The Flatland Chronicles: Table of Contents.

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QUIDDITIES & ODDITIES [Isn't it AMAZING?]

A plague of butterflies in Texas
Oooh, Pretty Crop Circles! 3 August 2006.
Magnificent UK Site---"Atmospheric Optics" 4 August 2006.
In "How Stuff Works: Myth and Fact About the Bermuda Triangle, plus a digression and a personal anecdote concerning the Brown Mountain Lights. 5 August 2006.
Welcome, Three New Planets; Will the Woolly Mammal Be Revived; and Booting Up the Brain. 17 August 2006.
Asteroid Busters! 18 August 2006.
Rejuvenations & Interventions. 20 August 2006.
The [literal] music of the spheres; how Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" indirectly led to the recovery of one of the important missing NASA tapes. 21 August 2006.
Whales. Awww. How mated killer whales make up after a fight. 23 August 2006.
Good news about tea; ALSO why the "Veronica's veil" is [seriously] NOTHING LIKE THE TURN SHROUD. 24 August 2006.
Free downloadable books on google; new dinosaurs, the controversy over the existence of hobbits, and the snacking habits of ancient birds; Edward Gorey & The Beastly Baby. 30 August 2006.
Weird science, science, and a website addressing both. 10 September 2006.
Weird animal extravaganza at "Live Science." 15 September 2006.
EVERYTHING'S RELATIVE: General theory of relativity passes test with flying colors! 16 September 2006.
DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT NEW PLANETS. Give us back Pluto! 16 September 2006.
COOL. REALLY, REALLY ANCIENT MESOAMERICAN writing. 16 September 2006.
Eye floaters, ancient writing, strange new planets. 16 September 2006.
Clinton at You Tube! "We're Stocking Up for Winter!" 30 September 2006.
These fragments I have shored against my ruin: black holes, dinosaur, walking sharks, and cuteness. 3 October 2003.
And the worlds wag on.... [Meso-American sculpture, an organization of sciences and engineers to push for a pro-science president, a headcount of black holes, origin of planets confirmed, and several amusing instances of humans behaving like humans]. 11 October 2006.
An Ancient City Under the Sea, A Mouse Eating Carnivorous Plant, and a Boy who Plays Video Games with his brain. 15 October 2006.
The Mystifying Power of Cuteness; Why? or, That Purry Feeling. Further Reflections on the fearsome power of the cutest of all websites, Cute Overload. 14 November 2006.
A Bloom County Thanksgiving. Also Christmas. [The turkey prayer we all remember] 14 November 2006.

REALITY BITES [AUGUST 2006] Sometimes they taste like chicken.

Sweet. Other People's Pasttimes--grocery bag sandals?
Nasty Aftertaste: Some unpleasant & irritating bits of news from 11 August 2006.
Painful to Swallow, 11 August 2006: Facts About British Culture. Also: "Islamic fascists?" Note to the President'sspeechwriters: Consult a thesaurus or a history book. Wrong connotation.
Spewing Out the Whole Cup of Joe, 12 August 2006: All Together Now! Even I can't carry on defending him, at least as a Democrat. 12 August 2006.
Sweet & Sour, with a Caustic Aftertaste. The actually not necessarily all that reassuring triumph of civil liberties over domestic spying; progressive bloggers voice their (in my opinion, spurious) doubts about the reality of the foiled terrorist plot; Republicans for Lieberman?; the woes of Katherine Harris. 17 August 2006.
The Raw Taste. Celebrities Against Terrorism; Israel; and the connection. 18 August 2006.
Bitter Bad. Haditha. 19 August 2006.
Hard to Swallow. My fellow Dems keep cranking out the conspiracy theories. On this point, not feeling them. 19 August 2006.
Mmm, cupcakes. Reflections on Joel Stein's piece in this week's Time. And [finally] the return of Real Time with Bill Maher. 22 August 2006.
It's an OUTRAGE! They're taking away PLUTO! You BASTARDS. 24 August 2006.
Res Ipsa Loquitur: The Sayings of Katherine Harris. Sometimes it's better just to let them speak for themselves. 24 August 2006.
Eating her words; eating their losses. Katherine Harris explains; New Orleans waits. 27 August 2006.
To Congressional Democrats: For God's Sake, REPRESENT. 28 August 2006. Hello? Hello? Is there anyone there?
Real Time with Bill Maher: September 1, 2006. Oh, Bill. When will you ever stop throwing out the baby Jesus with the bathwater? Plus: other tentative first impressions.
Tastes Like Chicken. I reflect on a BBC article about the Senate Intelligence Committee's report on the non-link between Saddam and Al Quaeda and the fact that they're still arguing about it. Listen up, guys: we are ALREADY in Iraq. What are we going to do about that, if anything? Not to mention global warming and New Orleans.
Examples & Expectations---Good Advice for Parents. 18 September 2006. Childhood obesity and the pressure to get into Harvard. Does anyone else see a connection?
Go, Al! Go, Al! Go, Al! 19 September 2006. Al Gore's Speech at NYU Law.
....couldn't put Humpty Dumpty together again. 5 October 2006. Why the Republicans have no one but themselves to blame for the reaction to the Foley scandal.
Political reflux. Reports of the Iraqui body count; North Korea weapons testing: Bill McCain says it's Clinton's fault which, COME ON; North Korea weapons testing--Bill O'Reilly explains it all; Katherine Harris Again. 11 October 2006.
The Gainesville Murders and the Death of Danny Rollings. Thoughts from someone who remembers it all. 28 October 2006.
New Rule for Bill Maher. 15 November 2006.
New Rule for Richard Dreyfuss: GET A BLOG. Preliminary reflections on Real Time with Bill Maher for 18 November 2006.

THE FLATLAND CHRONICLES [SEPTEMBER 2006--]

1 September 2006. More about the grocery bag sandals (and the charming letter I received from their maker).
4 September 2006. Steve Irwin. No. Thoughts about Flickr, the death of Steve Irwin, and my perilous adolescence on the Catawba River. The connecting element: snakes.
14 September 2006. Work and its hold on me; I rationalize my ability to stick to anything, including opinions, by mildly ridiculing people with actual convictions. Sorry...
22 September 2006. "Secretly awesome." Blogging as "journaling," how online journals and online diarists can make YOUR life better.
27 September 2006. Studio 60's nod to Gilbert and Sullivan. The Animaniacs did it first. I'm sort of embarrassed that I know that.
2 October 2006. The latest---latest---schoolyard murders. When will we ever learn?
23 October 2006. Steven King Knows Scary, Gordon Ramsay Knows the F Word, and Robert J. is [back] in the House.
24 October 2006. That time of year that thou may'st now in me behold. Even in Florida, sometimes life feels autumnal with the long slide into winter already getting under way. Sigh.
30 October 2006. More F Word with Gordon Ramsay. Yay!
8 November 2006. Good news for the Dems, mainly. A critical election. Hurray...
22 November 2006. A brief, morose appearance by the ghost of Thanksgivings Past. A list in honor of Thanksgivings Present.

THE BLOGCOMBER

In my new category, my first essay responding to some of the writings of one of my favorite bloggers, the author of "Real Live Preacher." This one's one the nature of evil, but I plan to cover all sorts of topics, including completely frivolous ones!

FOR CONTENTS OF ARCHIVES CLICK HERE:

ARCHIVES

THE FLATLAND CHRONICLES PART 1 [AUGUST 2-AUGUST 29]

2 August 2006 [ringing in the first change---the beginning of another gigantic web-related undertaking: this]
3 August 2006 [It starts or seems to]
5 August 2006 [I vent some frustration, fairly mildly. Also: notes about my personal saint, "Miss Manners" (Judith Martin) and my friend Frannie.
6 August 2006 [I still can't stop talking about Mel Gibson---why? I was never a fan. Anyway, it's here]
8 August 2006 [I forget an important anniversay. Fortunately, so does Nick].
10 August 2006 [the terror plot that was foiled in England, irritation at both political parties (including my own), sadness---destined not to last----at the reaction to Lieberman's defeat, even though I wanted Lamont the same as everyone else]
11 August 2006 [more frustration at my own Dems, though destined not to last. I am Queen, King, and Jack of the flip-floppers and proud of it!]
20 August 2006. Deploring the absence of any fire in my belly (other than that produced by occasional acid reflux]. I will always pull my punches.
21 August 2006. On the restoration of civility. I flip-flop around about that for a bit. Nevertheless, I'm right and you all KNOW it.
22 August 2006. More of the same. Many rhetorical questions.
23 August 2006. Thoughts on watching When the Levees Broke, plus a kickass idea for a new reality show.
29 August 2006. Ambivalence about the beginning of the next round of work; more praise for Gordon Ramsay; a tearful farewell to Deadwood (which should NEVER have been cancelled.)

THE FLATLAND ORACLES [IMPORTED FROM PREVIOUS BLOG, "THE FLATLAND ORACLES." Some of the links may send you to the older blog, which will send you straight back here. I imported them for the sake of thoroughness only.]

20 June 2006. The beginning of an undertaking I'd never have undertaken if I'd known how damn long it would take.
22 June 2006. An essay on presents and their perils, praise for the divinely inspired website, Cute Overload.
23 June 2006. Bite me, Republicans in Good Faith! (Just kidding, Mom!)
30 June 2006. I am forced to read aloud and am embarrassed by it. Nick does so and is rightfully praised.
4 July 2006. Happy birthday to America!
5 July 2006. Here's hoping everyone ELSE had a glorious 4th. My hamster died. <Sniff> RIP, little dude! I was also brought down by the news of a VERY CRUEL POLL in England.
6 July 2006. Reflections on the Death of Ken Lay. Seriously, my fellow Dems. Seriously: seriously. Jesus. Also: my mother's campaign on behalf of the American flag.
7 July 2006. Season of Mould & Cat 3 hurricanes. That my love for Florida is real is demonstrated by the fact that I go right on loving it right through the summer. Speaking of New Orleans, some concerns about Lake Okeechobee.
8 July 2006. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EMMA! Also: some thoughts about the gnostic gospels and alternative Christianity and the alt-Jesus.
9 July 2006. Blogging; why? Also: praise for Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth.
10 July 2006. Too much internetting makes Damozel loopier than ever. [Had I but known]. ALSO: a documentary about Jesus.
13 July 2006. I attend a writing class, where I am made to Read Aloud.
16 July 2006 part 1. My brief stint at the Top of the Pops [Salon's top 100].
16 July 2006 part 2. Some random thoughts on angels. Mr Rumcove administers a correction.
19 July 2006. I swear not to comment on Israel's invasion of Lebanon and then proceed to do so.
20 July 2006 [part 1]. Stuff about blogging, specifically google rankings.
20 July 2006 [part 2]. More collected advice for amateur bloggers like me.
22 July 2006. From "The Culture Gutter," a list of familiar TV and film cliches.
31 July 2006. Reflections on reflections. Some agonizing.
1 August 2006. I agonize further how to feel over events I can't control and rethink my thoughts about Israel and my previous rethinkings of them.