Imminent, Inappropriate and Poorly Timed

"The basic fact about human existence is not that it is a tragedy, but that it is a bore. It is not..."

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 13:40:21 -0600

“The basic fact about human existence is not that it is a tragedy, but that it is a bore. It is not so much a war as an endless standing in line. The objection to it is not that it is predominantly painful, but that it is lacking in sense.”

- ― H.L. Mencken, A Mencken Chrestomathy (via nevver)

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Wed, 13 Mar 2013 23:01:56 -0600

fideliascharm: FML

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 20:15:24 -0700

fideliascharm:

FML

This is what I do with the baseboard heaters, too!

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 16:50:15 -0700

This is what I do with the baseboard heaters, too!

Internet Backlash Spreads in Wake of Armstrong Interview With Oprah

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 17:37:00 -0700

Originally posted on PolicyMic here.

In his heyday, Lance Armstrong was the guy who got everyone off of the couch and onto a bike.

His hometown of Austin is now known as one of the most bike-friendly cities in the country, his name and face were attached to multiple big-time advertising deals (my favorite being Michelob Ultra, the “healthy” beer), and he was seen biking about with stars like Matthew McConaughey and Jake Gillenhal. There’s a photo of him biking with former president George W.on his Wikipedia page!

If you weren’t friends with the guy, you wanted to be him, and Armstrong’s career certainly added to the worldwide intrigue in cycling as a sport. Amrstrong’s seven consecutive Tour de France wins and his cancer survivor status gave many a role model to look up to. And how the mighty have fallen.

The mayor in Austin has removed his jersey from his office. The advertising and sponsorship deals are gone and ESPN Sports Business reporter, Darren Rovell, says, “Lance Armstrong doesn’t have any future marketability. It’s over.” The celebrities have come out to speak their mind on the issue, including a very gaunt Matthew McConaughey at the Sundance Film Festival.

Lance revealed his public confession of guilt to Oprah Winfrey’s television network on January 17 and the backlash quickly ensued. This guy built an empire, a symbol of which werebeing the ever-present Livestrong bracelets, which are too the focus of internet ire (see one person’s revised bracelet here).

Right now, one of the most popular viral stories about Lance is a photo of an Australian library notice regarding his books being moved to the fiction section (turns out the library memo was a hoax).

Is the internet backlash fair? Well, as Matthew McConaughey put it, the truth can be hard to face at first. Similar to another Oprah-revealed scandal, author James Frey’s confession to partially fictionalizing his account of beating drug addiction is hard to come to terms with because he became a symbol for hope in the face of adversity. For many, both Armstrong and Frey disappointed the public because they misled them in terms of exposing their weaknessesto build a narrative of overcoming adversity, whether it be surviving cancer to be a cycling champion or beating addiction. In this sense, venting on the internet is totally legitimate. One thing that we all can say we’ve done at least a handful of times is go on the internet and search for answers when we’re scared and we don’t know what the right answer is, and in this way the internet is like our community AA group or maybe our grandfather who will listen no matter what we have to say.

Like everything that goes viral on the internet, this Armstrong hate campaign will soon be a distant memory as new memes and more confessions of ill repute become the new source of web entertainment. For Armstrong, his new chapter in living an honest life is just beginning. If he can sort of win seven Tour de France races, then I think he can handle a little public ire for the time being.

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Sun, 20 Jan 2013 15:56:15 -0700

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Sat, 22 Dec 2012 22:40:27 -0700

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Sat, 22 Dec 2012 22:39:17 -0700

"To toil, to think, to long, to grieve - is such my future fate? The morn was dreary, must the eve be..."

Sun, 09 Dec 2012 23:17:26 -0700

“To toil, to think, to long, to grieve - is such my future fate? The morn was dreary, must the eve be also desolate? Well, such a life at least makes death, a welcome, wished-for friend.”

- Charlotte Brontë (via damnfinecupoftea)

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Wed, 28 Nov 2012 07:26:45 -0700

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Tue, 20 Nov 2012 19:42:40 -0700

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Wed, 07 Nov 2012 19:02:41 -0700

"Spend five minutes cooking pasta and a whole other hour musing about it. Have strange vivid dreams..."

Sun, 14 Oct 2012 17:47:30 -0600

“Spend five minutes cooking pasta and a whole other hour musing about it. Have strange vivid dreams of talking animals. Live in a library. Be skinny and pale and not pretty in a typical sense but unconventionally attractive. Listen to The Beatles. Lose something and look for it (cat, wife, etc.). Shovel cultural snow. Meet the Sheep Man. Feel an inordinate amount of pain but still survive.”

- Haruki Murakami

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Wed, 10 Oct 2012 21:56:59 -0600

nevver: Peanuts

Sun, 07 Oct 2012 22:29:15 -0600

nevver:

Peanuts

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Sun, 07 Oct 2012 13:32:08 -0600

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Sun, 07 Oct 2012 10:34:36 -0600

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Tue, 02 Oct 2012 22:50:03 -0600

"Language is how ghosts enter the world. They twist into awkward positions to squeeze through the..."

Sat, 22 Sep 2012 14:44:29 -0600

“Language is how ghosts enter the world.
They twist into awkward positions
to squeeze through the black spaces.
The dead read backwards,
as in a mirror. They gather
in the white field and look up,
waiting for someone
to write their names.”

- Anne Michaels, from “What the Light Teaches”

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Fri, 21 Sep 2012 11:04:00 -0600