Clicking Links

I learned the hard way that clicking on a link can be hazardous to the health of my computer. But sometimes I click on one and I'm glad I did. This morning I discovered Sports Blog Nation, which is home to three blogs that should help me get through football season:

• Every Day Should Be Saturday (general college football coverage)
• Team Speed Kills (coverage of the SEC)
• Good Bull Hunting (Texas A&M football)

Free wisdom

As a rule of thumb, never turn your back on ANY religious fundamentalist regardless of which holy book he carries around.

Added 8:34 AM Friday 3 May: Ed Kilgore has some reactions on a similar topic.

Maybe a new name ?

Several nights each week, I watch old movies on Turner Classic (TCM). Now and then, one of those oldies will have a scene in which a character is speeding along a highway in the mountains, usually in a convertible. Suddenly the driver misses a turn or the car goes out of control and zooms over the edge, tumbling down the mountainside and making all kinds of noise. Sometimes the car explodes in flames.

At any rate, I've watched several of those scenes and I've decided speeding over the edge of a cliff to certain destruction is a reasonable metaphor for our political situation. Since most of the space at Fertilizer Storage is dedicated to politics, I've been thinking about a new name, at least on a trial basis. I tentatively chose the title you see above, Skid Marks Along The Guardrail, which implies a futile attempt to slam on the brakes in the final seconds before crashing onto the boulders below. I renamed my first blog and liked the new name better, so we'll see how things work out.

PS: If anyone out there is reading this, the URL will remain http://www.fertilizerstorage.blogspot.com/

78 percent say W sucks

The National Economy

"Among Americans registered to vote, 18% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 78% disapprove. When it comes to the way Bush is handling the economy, 15% of registered voters approve of the way Bush is handling the economy and 79% disapprove."

I really appreciate the wonkette blog. The fragment above is from a new poll conducted by the American Research Group, and is the subject of merriment at wonkette. One of the three remaining viable candidates for president thinks we need four more years of this crap. Can you guess which one ?

I was impressed by a wonkette reader's comment that Willy Wanker's overall approval is lower than pedophilia, genocide, and Donald Trump. At that blog, snark is treated as an artform. It's snark of a quality I envy and can never attain.

PS: The number of undecided in the ARG poll is 4 percent. They don't give a ** one way or the other. It must be nice to go through life with that level of total apathy.

Why you see Vonnegut's picture at the bottom

In a turn of events that feeds my ego, this blog has broken free of the constraints I originally envisioned, and has found at least one occasional reader who also chooses to comment on my rambling. Like me, the reader has multiple blogs, indicating that he too may suffer from addictive tendencies.

On his non-political blog, basket of puppies , the reader discusses his decision to add an avatar to his blog profile. I can relate, since this is an internal debate I've also had recently. Trying to select a fitting avatar is simply an exercise in navel-gazing, but like the rest of the blogging experience, is a good way to occupy an otherwise idle mind.

My current avatar is the late Kurt Vonnegut, who is listed among The Exemplars on my original blog. I've read most of his books, and haven't found one yet that I'd call disappointing. I've read some more than once; I try to read Slaughterhouse Five at least once per decade.

Anyway, Vonnegut is someone I admire, and choosing him is a form of tribute. The only thing we have in common is facial hair that sometimes becomes unruly. Another avatar is the Boo Radley character from the movie To Kill a Mockingbird (the significance should be obvious to anyone who knows me personally). I also like photorealistic paintings, and use them in the blog header at Pensights. The one of the rusty Ace padlock is an alternate avatar, representing the deeply inhibited aspects of my personality.

In 2008, a new blog to amuse myself

I've been thinking since last fall that I needed a blog by the name of "Fertilizer Storage" and now I have one. FS will be the repository for all the minutiae that would be out of place on the other two blogs, Hot Water and Pensights. To fill my free time, I'll be setting up FS to give it a different look.