partsofspeaking

The guy on the TV tells me that Pong appeared on the market today in 1972. My fond memory of Pong. A professor at the college I attended was exemplary in asking students to his home. He had a Pong game on his TV. Most of us didn't play it: we just watched it, fascinated that we could control something on the TV screen. Pong was unblievably simple by today's standards: literally just a ball bouncing back and forth against two moving "paddles." Compared to what goes into video games today, it's laughable, of course. But in 1976, we sat mystified.

Had a nice time with our son at home. I shouldn't say this, but I'm very proud of him. No, I take that back. I should say it. All parents should tell their kids daily that they love the children and are proud of them. It would probably clear out a lot of jails.

That title just about says it all, I guess. There is a place in the Smoky Mountains National Park, above Gatlinburg, where Tennessee meets North Carolina. There's a sign there, even, just so you know. Nearby there is a another sign that says, "Free Speech Zone" where visitors are encouraged to use their First Amendment rights. I have a picture of myself standing in front of it posted on my bulletin board outside my office. I like to think I am pretty much an absolutist when it comes to the interpretation of the First Amendment, although I believe it was meant as a protection from the government for political, philosophical, legal, educational, and religious speech, not just an excuse for people to be ugly and profane. Unfortunately, we have to take the good with the bad on it. I don't think those five categories of non-obscene speech are a problem, usually. They aren't for me, but they are for some. However, nothing in the First Amendment absolves the ...

Any reader of this blog knows I like old movies (and I'm not talking about the '90s). I'm talking '30s, '40s, '50s, even '20s, preferably black and white. Color movies of those periods are way too technicolor and almost make me nauseous with the intensity of the color, although I will watch some of them. Why do I like them? They were a lot more subtle, for one thing. A couple having sex is implied with a small gesture, not a lot of nudity and bumping and groaning. Since the point of the sex is simply that they had it, we don't have to be privy to the technicalities. They usually told a story more simply, without a lot of side issues and scenery and unnecessary characters. The women were incredibly beautiful, and they wore great clothes (reason enough for me, as I think I am a fashion designer at heart). The lines are great. Who can do better than "Round up the usual suspects?" in Casablanca . Or Bette Davis in All About Eve , "F...

My son introduced me to Hulu a while back. There are actually a few good movies on there to watch, if you can put up with the commercials (which are oddly placed). Most of them are horror movies, B flicks, cheesy stuff, documentaries, and indie films. But a few good finds have come to my attention. One that I watched the other night was Pieces of April . The set-up sounds like a Lifetime movie, but it's much better. April is the estranged daughter of an ostensibly middle class, happy family. She has a brother and sister near her in age. Her dad is patient and long-suffering. Her mother, we learn, is a difficult woman, who may be so difficult just because she always has been or maybe because she is dying of cancer--probably both. April is estranged because, well, she had a drug problem, she had boyfriend problems, she had .... problems. It's not entirely clear (and this is what makes the movie intriguing for me) whether she is the problem or the mom, or the dad. B...

I have become a victim of Facebook's changes in privacy settings. Alas, I took them for granted. I have since gone in and changed mine so that I am not accessible to everyone on the planet, and I am going to defriend some people--in fact, a lot of them. I have 350 friends and I don't even know who some of them are. That's not good. They will probably be offended, but I should get the number down to fewer than 200. I got that many so I could advertise the book. I also took down personal information.

My mother has been in need of a hysterectomy for a while now. Finally, on November 19, we 'got it taken care of.' Many thanks to the marvelous staff at Memorial Hospital of Chattanooga, TN, and to her surgeon, Dr. Stephen dePasquale. We are waiting for the pathology report, but the surgery part is over and she has survived it despite a heart attack two years ago (albeit mild). Modern medical technology is a wonder. We can all find things to complain about the health care system in this country, but it's because we have been led to expect such high standards and accessibility. That being said, having a loved one in the hospital is very time- and emotion-consuming and the experiences has made me rethink my priorities. But this morning I am very thankful, appropriate for this week.