Paradigms...where shift happens!

Big news today!

You might want to call all those who are near and dear to you because I'm sure this will make their day. Maybe the category for this post should be Lipstick for Pachyderms. Headline level story today from multiple news sources that some scientists have concluded that elephants can recognize themselves in a mirror. I can just hear the banter in the pachyderm playpen right now. "John," she says as she pirouettes in front of a floor to ceiling mirror, "Does this grey leather dress make me look fat?"

OK, it's a piece of knowledge that may lead to something but what did it cost to find this out and who the hell was willing to pay for the huge mirrors? Did we really need this info? Other than the fact that I had something to blog about, I could probably could have limped through the day in ignorance on the subject. Elephants are intelligent animals, we know that. If these researchers want a challenge, find out if sand dollars recognize themselves in a mirror. At least the mirrors would be cheaper.

Now that's interesting...

In my last entry I said that I was no longer going to send out e-mails announcing something new here and that I had added a subscription link. So far two people out of the 100 plus people on my notification list have taken advantage of that. I know that some of you have the site bookmarked instead. So that I can get some idea of how many people read my ramblings, would you be so kind as to send me a short note at paradigms@verizon.net and let me know whether you are using a bookmark or using a subscription service. If you use a subscription service I would love to know which one. I use Bloglines to track the blogs I read but I chose Feedblitz to use on my blog because the enrollment steps are a bit less complicated. I'll be looking forward to hearing from you. Your e-mail response will not put you on any list other than my Paradigms Good Guy list which serves only to make me feel good.

No solicitations for vitamins, body part enhancement or other personal issues will follow as a result. If you need any of those products, the knowledge of that need falls dead center in TMI land as far as I am concerned.

Thanks in advance for your help on this.

Check out Dooce's blog....I think you'll enjoy it.

I want to be like Dooce

Greetings and hallucinations!

Yes indeed folks…he lives, he thrives (sort of ) and for that he is eternally grateful. The hair continues to abandon ship with alarming frequency, kind of like Republican legislators distancing themselves from the administration as the mid term elections approach.

I have no excuses; my muse has been on sabbatical and my web project (www.rivervoices.net) has consumed more than it’s fair share of time. Especially in the last couple of weeks as I have been informed that my hosting company www.godaddy.com has decided to stop supporting the software I have been using to build the site. In light of their nefarious plots against my sanity, I’ve been thrashing around looking for an alternative that I can afford and that can give me the look that I want. I am going to have to go back and redo everything I have done so far and my seat of the pants ‘guesstimate’ is that I have a couple of hundred hours of rebuilding on my horizon. If you google on “unhappy camper” you may well see my picture appear on your screen.

On a cheerier note, one of my favorite bloggers had a terrific feature article published about her in the Salt Lake City Tribune last week. Here is the link to it and to her blog:

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_4492586 and http://www.dooce.com/archives/daily_photo/10_25_2006.html

Heather is a remarkable and driven lady. She is surpassingly funny in both her writing and her photography. Her blog generates between 800,000 and 1,000,000 hits per month. I should live so long as to reach those numbers. Now fair warning…her language is sometimes adult in nature but it is never gratuitously so. It’s all in context. Go read her stuff but beware…don’t ingest any carbonated beverages while reading it. Your keyboard and nasal passages will not love you anymore.  Might want to forego that Oreo cookie as well. If you think carbonation is uncomfortable imagine cookie shrapnel!!!

Also this will be the last e-mail notification I send about blog postings. I have added a subscription link called “Feedblitz” which is fairly easy to set up or you can simply bookmark the site and check it when the spirit moves you. The subscription link is at the top of the leftmost column. You can also pick up the feed of the blog by going to Bloglines and signing up there.

Finally, I am aware that the banner picture has disappeared and I am on the trail of that.

Thanks for reading and tell a friend...or an enemy if you think this blog sucks...maybe your enemy has more patience than you do.

Halloween what?

Talk about trying to pretty up a porker! Yesterday my local paper, for whom I also write a blog ran a story with a headline that read Fitting Wines for Holiday Season  They may be the hosting entity for one of my blogs but this story was, in my opinion, totally out of place. I posted the following commentary on the story on my blog over there. 

It's a nice hometown paper it really is so I think I'll just write this article off as a journalistic brain fart.