day today

I have long, oily hair. This means that while the ends of my hair can occasionally do with a bit of conditioner to help detangle them, the scalp needs no conditioner whatsoever. In fact, it could probably do with a dessicant.

Unfortunately, this morning I unthinkingly put conditioner on my scalp. This can't be a good day.

Birth order science by mutual commiseration

I've been asking around in my social circle, and have come to a scientific hypothesis, backed by empirical anecdotal evidence.

In two-child families where the children are the same gender and the age difference is 2-3 years, when the younger sibling gets their first grown-up job, i.e. their first job in the field in which they ultimately aspire to work, they begin talking to their older sibling as though the older sibling is an ignorant, misbehaving child and the younger sibling is the only person in the whole entire world who is aware of How The World Works and How Things Are Done. This behaviour seems to occur regardless of the older sibling's life situation.

I'm hoping to gather more evidence about how this works in mixed-gender families and families with more than two children.

Things They Should Invent: Don't feel thankful!

I don't think we should feel thankful for things that we consider basic human rights or basic elements of our standard of living. I think we should feel self-righteously entitled to them. Why? Because if we feel thankful for something, it seems less unreasonable if it's taken away. If we feel entitled, we generate an appropriate amount of outraged.

For example, I'm thankful that I have high-speed internet access, because I remember the days of dialup and even the days before the internet. Because of this, if suddenly I couldn't have high-speed internet, I would feel like I'm obligated to suck it up and make do. It would be difficult for me, but I'd feel like I don't have the right to complain, because I remember well life without high-speed internet, so it still strikes me as a luxury.

Now obviously it would be totally inappropriate to have that "suck it up and make do" attitude when it comes to basic human rights, or basic standard of living, so let's not be thankful! Let's feel entitled!

So I don't feel thankful that I have enough to eat; I feel entitled to having enough to eat, so I feel outraged that other people don't have enough to eat!

I don't feel thankful that I have freedom of speech; I feel entitled to freedom of speech, so I feel outraged that other people don't have freedom of speech!

I don't feel thankful that there are no bugs in my apartment; I feel entitled to a bug-free apartment, so I feel outraged that other people have to have bugs in their homes!

So don't feel thankful, feel entitled! Bring on a better world through judicious entitlement!

Things they DID invent!

I've always said someone needs to invent a way to search for a song you have in your head, especially when you don't know the lyrics.

Well, they did! I've been doing some experiments, and it seems to work with about 75% accuracy.

It's just clothing!

A pet peeve of mine is when people assume that Western Muslim women are oppressed when they choose to wear a chador, hijab, or burqa. Yes, in some places, particularly theocracies, these garments can be a symbol of oppression. However, it is patronizing and dehumanizing to assume that just because someone chooses to cover more of their body than average, they are automatically being oppressed and therefore need to be liberated from it.

Sometimes if you grow up with a certain standard of modesty, you just aren't comfortable walking around dressed less modestly. For example, about 10 years ago, it became legal in Ontario for women to go topless. However, most women continue to wear tops at all times. That isn't because we are oppressed, but rather because we simply prefer to keep that part of our bodies covered. With my shirt on, I am comfortable. With my shirt off in public, I would feel uncomfortable, over-exposed, unsupported, and humiliated. I feel my breasts are something to which I'd rather control access, and would strongly feel that my basic human dignity was being violated if I were forced to expose them. Perhaps this does have cultural origins, but that does not negate the fact that I prefer to have, at minimum, a bra and a shirt covering the top half of my body at all times. It doesn't hinder my ability to live my day to day life, it doesn't oppress me, it makes me more comfortable and more confident in facing the world than if it wasn't there.

Similarly, a woman who has grown up her whole life wearing a chador or a hijab or a burqa simply might feel over-exposed if she had to go without one. She might feel that her hair, for example, is something to which she'd rather control access, and she feels her human dignity is being violated if she's forced to expose it against her will. Maybe she prefers to just put on a hijab rather than have to spend the time and effort grooming her hair to a standard at which she'd be comfortable exposing it to the public.

Our duty as a society is to let people know what freedoms are available to them, have resources available to help them if they're being oppressed, and make sure they are aware that they don't have to be oppressed. It is not our place to go around telling people that they are being oppressed instead of letting them decide for themselves. No good can come of pressuring or forcing people to go out in public with more of their body exposed than they are comfortable with, regardless of the reason why they are not comfortable exposing certain parts of their body.

This isn't a frat party. This isn't middle school. We should simply operate under the assumption that everyone has a good reason for wearing what they're wearing rather than patronize grown adults by telling them that they didn't know what they were doing when they picked dressed themselves this morning.

Anyone out there know US military uniform regulations?

Whenever US military people are on TV game shows, they wear their uniform. Are they required to do this, or are they just doing it by choice?

Backbench

Has anyone noticed that the comic Backbench in the Globe and Mail has been really funny looking this week? I can't tell what the artist is trying to do (or if it's a printing mistake) and the internet won't tell me.

Even Miss Manners approves of not answering your phone!

Yesterday's Cary Tennis column generated huge numbers of comments. Basically, the letter-writer's friend asked if he could come over to her place because he had a power outage in the middle of a blizzard, and she said no because she had her boyfriend over. Mitigating circumstances on both sides - read the column and the comments if you want the whole complex issue.

Now I can see both sides of the argument. I can totally see wanting to go to someone else's place if I had a power outage, and I can totally see want my friend to go elsewhere when I'm having alone time with my boyfriend.

But one very important thing wasn't mentioned in all the 181 (jusqu'à maintenant) comments on the article: why did she answer her phone if she doesn't want to be disturbed?

Am I the only one who has thought of this?

It's a perfectly acceptable practice - even Miss Manners advocates it - and that's precisely what voicemail is for! "But what if it's an emergency?" Then you should be prepared to respond to the emergency. If you aren't prepared to respond to whatever emergency is on the other end of the phone, then don't answer it. Let it go to voicemail. If you really want, you can screen immediately afterwards to see what the problem was and then decide to address it. But if you pick up your phone when you don't want to be disturbed during a weather emergency, it is perfectly reasonable for the person on the other end to expect you to be able to respond to whatever emergency they're having. It's that simple.

Bitter Fruit by Achmat Dangor

This book was very difficult for me to read or enjoy because it was full of what I can best describe as unhappy sex. Woven throughout the story are episodes of rape, inappropriate pairings, infidelity, borderline coercion, and borderline incest. Some of these are essential to the plot and others do help move it along, but they prevented me from enjoying or appreciating the parts of the book that did not involve unhappy sex because I was just too put off. The only reason I finished the book was because of my principle of finishing every book I start unless it gives me panic attacks.

Don't read this book unless you enjoy reading about unhappy sex. And if you do enjoy reading about unhappy sex, please stop reading my blog and go elsewhere, because you creep me out!

Blown away!

I just went out to the store. On the way back, I had to walk directly against the wind. When the wind gusted, I COULD NOT MOVE FORWARD! It simply took more physical strength than I possess to counter the force of the wind! In fact, it took all my physical strength to stand still - if I didn't make the effort, the wind forced me to trip a few steps backwards. I could only walk forward when the gusts let up.

And I'm far from petite and dainty! I wonder how little old ladies and small children managed?

Environment Canada says:

Observed at: Toronto Pearson Int'l Airport 15 March 2006 2:00 PM EST
[...]
Wind: WNW 68 km/h gust 84 km/h

The "People Person" Paradox

I am not a "people person". As I may have mentioned one or two times, I'm an introvert, I feel awkward in social situations with people I don't know well, and I suck at small talk.

My doctor is the same way. I can tell she feels a bit socially awkward, so she's very serious and not that good at making small talk. This adds just a tinge of awkwardness to our sessions, because neither of us is able to effectively break the ice, and because the ice is still there. Her receptionist is the same way. As a result, I don't feel particularly welcome or comfortable in her clinic. As an innie myself, I can tell logically that this coldness is not deliberate, but emotionally it's still there. I still have my guard up, there's still that tiny element of middle school left over, where because it doesn't feel warm I feel like I'm going to be harshly judged. Not the best feeling to get from your doctor. I don't look forward to going to see her.

On the other hand, my dentist, and all of his staff, are very much people people. They have the ability to make me feel welcome and comfortable. I feel like I can make a joke if one occurs to me, and I can let my guard down completely. I do realize that this means I have succumbed to "charming" (which is rather frightening to think about), but the result is a comfortable clinical environment.

At first I was thinking that there should be some way for patients to find out if doctors are people people, so the introverted patients who can't break the ice themselves can be paired up with doctors that can break the ice, and the extroverted patients who can break the ice can be paired up with the doctors who can't.

But then i realized that the problem with this idea is that bubbly extroverts who can break ice left and right tend to be seriously creeped out by introverts. They tend to think that we're being deliberately cold as a personal slight to them, and don't seem to realize that we just do not have the ability to be charming, they tend to think instead that we're deliberately holding back, perhaps out of spite. So the extroverts aren't going to want to go to the introvert doctors either.

I don't want to eliminate all introvert doctors or anything, and logically I know I should be accepting of people who have the same shortcomings as I do, but I also want a doctor who makes me feel comfortable.

Harry doesn't need to be an Auror

Fandom analysis still seems to be assuming that Harry's goal in life is to become an Auror. I don't think this is applicable any more.

Harry decided he wanted to be an Auror in GOF, when Crouch!Moody planted the idea in his head. He brought up the idea again in OOTP, in the specific context of a career planning interview, where he was asked outright what he wanted to be when he grew up, so he answered the only career choice that he has actually considered.

But later in OOTP, Harry found out he was the only person who can destroy Voldemort. That, combined with the fact that he's already independently wealthy, should negate the requirement for any career ambitions, no? Whatever helping people/saving people/being heroic fulfilment Harry could have gotten from becoming an Auror, he could easily get from destroying Voldemort. That's surely enough heroic Gryffindor karma for a lifetime.

While it's true that Harry may well choose to pursue a career of some sort after he destroys Voldemort, it's not a priority at the moment, and will never be absolutely necessary. He does need to destroy Voldemort. He is determined to do it immediately (and we, the readers, know that he has to do so within the next year). He does not need to earn money to support himself financially. A career, even a career as an Auror, is not his goal at the moment, and this is not informing his decision-making.

Harry's eye is on the goal of destroying Voldemort, period. People should stop making fandom theories based on the assumption that his eye is still on the goal of being an Auror.

Things They Should Invent: garbage cans that fit plastic bags perfectly (or vice versa)

I line my garbage cans with ordinary plastic bags that I get when buying things from stores. I don't know how common this practise is, but I do know a number of other people who do it, and I've never had anyone say "Why the hell is there a plastic bag in your garbage can?" so it can't be that unusual.

As it happens, Shoppers Drug Mart bags fit perfectly in my bathroom garbage can, but my other garbage cans are not nearly as compatible with plastic bags. Occasionally a bag from a store I rarely shop in will fit perfectly in one of my other garbage cans (and, before the LCBO cheaped out on their plastic bags, LCBO bags used to fit perfectly in my kitchen garbage), but it isn't at all consistent. Bags from Dominion, where I do the vast majority of my shopping, don't fit perfectly in any of my garbage cans.

I think stores like supermarkets, drug stores, walmart, etc., should sell small, indoor garbage cans that are the perfect size and shape for their bags. Or, if it's more cost-effective, they should make their plastic bags the perfect size and shape for garbage cans that are available in the store. I would totally buy new garbage cans if I knew they would perfectly fit plastic bags I have on hand, and I would totally make a point of going to a specific store for something like soap or shampoo (i.e. something that I could easily and conveniently buy at any one of several stores) just to get plastic bags that would fit perfectly in my garbage cans.

Red coats and big fuzzy hats

You know those british soldiers with the red coats and big fuzzy hats, who have to stand guard and aren't allowed to move or talk? I wonder what happens to them if they do move or talk?

When I was little, I thought they were executed if they moved. In retrospect, that's not terribly likely. And I suppose that if there is a genuine emergency they should react in some way. (Mental image of a typical cartoon robber being chased down the street by a red coat fuzzy hat guard).