Note to self: Post This

[sff_corgi_lj]

• In the '70s, my mother was riding the crest of popularity as T'Pring, bride of Spock. My parents had just divorced, so my mother was eager to engage us in "immersive experiences." Aside from nude beaches and est, they included "Star Trek" conventions.... I've never truly understood why my mother's character tugs so viscerally on her fans. I'm also curious where this type of fame sits for Mom, who still yearns for greater glories. For me, her role has been a conversation ice-breaker, a kitschy factoid and a nuclear option for when I'm in trouble.... (more)



• In his 1902 book The Unspeakable Scot, T.W.H. Crosland charged that clannish Scots had begun to dominate London's literary and journalistic circles. Taking up Crosland's mantle these days is journalist Geoffrey Wheatcroft, who told me, "I've been going on about this and I'm treated like a crank." Wheatcroft recently aired his concerns in a radio debate, and emerged from it even more convinced that Home Secretary John Reid was a "complete and utter carpetbagger," and that Scots politicians were "unusually corrupt, drunken, and worthless." (how do you write 'more' in Scots dialect?)



• Hero Dog Fills Out Hospital Paperwork
  October 20, 2006 | Issue 42•43
  BRACKNEY, PA—Ginger, a four-year-old golden retriever, saved the life of her owner Megan Walsh, 37, Monday by quickly and efficiently filling out Walsh’s copious emergency-room paperwork.... (woof)



• Bill O'Reilly: Not a good obstetric-health authority ...Last week on his syndicated radio show, "The Radio Factor With Bill O'Reilly," Fox anchor and loofah-wielder Bill O'Reilly decided to address the issue of abortion... his... claim that 45 percent of Americans favor outlawing abortion "unless the mother's going to die, or catastrophic health consequences, which again, is never the case. Never." (like shooting fish in a barrel, isn't he?) (make sure to read the letters of comment)