Know what I'd like to have? A modern equivalent of the typewriter itself. No, a PC doesn't cut it, because it's too damn distracting. Having the capacity to run all kinds of programs defeats the purpose of a machine that is dedicated solely to writing.

What I'd like to have is a nice, sleek, contemporary version of the old Wang machines. A simple word processor that runs only one program, one designed to write text. In a small laptop size - hell, a fold-out just big enough to pair a screen with a comfortable keyboard would be great. I'd be willing to pay $300 or so for a machine that I could carry in my backpack or briefcase, could whip out whenever I wanted to do some writing, and which would prevent me from getting lured away by text messaging, the internet, video games, and all those other little gewgaws that can tempt one away from the work.

Of course, a pad and pencil would do the same, but the fingers aren't as strong as they used to be, and one's thoughts do run so fast...

So the Old Boy's Club is the reason Katie Couric is not respected as a jounalist? Gee, and I thought it was because she's a giggling fool in interviews. I've seen a couple she's done, and have had to change the channel out of eye-rolling frustration. This is the best they could do for a female anchor? I think of women like Connie Chung, Tricia Toyota, Barbara Walters, and this simpering ninny is expected to win my respect?

But then, Americans seem content with dumbing down and inarticulation in most walks of life these days. Compare Walter Cronkite with Brian Williams, or for that matter, John Kennedy with George W. Bush.

If professional women want a better chance at being taken seriously, it would behoove them to act in a serious manner. Otherwise, you're gonna get what you asked for. In Couric's case, it's being treated like a teenager.

Has it occurred to anyone that the idea of "pleasing the man" that's attached to these products might come not from some supposed desire for a virginal woman, but from the fact that, to a male, a tighter vagina simply feels good? I mean, it's not as if using this cream will make a guy suddenly forget that's he's ever fucked you before, and believe that you're now totally untouched. It will, however, give his dong a more snug hug, as it were. (If it works, that is, a condition I can't attest to.)

Perhaps that's all there is to it, yes?

...I'll stick with DVD's. I'm not up on the latest news, but the last I looked, you still couldn't keep the movies you download through services like iTunes and Netflix. I'm a born collector - most of the films I'm interested in, I'll want to watch more than once, so one-time downloads make no sense for me. So until some service comes along that allows me to download a film and keep it for my own later viewing, without restrictions like locking it to a certain device, I'll stick with the convenient format I know and love.

My bedroom windows face west, and in Southern California, that means the room turns into an oven during hot summer afternoons. But I counteract the effect by simply covering my windows with aluminum foil. Once I started doing that, the temperature in that room dropped by at least 15 degrees! Sure, it can darken the room, but I leave a space of a few inches at the bottom for light, and I'm not usually in there during the day anyway. With the help of the foil, it only takes about 20 minutes to cool the room once the sun goes down, by opening the windows. It used to take at least an hour and a and a half to clear out the heat.

Sometimes low-tech can do wonders.

but what about starting from a place of self-regard and personal authority

The irony of that phrase published on a blog called Broadsheet is stupefying.

Usually, I would comment using Capt. Murdoch's classic "I guess irony can be pretty ironic", but it's gotten to the point where this kind of thing actually isn't ironic anymore. Irony gets its humor from the juxtaposition of unexpected events, but I've now come to expect U.S. government officials to lie, cover up and use every two-faced argument and trick in the book. I'm not sure what to call it anymore (other than, say, disgusting, disheartening, outrageous, etc.) but it sure as hell isn't ironic.

Uy. Making up new words is a challenge. Maybe nickelic? Like ironic but not as stable? Naw, too obscure. Rustic (deteriorated irony) might be good, but it already has an entrenched meaning that would be hard to overcome. Yep, it's a poser, but you're right. We really need a word for this - something that would be ironic if, you know, it wasn't.

Wow, great link! Thank you for posting that. Definitely bookmarking it, will also pimp the link around for people to use.

"Meant no disrespect"? Fine. So how about you take the line out? Because it's still there opening the piece, letting everyone know that you DO indeed disrespect the story. No half-hearted pseudo-apology made after the fact and buried on the letters page is going to change that. Put your money where your mouth is and treat the subject with the gravity it deserves.

And you Broadsheet writers wonder why women bloggers aren't taken seriously?

I miss Carl.