Good morrow OS friends. It is Saturday, May 21st, and here again is your friendly announcer. This week we are pleased to present an exclusive--the editorial stylings of Mr.Cranky Cuss. Oh, and should the world come to an end on this sunny Spring day, may you share this copy of the weekly in the otherworld.
D Art's Knucklehead (pop art) seemed apt with all the talk of philandering this week. I get the feeling this man has had more than his share of female attention. The lone, alpha male figure pairs well with...
Caroline Marie's crayon ladies from Staying Sane 101. On second thought, these women don't look like they would take any shit from square-head guy. Perhaps they will use and discard him once they've had their fill.
~The Buzz~
This week was all about "Power and the Pecker Problem" as Nikki Stern so aptly put it. We pontificated and debated from every angle as one extra-marital shagging case after another hit the news. We teased about Arnold's secret son and Newt's multiple nuptials, but we also had to face the dark side when IMF chief DSK was accused of a brutal sexual assault. Oryoki Bowl took it personal in her piece, "Sex and humiliation, a biased view." And from the male perspective? Brassawe cautions that we must carefully disassociate the "head problem from the dick problem."
There is one among us who has gone off the rails. Wishing you all the best, and please get some help.
Barbara Joanne was kind enough to provide a juicy oh-no-she-didn't article to rankle the masses. The lady is of the opinion that Mrs. Obama is no Mrs. Kennedy. Ya think? Her obtuse comparison is based largely on Mrs. Obama's lack of the "proper" artistic sensibility. How dare she invite the urban poet Common to the White House. To add insult to insult, Ms. Joanne even objects to the First Lady's efforts to highlight the problem of childhood obesity, describing her "hectoring campaign" as "tacky, rude, and graceless." Thankfully many commenters took her to task, most notably Bill Beck who was particularly thorough in his point by point refutations. Joanne is not without her fans however.To the idea that the Obama girls would have the audicity to take ballet, Gordon Osmond opined, "The Obama butts are too big for ballet. It's a matter of line, not race." Oh no he didn't.
~ Featured Blog of the Week~
Linda Seccaspina
In the world of show business people often speak about the line between art and commerce. Some say you must define your goals at the outset. Are you to be an actor or a movie star, a true artist or an entertainer? Oddly enough, this dichotomy can also be applied to the OS writer. Though we may be somewhat isolated, it's still all about show business. Most of us long to be on center stage and hold the spotlight as long as possible. Linda Seccaspina does that...on the regular.
Who among us has not asked ourselves at one point or another, shall I be the activist/serious writer this time, or the entertainer? Most of us seek a balance. Some of us are lucky if we can come up with two or three good ideas/week and we feel lucky if the ratings ticker hits the double digits. Many of us seek the fleeting glory of the occasional EP. In my view Linda's status surpasses the vaunted EP/cover spot. She owns real estate on the East Coast (top rated feed), and not just any digs--a Manhattan apartment with park views and a house in the Hamptons to boot.
So what's it all about, the Linda factor? She is both the true artist and the show-stopping entertainer. Linda writes engaging, delicious, up-lifting, funny, poignant, peace-loving prose, count 'em, six days a week. She is a stalwart in a mercurial OS world. Just as I can turn on "Morning Joe" to see what's going on in the world, I can also stop by Linda's place and read about her fascinating adventures on a daily basis--The Tayles of Emileeeeee Mcpheeeee. Oh, and eat your heart out Joe, she even writes on Sundays.
Linda's OS career began just over a year ago with an unadorned post on March 19th, 2010, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly about Ottawa, with nary a comment or rating. By the time the earth completed it's orbit around the sun once again she had reached the height of popularity with her Live Royal Wedding blog on April 29th, which has garnered 327 comments to date. Add to that, 27 Editor's Picks...and counting. Yep, by any measure, Linda Seccaspina is an unqualified success.
So what can I say that's new? Linda has been profiled, interviewed and honored before. We all know she is a liberal love bug who gives out free huggggggggs...the kind of babe who exudes warmth and acceptance. I have not had the privilege of meeting her, but I'd bet my house she's the same person in person. We are convinced she must have special powers. How else could she be everywhere at once? We can find her in the pews at every wedding or funeral, and at the hospital when the baby is born or the elderly parent expires. Somehow she is always one of the first to comment...always available to answer a PM when you're in crisis or in need of a friend.
In her brilliant series, "Horses With No Names", she was able to connect with the forgotten souls in her community. Linda gives these strangers a voice and then shares that voice with us. The latest in the series, about a gypsy teen mom and her dog, is one of her best, but then how can you choose favorites with such a prolific writer. Remember The Pink Frying Pan that Cooks Nothing but Hope? That's who Linda is to me, ever hopeful-- the night light in a darkened room.
So go on with your bad self Ms. Linda, carry on cooking up your own brand of goodies and we will be there to partake. I think I can speak for the whole gang here...we love you Linda.
May the world keep turning, and may we all live to read you again.
What was Emily thinking?
It's not everyday that you can get a first person narrative such as this, an intimate encounter with a Governator. This was a major miss Ms. Emily.
Keka My Date With Ahnuld (The Governator and Me)
~Miscellaneous Cool~
Monsieur Chariot A life in pictures (pt 1)
The dapper young MC .
Alysa Salzberg My Parisian Year
Ann Nichols The Rapture Man
Brassawe I'm Cleva
****************************************
~The State of the Union~
Rebecca Sarwate
America's healthcare system is still broken.
Rwoo5g
Old New Lefty
Alysa Salzberg has taken the baton from Rita Bourland. The former Fiction Friday-- remodeled, revamped, and removed to Wednesday to allow for a weekend between the prompt and posting day. If you would like to participate, they don't discriminate, here's how you may partake:
Plan A: Do your own thing. Write on any topic, in any style you want.
Plan B: (Inspired by a comment from Susie Lindau): Write a story from an animal's perspective.
On Tuesday night (I know some of you like to post early), I will publish a post entitled "Fiction Wednesday Stories for May 25, 2011" . If you write a story, please post a comment with the title of your story, a link to it, etc. at the end of this weekly post. This way, we'll have a complete, self-generated list of stories for each week, all in one place.
~ The Weekly Funnies~
Gerald Anderson
How getting an EP changed my life
Con Chapman
Grammer Police Brutality Charge in Subject-Verb Disagreement
~In the News~
Robert Cook
Newt Gingrich has been Trumped
Catherine Forsythe
Microsoft spends 8.5 billion for Skype
The Ultimate Spoiler: Knowing your own probable longevity
The Traveler
Obama gives Netanyahu an opportunity
Kathy Riordan
Who is Jon Huntsman and Why Should We Care?
AJ Calhoun
Who gave good comment?
Tinkerertink69 on Cranky Cuss'--
Even I can't be cranky at this.
"Yeah, a friend of mine posted it in Facebook. Gawd, so wonderful, but what would have made it Awesome Viral if she said NO, YOU SEEM TO HAVE TOO MUCH TIME ON YOUR HANDS AND WELL, YOU SEEM TO BE HIDEOUS TOO, OUR KIDS WOULD PROBABLY END UP LOOKING LIKE YOU, AND GET TEASED AT SCHOOL AND END UP KILLING EVERYONE. NO, I DON'T THINK SO!!"
From the Midwest on Ann Nichols'--
To Ann's assertion--"It is my firm belief that no one in America who really needs to be “schooled” in these areas is watching “Glee” on Tuesday nights . . ."
FTM replied--"I couldn't disagree with you more. As a former educator, I witnessed first hand the bullying that goes on in schools, and not just against gay kids or those perceived to be gay. Trust me, those who are bullied are watching this show and garnering strength from it. Many kids "aren't there" yet and education and repetition just goes together. I'm also sure many educators are watching it, too."
Matt Paust on Beth Dugan's--
Just Cathy on Linda Seccaspina's--Finally taking advantage of some senior discounts...you know, the ones that begin at 50 (ish)! Ticks me off that many don't kick in till 65! Being the tender age of "the new 40" (ish), hah! I am loath to admit all the bennies that come with this new decade.
As for this Saturday's visit, I hope to God that Jesus really does come down here and answer some long awaited questions!
Like, what's up with the "burning bush?!
Throwing the tablets of the 10 Commandments off that mountain? The point?
Parting of the Red Sea? I could swear it was blue.
Turning water into wine! High time he taught someone else to do that!
Telling Peter to build "his" church on a rock? Look what happened since then!
Telling his followers to eat the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Wouldn't that be a felony these days?
Forging Mary Magdelen of all her sins...let's not go there.
No disrespect intended, no sireee! Just some questions I'd like answered...including, how to take things "on faith??"
And, if the world and humanity are going to "hell in a hand basket in two days...why on earth do we care so much about Arnold's "love child?"
Wasn't JC, in fact, the first historic love child to achieve such acclaim as to his miraculous conception and perfect love for all mankind?
The latter being the crux of the matter. If He could impart the knowledge onto us of how we can find perfect love for all mankind, would we be talking about "The Rapture?"
What the world needs now is a good dose of "Divine Inspiration."
(sometimes well raised, good Catholic girls, become silly and a wee bit cynical at times. "In God, we trust." How about that?)"
~Cranky's take~
There’s a running joke among my OS email pals: it’s 3:00 pm, so OS must be down. When I do finally get on, OS is so slow that I could read War and Peace in the time it takes to post a comment. OK, that’s an exaggeration, since War and Peace is 1,200 pages; maybe Anna Karenina, which is only 800.
The continual trouble suppresses readership. I used to make it a point to find new bloggers, encourage them and try to welcome them into the fold. I don’t do that anymore. The site is down so often that I just concentrate my limited reading time on friends and a few old reliables. I’m sure many others are doing the same. That’s a shame.
Recently, one of my favorites, who hadn’t posted anything here since the end of 2010, tried to post about the Alabama tornado damage. She told me it took forever to get in, forever to upload text, forever to upload the video and when she tried to edit, the site crashed. When she finally published, the first commenter told her it took over 20 minutes and three attempts to post a comment. She got disgusted and deleted the post entirely.
The worst part is that nobody in management ever communicates to us about it. If they told us, “Look, we feel bad about the problem, but we’re financially constrained,” I’d understand. But they tell us less than Arnold told Maria about his love child. They act like Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men, thinking, “You can’t handle the truth!”
Well, I’m ready to go post a comment. This will give me a chance to read Les Miserables.
Editor's note: If you are a regular subscriber, you might have noticed a something different--the blurbless featurettes. The blurbs were tragically lost in one of many OS crashing incidents I endured while producing the Weekly. Your faithful EIC is at fault for writing copy directly into OS without a back-up on word. I did not have the heart to go back and rewrite.
So, I beg your indulgence for an experiment of sorts--interactive blurbing. If you can come up with 2-3 sentences to describe/review one of the featurettes, put it in the comment thread and I will add my favorites to The Weekly in real time. Bring your A game please, we do have our rep to protect.
~ Contributors~
Thanks for you comment submissions and artwork
OS Weekly 1-Alysa Salzburg Sets the Scene for Peace Talks
OS Weekly 2- Rebecca Sarwate is Healing, Writing, and Winning
OS Weekly 3- iamsurly is bustin' balls and taking names
OS Weekly 4- Read Nikki Stern, Because I Say So!
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markinjapan
Desnee Flakes
Shannon Coulter
Marianne Spellman
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Oryoki Bowl
Salon.com
Comments
If you haven't seen Brassawe's video, "I'm Cleva" so so immediately. That's an order. Also, please participate in the blurb game. Blurbing was my favorite part of writing the Weekly so the loss was particularly painful. So...cheer me up and play along.
Terrific job, as usual, Babe.
- then there was "Biology and Monogamy" [ by bluestocking_babe], which still has me pondering.
- then there was "Biology and Monogamy" [ by bluestocking_babe], which still has me pondering.
And then, there is also the little picture-bio of my diabolical Victorian childhood, which was (rightfully) ignored by the editors. Thanking you from the dank, fetid cellar of my tiny heart for the kind acknowledgment!
Thanks for plugging the Wednesday fiction group. There are definitely some out there that don't know of the change. I better start writing one for this week!!!!
Brassawe got me thinking we should start blogging Friday night video lip sincing!! I would stop in to see what OSers come up with..
Beth Mann did a great one of Eminem's Eight Mile!
Maybe OS will run better this summer with more people out and about enjoying the sunshine -
Rated
I began to read this and good thing I was sitting on the couch. I thank you my love, and it brought tears to my eyes. I agree with Cranky's piece too. This technical stuff is like going through a bad divorce. We cannot lose the OS children, our family. But things are really sucking and family is leaving.
I come here to write and read but mostly for the fellowship. Some people know I have been fighting an ongoing infection and one evening I was as low as you can get and I read Brassawe's post,"I'm Cleva!".
I could not stop laughing and figured everyone else could use a smile and flogged and emailed the heck out of it until there was barely a word left.
I do that with a lot of pieces that make my emotions flow and this is what this place is to me. It has become my home and you are all my family. See Caroline Marie's picture of our family.:)
In thanking you again I must repeat what others have said,
"I' m not really Linda simply a bunch of bloggers from China!"
Thank you again
HUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
rated with love
As for OS and its endless difficulties, there is rumor of a writers' strike afoot.
Lezlie
I've have to go do this Karaoke contest thing now...back to to chat later.
♥R
A little cracked, but that's how I like my eggs! I mean friends!! :D
RATED!!!!!
I won the Karaoke contest tonight. Next week I will compete in the semi-finals. Top prize is $1500 and the competition is fierce! Fingers crossed.
How about a video from the Karaoke contest?
OS family portrait, hee hee