Orientation::QuilterQuilts, Cat Herding, Fruitcake, Life :: Mary Beth Frezon

State of the World

§ October 29th, 2009 § Filed under From the Quote Box, good causes, In the neighborhood, life around us, rants § Add a comment

You must be the change you want to see in the world.
Mahatma Gandhi, Indian political and spiritual leader (1869 – 1948)

This quote is in my quote box and I see it pop up from time to time. It reminds me that if I want people to be kinder and nicer in the world, I must be kinder and nicer to them. If I want peace I must work to be peaceful myself.

This week it has been very hard – very hard – to know what to do with the idea of living in this world. I don’t even want to link the news stories that have brought me to this difficult place. Many horrific things did that. If I choose not to know about them, pretend I don’t, act like they don’t matter, it doesn’t improve the world a single iota. Sometimes all you can do is bear witness, but that should be in the most extreme circumstances. Witnesses bear witness – they tell their tale for a reason. Remaining silent isn’t the reason they are there.

What about the rest of the time?

I think most people would agree that if I see someone being harmed, I should step in to see if I can help prevent that or reduce the harm. So this week’s tale of people standing around while someone was being harmed and/or deciding to join in with the harming – not the right thing to do. A simple 911 call from one person would have made a huge difference in the outcome of a story for a single person and in the story of other participants and all their familes and the bigger community.

What if it’s a stray comment that’s racist or discriminatory? What do you do? Does your silence imply consent?

What if you hear plans being made to harm someone? What if it’s a government or big group of people making the plans?

Short of moving to a cave and not knowing what’s happening in the world, I’m not sure what to do with the enormity of the world and what we hear every day in the guise of news and entertainment. Cave-dwelling doesn’t change the world of course. It just keeps the news from getting to you. If you are a cave-dweller who left knowing that the world is full of monstrous acts, full of people who don’t choose to do the right thing – won’t you bring that info with you? And then what?

Be part of the solution – I know, I know.

But how?

Our imagination is the only limitation to what we can have in the future. — Charles Kettering, American industrialist

You must be the change you want to see in the world.
Mahatma Gandhi
Indian political and spiritual leader (1869 – 1948)

OK. How?

Dorks R Us

§ October 27th, 2009 § Filed under geeky stuff § 3 Comments

Geesh what a total geek. I printed today’s Calvin and Hobbes comic to my HP Laser Printer from my iPhone via the PrintMagic App. Ummm because I can. Yeah that’s why.

Me and the Rokk

§ October 24th, 2009 § Filed under geeky stuff, WoW § Add a comment

Chatting with my new guildies today prompted me to round up the rest of these screenshots and finish this project. Oh, what the heck – put it on youtube because I can.

The Rokk is a daily cooking quest giver in Lower City Shattrath. He made my level 70 life a living hell for a few months trying to get the last cooking recipe from him as a quest reward. These are just a few of our conversations:

Me and the Rokk

In case you were wondering about the up and comings

§ October 22nd, 2009 § Filed under geeky stuff, life on the web § 1 Comment

Some of them have already arrived. Some have arrived and retired. The really good ones are still out in the trenches thinking up good stuff!

But in a CNN article “40 under 40″ we meet Max Levchin who among other feats in his young life:

Helped created the Gausbeck-Levchin fraud test, the alphanumeric jumble you’re asked to type before making a transaction online.

Hey you knew somebody created that right? Now you know one of those who were responsible! He’s the one who makes me say “type these letters to prove that you’re a human being…”

Also in the mix is Biz Stone and Evan Williams. You may connect them as co-founders of Twitter, but how do you feel about the nugget that Evan Williams was a founder of Blogger before that? Keep those ideas coming Evan – knew you way back when and have the blogger tshirt to prove it!

Define yourself

§ October 19th, 2009 § Filed under life around us, Ripped from the headlines § Add a comment

Where are you and what are you doing with your life?