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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

McCain knocks out Giuliani AND Bloomberg!

John McCain apparently landed a devastating 1-2 punch with his victory in Florida Tuesday night, not only knocking the clueless Rudy Giuliani out of the race but also effectively knee-capping Michael Bloomberg’s oft-rumored, self-financed Independent run:

Senator Lieberman says the increasing likelihood that Senator McCain will win the Republican nomination could keep Mayor Bloomberg on the sidelines of the presidential race this fall.

“My feeling all along has been that if he ran, it would be because he had a real reason to run, and frankly, he and John McCain have a lot in common,” the Connecticut senator said in a telephone interview this afternoon. “So if John gets the nomination, I would guess it’s less likely the mayor will run for president.”

While I think there’s enough of a distinction between McCain and Bloomberg that a McCain/Clinton race would still make him a viable third candidate, I suspect the combination of [relative] moderates like Lieberman and Arnold Schwarzenegger endorsing McCain means he’d risk being cast as the Republican’s Ralph Nader and simply ensure an easier path to victory for Clinton. McCain/Obama would be even more problematic for him as Obama’s already secured the “change” mantle and offers a much starker contrast to the 71-year-old McCain than Bloomberg ever could.

Interestingly, one of the key figures behind the Draft Bloomberg effort here in NY, Karin Gallet (whom I interviewed for Spindle last year), has given up the cause:

“He’s not running. He’s convinced me… Even his good buddies are backing McCain. I think they would know if there was a reason to hold off on an endorsement. McCain is MB’s base, so the opportunity has faded. And besides, even with the best effort of the big bad unity 08 boys, we’ve not seen any significant pop support, none of that lefty groundswell ala Clark.”

(more…)

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

International Delete Your Myspace Account Day

[via Bloggasm, with a hat tip to Nick Mamatas]  If you’re reading this and you’ve experienced any of the things on the list below, your account may be in need of deletion: 1. You rarely log in to Myspace except to delete spam friend requests from nude webcam girls. 2. You spend five minutes writing a wall post only to hit an error message when you try to post it because of all the website glitches. 3. You’re a girl who constantly gets marriage proposals from random men in the middle east. 4. You visit someone’s Myspace profile only to…

Continue ReadingInternational Delete Your Myspace Account Day
An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

On self-discipline and self-flagellation

The most difficult aspect of writing, for me, has always been the self-discipline required to write every day, no matter what. I simply don’t have any. (Not just for writing, either, but that’s a whole other post!)

There are a number of legitimate reasons excuses I could put forward to explain why it’s so difficult to find the time to write on a regular basis, not the least of which are family and work obligations as well as my ruthless internal editor, but even if I won the lottery tomorrow and didn’t ever have to work again, I would still probably lack the self-discipline to stick to a regular routine of writing. (Blogging doesn’t count.) I envy those people who can wake up early in the morning to get a couple of hours of writing done before they start their day, but that’s not an option for me as my weekdays start at 6am without any writing, and staying up late comes with its own obstacles, not the least of which is sleep deprivation doesn’t make for very good writing.

I especially envy the old me who used to crank out at least one new poem each week, slam it at the Nuyorican on a Wednesday night (or later, read it every Monday at 13), and then move right on the next one, rarely looking back. Most of those poems weren’t very good, but the gears were always turning and I’d eventually revisit a few and edit them into something good whenever I hit a dry patch. Most of that writing was done at Botanica, a couple of nights each week after work, usually before the Nuyorican on Wednesdays and Fridays.

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

High School Musical

Taking a break from politics for some mindless memeing… 

Go to this convenient compilation site right here http://longboredsurfer.com/charts.php and find the five years you were in high school. For each year, admit to the song that was your favorite at the time, then decide which one you now generally consider to be the best song on the list. Lastly, pick the year’s worst song, snarking optional.

1983

Favorite: It’s hard not to pick one of Prince or David Bowie’s songs, all of which I still love, and I didn’t really discover “Faithfully” until several years later, so I’ll have to go with Spandau Ballet’s “True”.

Best: Without question, it’s Prince’s “1999”

Worst: Toto’s “Africa”

(more…)

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

WordPress Upgrade 2.3.2

I just manually upgraded WordPress to the latest version (2.3.2) and had my fingers crossed the whole time that I wouldn't crash my site or destroy my database or something. All seems good on the back-end, though, and this post should confirm that my Facebook and LiveJournal cross-posting plug-ins are still working. ETA: All systems are go!

Continue ReadingWordPress Upgrade 2.3.2
An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Time Out!

Okay, once I start posting 2am rants about politics, it's clearly time to pause for a deep breath and talk about something else for awhile. ...  Spindle? Chugging along quite nicely. We hit 15,000 page views on Sunday and today's update concludes the "official" launch. Now I have to start working on February's content, including a new Notable New Yorker interview. Writing? Haven't written anything new in a few weeks (the random villanelle doesn't count) and have to put together at least one submission before the end of the month. Read "A Change in Direction" last night in the open mic. Reading? I'm juggling…

Continue ReadingTime Out!
An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

The SC Debate

In retrospect, I'm so annoyed that I missed tonight's debate in favor of poetry, but I'm glad that Obama apparently finally brought it: "I can't tell who I'm running against sometimes." [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD9F1t9GQzA] Sorry, but it's official. I hate the Clintons and I will not vote for Hillary if she's the Democratic nominee, even if Bloomberg doesn't run. Side note: The thing that frustrates me the most, and honestly makes me sad to the point of tears, is the people who want and expect more from politicians but accept the Clinton's dirty tactics because  it's just politics and "that's how the game is…

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