Haiku #153
Written on 9:06 AM by Jack B.
Weekends come and go
Yet I accomplish nothing
Time's passing me by
Haiku #152
Written on 12:50 AM by Jack B.
Yesterday it was
Thought I saw you standing there
A trick of the light
Haiku #151
Written on 11:54 AM by Jack B.
Her moonlight night dreams
More real than living wakeness
Troubles fade away
Haiku #150
Written on 7:27 AM by Jack B.
Lies told and lies lived
Lies that lie beneath the skin
Lies truth distorted
Iran to hang teenage girl attacked by rapists
Written on 10:07 AM by Jack B.
I know this is from last month - but I think it's still timely. I'll let the story for itself: Tehran, Iran, Jan. 07 – An Iranian court has sentenced a teenage rape victim to death by hanging after she weepingly confessed that she had unintentionally killed a man who had tried to rape both her and her niece. The state-run daily Etemaad reported on Saturday that 18-year-old Nazanin confessed to stabbing one of three men who had attacked the pair along with their boyfriends while they were spending some time in a park west of the Iranian capital in March 2005. Nazanin, who was 17 years old at the time of the incident, said that after the three men started to throw stones at them, the two girls’ boyfriends quickly escaped on their motorbikes leaving the pair helpless. She described how the three men pushed her and her 16-year-old niece Somayeh onto the ground and tried to rape them, and said that she took out a knife from her pocket and stabbed one of the men in the hand. As the girls tried to escape, the men once again attacked them, and at this point, Nazanin said, she stabbed one of the men in the chest. The teenage girl, however, broke down in tears in court as she explained that she had no intention of killing the man but was merely defending herself and her younger niece from rape, the report said.The court, however, issued on Tuesday a sentence for Nazanin to be hanged to death. Last week, a court in the city of Rasht, northern Iran, sentenced Delara Darabi to death by hanging charged with murder when she was 17 years old. Darabi has denied the charges. In August 2004, Iran’s Islamic penal system sentenced a 16-year-old girl, Atefeh Rajabi, to death after a sham trial, in which she was accused of committing “acts incompatible with chastity”. The teenage victim had no access to a lawyer at any stage and efforts by her family to retain one were to no avail. Atefeh personally defended herself and told the religious judge that he should punish those who force women into adultery, not the victims. She was eventually hanged in public in the northern town of Neka.
And this of course comes from a government that is currently giving the finger to the whole world and building a nuclear bomb. Hard to believe that less than 30 years ago, Iran was considered the most "western" and "progressive" country in the Middle East. Yep, that Islamic Revolution really worked out well, didn't it?
Say what you will about the U.S. but I'm glad I live here...and not there.
Haiku #149
Written on 12:58 AM by Jack B.
Turn your cell phone off
You are in a public place
Annoying people
The Great Snowstorm of Winter '06 - Hyperbole Much?
Written on 3:46 PM by Jack B.
Every year in New York, at least once every Winter, we get a massive snowstorm. And by massive I mean, a foot or more of snow. Sometimes we get it twice a year but usually it all comes down in one big shot. This year it came last weekend. From Saturday to Sunday morning, the city was basically shut down as the snow fell and fell. I had made plans for that Saturday myself and had to scuttle them, staying indoors, watching TV and eating junk food. But the strange thing about this particular snowstorm was the news coverage it received. If you went by the news reports this is the worst we’ve been hit ever with the greatest number of inches of snow in recent memory.
I take a bit of exception to that though. By the standards of our usual snowstorms, this wasn’t much of anything. When I went out on Monday, it wasn’t that cold (and believe me, it can get COLD here in February), it wasn’t that windy, and the sidewalks weren’t even that slippery from the snow having turned to ice. Two years ago I slipped onto my behind (embarrassing, as heck) twice just because of the ice. Last year my mother slipped right in front of her OWN HOME and fell on her face into the concrete (and hey, my Mom’s not exactly some young chick anymore, you know). She was OK, thank god, though she ended up with a bloody nose and black eye, but it just goes to prove the difference between a real snowstorm and what happened this week. Sure we had a lot of snow. If I was 10 years younger I would have gone and built a snowman (or attempted one at least) or built a mound for sledding but I’m not that childish (or stupid –you know how easy it is to get a cold building snowmen?) anymore. In which case lots of snow is just basically a hassle getting to work/school/whatever. Trains are delayed, buses are late, traffic is even worse than usual.
But this week? It wasn’t too bad getting where I had to go and I did it with zero injuries to my body and without getting a cold and without having to wear a zillion layers of clothes...and that is proof enough that despite what some may have said...New York City has had worse.
Who Should Paint You...
Written on 3:58 PM by Jack B.
| Who Should Paint You: M.C. Escher |
 Open and raw, you would let your true self show for your portrait. And even if your painting turned out a bit dark, it would be honest. |
Coolness. I think Escher was a genius anyway.
What 2007 Car Would I Drive...
Written on 3:42 PM by Jack B.
| You Should Drive a Saturn Sky |
 You're sleek and smooth, and you need a car to match your hot persona. Besides, sometimes you want your top up - and sometimes you want it down. |
Hmmm.. I really like this car too.
Haiku #148
Written on 2:30 PM by Jack B.
Taken for granted
Seeing objects without sight
Blind leading the blind
When Will You Die Quiz...
Written on 2:26 PM by Jack B.
This is kinda creepy. I was really hoping the answer would be 120. Via Happy Catholic
Haiku #147
Written on 10:20 PM by Jack B.
Set hearts afire
Not with flame but lights of love
Those embers won't burn
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY
Haiku #146
Written on 1:24 AM by Jack B.
Snowed in this weekend
Naught to do but stay in bed
Under the covers
Haiku #145
Written on 4:38 PM by Jack B.
The back of her head
It’s long flowing, shiny hair
Hint at what’s in front
Tagged for another Meme...
Written on 9:15 PM by Jack B.
Tagged by Carmel
Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot, like so.
1) Anastasia 2) LutherPunk
3) Jonathan (AFCM)
4) Carmel
5) Jack Bennett
Next select five people to tag: (though you may have done it already)
1) Jamie, the Eye of Polyphemus
2) Julie, the Happy Catholic
3) The Holy Fool
4) M2 at Martha, Martha
5) El
What were you doing 10 years ago? Nothing. Really. Absolutely nothing. I’m so ashamed.
What were you doing 1 year ago? Just starting Graduate School for my M.A. in English
Five snacks you enjoy:
1. Anisette Toast Cookies
2. Devil Dogs
3. Wheat Thins
4. Hershey’s Chocolate Bars (the original one)
5. Ritz Crackers
Five songs you know all the words to:
1. Theme Song to “Gilligan’s Island”
2. Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer
3. White Christmas
4. The Star - Spangled Banner (The USA’s national anthem)
5. God Bless America (which should be the USA’s national anthem)
Five things you would do if you were a millionaire: (I assume we’re talking multi-millionaire because just a million ain’t what it used to be these days)
1. Travel the world, seeing as many countries on the map as I can.
2. Start scholarship funds for working adults entering college who can’t get financial aid.
3. Anonymously help people who need it and then watching from a distance to see if I made a difference in their lives
4. Build a house (that I designed) somewhere out in the country and retire there
5. Pay the debts of my family members and buy each a house
Five bad habits:
1. Procrastinate
2. Spend way to much time on the computer/internet
3. Don’t wear my glasses when I should
4. Talk too fast and trip over my words when I’m excited (which is why I try not to talk too much)
5. Did I mention procrastinate?
Five things you enjoy doing:
1. Watching old classic movies (especially in actual movie theaters)
2. Reading
3. Writing
4. Going to the park and doing nothing
5. Attending outdoor concerts
Five things you would never wear again:
1. Orange Neon sweatpants
2. Denim shorts, that used to be just jeans till I cut them up when they didn’t fit anymore
3. Bell-bottom pants (I had several)
4. Tie-die T-shirt (it’s mostly pink and was given to me by my sister)
5. Neon green sweatshirt
Five favorite toys:
1. My computer
2. My TV remote control (yes, it is a toy)
3. My Sigmund Freud plush pillow (and it talks when you press it)
4. My mood relaxer (it makes different sounds like crashing waves, raindrops, tropical sounds – great to go to sleep to)
5. My DVD player
Haiku #144
Written on 6:55 AM by Jack B.
Desperately sad
Why? I do not know. Just am.
Must be the weather
Haiku #143 - On Super Bowl XL
Written on 9:06 AM by Jack B.
Steelers beat Seahawks
I didn't bother to watch
My team's not playing
My Niece at 20 Weeks
Written on 2:52 PM by Jack B.
It doesn't look that much different from the old ultra-sounds but I'm told still pictures don't really do the image justice. In the actual ultra-sound you can apparently see her eyes and her fists clenching and unclenching. Next time maybe I'll go along and see for myself.
The current name du jour is Monica but I'm not too fond of it. Too common. My sister thinks the baby looks like my brother-in-law (how can you really tell?), but I told her the baby looks like me and thus should be named Jacqueline. But I still can't convince her.
Haiku #142
Written on 4:19 PM by Jack B.
People in a rush
Yet some take their sweet time
Getting out of trains
22 Books: 4 Months to Read Them, Mucho Dinero To Buy Them
Written on 9:47 PM by Jack B.
So my reading list this semester is 22 seperate texts. Now that seems a lot but...not really. I can pretty much clear 100 pages an hour when I feel like it. I don't have many talents but speed reading is one of them. The real problem is how much this is going to set me back - I figure around $200. Which when you think about it is not that much - many textbooks these go for over $100 apiece! That's the downside of college (one of them anyway), the bookstores and the publishers know that poor (and most are indeed poor) students have no choice but to buy the book their professors have assigned to them so publishers can charge whatever they want. Then every few years they change a word or two, re-arrange some chapters and BOOM they have a new addition to put out that students have to buy (instead of getting used copies of older editions) . It's all such a scam. And the worse thing is when you're finished with the textbook (and let's face it - for most subjects you're never going to be using these books again) and try to sell it back you'll get something like 1% of what you paid for it. For instance, I purchased a $60 softover edition of The Canterbury Tales for a class on...well...The Canterbury Tales, and when I tried to sell it back the next semester the bookstore offered $5! Well I said, to hell with that, and just kept the book. For those who actually sell the book back, they have the distinct pleasure of seeing the same book they just sold back for ten bucks on sale at the bookstore used for $40! Like I said, it's all a scam, and they do it at every college (that I know of). Being an English major most of my assigned readings are literary classics that are available everywhere at various prices but for those studying a more specific subject like say, oceanography or bio-physics, where books have are highly specialized by and only put out by a few publishers, well let's just say: they're screwed.
Haiku #141 -On Last Night's 2006 State of the Union Address
Written on 3:15 PM by Jack B.
Presidential Speech
Support troops, stay the course, oil
Sleep inducing stuff
In divided aisles
Politics as usual
Blah blah rah rah night
"There’s a better way"
Yeah? What is it, Democrats?
Why don’t you tell us?
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