20 Things To Do List for September- Read the Sunday Comics

Here is our 20 Things To List for September:

1) Listen to "The Turkish Music Hour" on WUVT (90.7-Blacksburg, Va.; the image above is of Turkish pop diva Sertab Erener)

2) Get the Sunday edition of "The Washington Post" (hence the reason for the "Blondie" image as Sunday papers here in America generally have comic strips in them; "The New York Times" is one of the exceptions).

3) Use LinkedIn more often

4) Wear the Spiderman tie more often

5) Watch "Nature" on PBS

6) See an art exhibit at a museum or gallery

7) Read the novel "The Rum Diary" by the late Hunter S. Thompson

8) Watch the Washington Nationals on tv

9) Call Mike

10) Get an Obama/Biden 2012 bumper sticker

11) Pay bills

12) Take photos

13) Read magazines

14) Watch Japanese movies you ordered from Netflix (hence the reason for the image of the late, great Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune)

15) See if family cat needs to have a check-up at the vet

16) Join local athletic club/gym

17) Drink coffee some place besides Dunkin Donuts

18) Fix/ update resume

19) Go see an art-house film

20) Look into joining an online dating services besides E-Harmony


http://www.wuvt.vt.edu

http://www.washingtonpost.com

http://www.neckties.com

http://www.toshiromifune.org

http://www.pbs/wnet/nature

UPDATE (Sept. 2nd): In amazing coincidence, I learned that a song from Turkish pop singer Sertap Erener was actually played during the "Turkish Music Hour." Alas, I was unable to listen to the show because the Internet was down; it airs from 1:00-2:30 p.m. on Saturdays on WUVT (90.7 FM_Blacksburg, Va.).

Quote of the Week- e.e. cummings

While researching this piece, we were surprised that e.e. cummings (also known as E.E. Cummings, though he never capitalized the letters of his name for his poems)
(1894-1962) went from being a bohemian liberal to a Republican.

But, we like his poetry anyway, especially "Buffalo Bill's" and "Little Tree." So, we decided to quote him today in honor of National Poetry Month:

"I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach ten thousand others how to dance."

SIDEBAR: Is anyone else besides me iritated with the Barracuda Networks, an entity that many public instutions, such as libraries, use to 'filter' inappropriate sites, here in the United States and perhaps other parts of the world?

We certainly understand why such institutions would not want patrons looking up pornographic sites as web site dedicated to serial killers and Adolf Hitler as well ones which tell you the best ways to commit suicide.

But, it is ironic that Barracuda will actually block most social networking sites, like Twitter, Facebook and E-Harmony (and, hey we wonder why fewer people are in relationships than ever!), but they will allow access to terrorist organizations, such as the web site for the PKK. This is a Kurdish separatist group, formed in 1978 by Abdullah Ocalan, which has killed thousands of innocent people in Turkey. We presume that even in post-9/11 America that the PKK is apparently not a concern for this network that some may view as a censoring body which happens to share its name with a Portland, Ore., nightclub as well as a famous song by Heart.

How's that for irony?!

Status Update_ Someone from E-Harmony Must Read Our Blog

Status Update for 1/26: "Wow! Someone from E-Harmony might actually be reading our blog because I was matched with an Asian girl today!"

Amazingly enough, after saying that I would like to see E-Harmony match me with an Asian girl, and a few hours later, that's exactly what happened.

Since local newspapers appear to be waging an uphill battle against new media, we thought we'd mention a couple of good small town newspapers.

For starters, there is "The Carrboro Citizen" in Carrboro, NC, which adjoins Chapel Hill at the Flying Pig at the Crook's Corner restaurant (if you've been to Chapel Hill, you'll get the joke).

Their headline story this week is that Benjamin Charis told a gathering at the First Baptist Church in Chapel Hill to be renew efforts to remember Martin Luther King, Jr., and his legacy. Personally, I consider "The Carrboro Citizen" to be the best community newspaper in the Tarheel State.

As for my alma mater "The Salem Times-Register" in Salem, Va. (I worked there as a reporter from 1996-97), one of the stories on their web sites is that Cynthia Munley (who happens to be a personal friend) got her husband Frank Munley, a professor at Roanoke College, a portrait of Martin Luther King, Jr., marching from Selma to Montgomery, Ala., as done by artist Adam Reinhard.

In international news, we learned (from the radio actually) that a 32-year-old woman in Buenos Aires, Argentina, attempted suicide by jumping from the 23rd floor of her hotel only to collide with an incoming taxi which broke her fall and ironically saved her life. Of course, she is now 'in hospital' (as the Brits say) recovering from her injuries.

Status Update_ When Will E-Harmony Hook Me Up with an Asian Girl?

Status Update for 1/25/11: "I wonder when E-Harmony will hook me up with an Asian girl. Perhaps, the reason why I have this desire stems from my infactuation with the David Bowie song 'China Girl.' Shhhhhhhhhhh...."


I have been an E-Harmony member for almost two years now; it has been a mostly frustating experience.


One chief reason for this, besides all the normal things that go a wry when one is dating someone they don't know, is that they never quite match me with the right woman for my interests.

I must profess that I absolutely adore Asian girls, irregardless if they are Japanes, Chinese, Korean or even Malaysian.

I have never actually dated one though I made a futile attempt at trying to arrange a coffee date with an Asian-American girl several years ago.

The reason for this mgiht well stem from the David Bowie video for his 1983 hit "China Girl." In his recent memoir "Talking with Girls About Duran Duran," Rob Sheffield, who also writes for "Rolling Stone" said that he once told REM member Peter Buck that he was jealous of how girls liked REM when he was in high school.

Buck replied that he once felt the same way about David Bowie in the '70s!

Ironically, my mom is apparently in the process of trying to get her Vietnamese hair-stylist to set me up with a girl from Ho Chi Minh City; we'll see how that goes. Perhaps, I can stop in Hong Kong or Shanghai while I'm at it.

And, hopefully, it will be a more positive experience than the ones I've had with E-Harmony so far!

Status Update- (A Short Entry Because We Need Some zzzzzzzzzzzzs!)

I am having MANY problems with E-harmony. Perhaps, it is because I lack patience, which might be why I'm not really good at relationships anyway!