Category: Notes from Stonehaven
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Making My Post Into a Movie?
Did Hollywood make a movie from one of my blog posts? Not really. (Sigh!) In fact, the movie predated my article by two years. But I didn’t know! When I wrote recently about Words and Pictures, I hadn’t heard of the film. Yet there it is, starring Juliette Binoche and Clive Owen, and directed by…
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One Word: Worth a Thousand Pictures
Does anyone else feel oppressed by the âtyranny of picturesâ? I do, and Iâm fighting back with a new series of posts about words I love. Words that interest, fascinate, and delight me; words that (for me) carry depths of meaning mere pictures canât duplicate. One article per word — posted á´ĄÉŞá´Ęá´á´á´ á´ÉŞá´á´á´Ęá´s. Hereâs why…
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Lubuntu: Linux Even Leaner!
Recently I wrote that desktop Linux is now a practical alternative to Windows. Especially Windows XP, for which Microsoft has discontinued support and security updates. I based this suggestion on my delightful experience with Ubuntu Linux — the most popular of many Linux variants. (It has so many because itâs open-source freeware. Anyone can customize…
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Real Names Are Highly Overrated!
Google recently reversed its “real names” requirement for members of its Google Plus social network. Good call, Google — and good riddance. It’s about time! In the Internet’s early days, being online was all about anonymity. You could create a mask. You could hide behind it in cyberspace. You could be — or appear to…
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The So-Called “Islamic State” Is Not “Islam”
It’s bad enough to speak of Muslims as if they all were terrorists. But isn’t it even worse to call terrorists and terrorist organizations “Islam”? Even if they call themselves Islamic. Especially then! Inflammatory references of just this kind are creeping into popular speech. They pop up in unguarded, off-the-cuff comments — the kind that disclose our real thoughts and…
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It Happened Almost at our Door!
Knoxville school bus crash kills two students, injures many more. Tragedies hit home, especially when they involve children. Way too many of those, these days. But when one lands practically on your doorstep! Cheri and I still are reeling. What really flattened us was the way we found out about it. We’re fixing dinner in the…
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Happy Valentine’s Day
Dear friends and readers, Happy Valentineâs Day to you all. You are one and all loved by at least one very Astonished Tamale! Hereâs hoping every one of you also is loved deeply and intensely by someone you love just as much. Speaking of astonishment: Weâre pleased to note that for the second year in…
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New Websites
Several long-term projects coming to fruition: Please take a look at the all-new Stonehaven Press website at stonehavenpress.com. This site, the storefront for the publishing company Cheri and I own, has been in the works for a long time. Way overdue, but we havenât had the time needed to bring it into being. Also its…
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The Proposed AIG Lawsuit
As I write this, AIG â American International Group â is meeting to consider filing a lawsuit against America for⌠Thatâs right. For bailing it out. By loaning $182 billion to AIG, back at the start of the Obama administration. Just so you know, here is what The Astonished Tamale! thinks of that: As the…
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The Windows 8 Great Debate
To my stark amazement, I love Windows 8. Let me count the ways. But first â why am I weighing in? Because various tech experts, including two I know, are recommending we skip this latest version of Microsoftâs operating system. At least (the advice goes) we should hold off till weâre forced into it by…
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Where We Left Off
âWhatâs going on with the Tamale?â Thus inquired my friend Patricia, just last night. As a subscriber to The Astonished Tamale!, she no doubt was puzzled at not having gotten any updates for the past four-and-and-half months. Okay, fasten your seat belts: It was May 8-9 when Zabine Van Ness and I returned to Seattle…