February 20, 2004

An elegant look at the San Francisco Weddingfest.

A college student who goes by the LJ name, Dragon's Angel, recently posted a fantastic idea. A friend of hers called up a florist in San Francisco, ordered a bouquet of flowers, and had it delivered to a random couple waiting in front of city hall to get a marriage license.

Interested in sending The Big Gay Bouquet? Click here to learn more.

February 19, 2004

A Danish biotech company has developed a genetically modified flower that changes color when its roots come in contact with nitrogen-dioxide. Such chemicals often evaporate from explosives buried in soil. So basically, within six weeks, a flower will turn red if it blooms near a land mine.

Desiree Cooper of The Detroit Free-Press shared a charming story of illness, maternal love and class conflict with NPR earlier this month. Listen to it, and ponder what having pneumonia was like in 1927.

February 18, 2004

Everyone's been raving about Turnpike Films' Nutrigrain commercial. Personally, I think it's rather disturbing. The production company's best work, however, lies in its Piñata PSA.

Although it's a little repetitive, this video combining OutKast and Charlie Brown is really quite entertaining. Check it out!

[Update: This video has been removed at the request of Charlie Brown's legal team.]

February 17, 2004

I often describe my muse as a cross between a siren and Destiny. But one of my LJ friends has a kraken for a muse. How cool is that?

Although I don't usually enjoy "fan fiction," I recently stumbled across a Website that has become the exception to the rule. These folks offer retellings of "The Lord of the Rings" story, in the voice and tone of other famous authors.

February 16, 2004

A new Jaded Writings column has been posted. This week, I discuss the process of grieving.

The Milwaukee Sentinel, the largest newspaper in Wisconsin, endorsed Sen. John Edwards for the Democratic presidential nomination today:

"Edwards is smart, engaging and upbeat, comfortable before any audience and often inspiring. Perhaps most intriguing of all, his optimistic campaign, free of attacks on his Democratic rivals, suggests something important about his character: Here is someone who seems to believe that the power of persuasion doesn't have to include excoriation and the politics of personal destruction."

February 15, 2004

Joel Achenbach of the Washington Post wrote a feature story about Google's influence on society. His lead was particularly brilliant:

"In the beginning -- before Google -- a darkness was upon the land.

"We stumbled around in libraries. We lifted from the World Book Encyclopedia. We paged through the nearly microscopic listings in the heavy green volumes of the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature. We latched onto hearsay and rumor and the thinly sourced mutterings of people alleged to be experts. We guessed. We conjectured. And then we gave up, consigning ourselves to ignorance.

"Only now in the bright light of the Google Era do we see how dim and gloomy was our pregooglian world. In the distant future, historians will have a common term for the period prior to the appearance of Google: the Dark Ages."

For the rest of the article, click here.

"Google is your friend. Google loves you. Google wants you to be happy."
--Neil Gaiman

Past Afterthoughts