News of Note (to me)

I may have been offline, but I wasn't dead.

Among the articles that got my attention but weren't among the headlines, here are a few from the week in review:

• From the "Oh, lighten up!" file, there was a story in Thursday's Gazette about an e-mail making the rounds with neighborhood-specific Barbies (you really have to follow that link, and look closely at those two babies with Widefield Barbie) for southern Colorado. "Experts in human behavior say it’s juvenile, mean-spirited and a perpetuation of hurtful stereotypes. It could, some suggest, harm the self-esteem of children — and even adults — in the targeted neighborhoods." If the shoe fits . . . and believe me, as stereotypes go (founded in generalization based in fact) I have to admit, these hit pretty close to home. I would love to have a BMW convertible, Shallow Ken that I am. And stereotypes can play an educational role as well. I didn't even get Trinidad Barbie until my 18-year-old explained to me that Trinidad, Colorado, was the "Sex Change Capital of the World." Seriously people, laugh at it, get over yourself, and forward it to seven friends in the next hour or you'll have bad luck for a year.

• The Playboy Drill Sergeant thing has about played itself out, I think. Here's a follow up from Thursday's news, and probably, since there's a new issue on the stands now, one of the last things we'll hear about that. The whole story brings a whole new meaning to "force shaping."

• This piece from the "Yeah? Well read this!" file goes out to Nate, who's skepticism regarding global warming may be real or may be make-believe, but is a convenient target nonetheless (as, I suspect, he intends). Tucked away on page 10 was this little jewel, pointing out that, "Spurred on by an unusually warm Siberia, Canada, northern Asia and Europe, the world’s land areas were 3.4 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than a normal January, according to the U.S. National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. That didn’t just nudge past the old record set in 2002, but broke that mark by 0.81 degrees, which meteorologists said is a lot, since such records often are broken by hundredths of a degree at a time." Yeah, it was cold here, but just wait for summer baby.

• From the "Things you don't notice until someone points them out, then see all around you" file, comes an article on how we keep track of time. I've worn a watch for as long as I can remember. Too long to even fathom at what point it became a part of my flesh. Without something on that left arm--a self-setting, sun-powered, dive-safe, Casio G-shock for everyday--or an Eddie Bauer classic for dressier times--my wrist looks naked and scrawny. But according to this article, "In a survey last fall, investment bank Piper Jaffray & Co. found that nearly two-thirds of teens never wear a watch — and that only about one in 10 wears one every day." Wow. I live with teenagers, but I hadn't noticed this. Fascinating.

• From the "Goings on back home" file, this article about an English-only movement in Beaufort County, North Carolina, caught my eye this morning. It made for a particularly interesting read, arriving as it did, on the same day as an e-mail from a friend bearing this article on "the Amnesty Trail" from Wednesday's Tuscon Weekly

Finally, I have truly saved the best, from today's news, for last, but it is so important, it will get a post all its own. Stay tuned.

Who needs a seat warmer?

One of the most bizarre stories of the past week had to be that of Navy astronaut Lisa Nowak's diaper-clad drive to Florida. Personally, I had strong suspicions from the beginning that her choice of underwear wasn't driven so much by saving time as by denial of her request for an upgrade to a car with electric seat warmers. There was a tremendously cold air mass parked over most of the country that week, wasn't there. And any SCUBA diver whose spent time in the frigid waters around Monterey will tell you there is a way to warm up that wetsuit.

At any rate, for the curious, this Newsweek article will probably tell you more than you want to know about Lisa's seatwarmers. But you know you really want to know. >-)

Hat tip: Neo-neocon

(The) Gender (and) Gap

Valentine's Day approacheth. As it does, there's plenty of advice out there on how to get it right, or wrong.

An article on the worst gifts seemed only partially right to me. I like beer, but I might like chocolate just as much. Ever since reading Generation X, around 1990, I've occasionally referred to myself as a lesbian trapped in a man's body. (For some reason, the lesbians I've known have never been amused. Unapologetically heterosexual and married to a beautiful woman, I sometimes feel like their prime candidate for the anti-Christ.)

There was also an article on the right gifts to give. That one came closer to right on.

My favorite from the past week though, at least so far as pointing out the differences between men and women, had to do with clothing. An article on Reuters about women and clothing said:

Sixty-one percent of women polled said it would be worse to lose their favorite article of clothing than give up sex for a month.

Could there be any better illustration of the difference between men and women? Ninety-nine percent of the men I know would give up any article of clothing you asked for rather than give up sex for a month. If you could guarantee them sex every night for a month, they might tell you to help yourself to the entire closet.