TBD on Ning

All Blog Posts (2,373)

Is It Appropriate to Tell a Blogger What He or She Can Write?

The personal blog, an ongoing diary or commentary by an individual, is the traditional, most common blog. Personal bloggers usually take pride in their blog posts, even if their blog is never read by anyone but them. Blogs often become more than a way to just communicate; they become a way to reflect on life or works of art. Blogging can have a sentimental quality. Few personal blogs rise to fame and the mainstream, but some personal blogs quickly garner an extensive following. A type of… Continue

Added by Gary Freedman on July 26, 2009 at 12:00pm — 6 Comments

On Wagner, Brahms, and The TBD Blog

In her diary entry for February 3, 1879, Cosima Wagner, wife of the German opera composer Richard Wagner, wrote: "We then go on to a Brahms symphony [the Brahms second], which Richard plays as a piano duet with Herr Rubinstein and which again downright disgusts us."

I have a remote association. I am reminded of TBD members who complain about blog posts that a member posts, but continue to read the blogger's posts. If you don't like a particular blogger, don't read his… Continue

Added by Gary Freedman on July 26, 2009 at 11:00am — 1 Comment

Why do I live here?

Picture this: Midnight on the Skyline Parkway. A wild bobcat bounds across the road in front of us.
Golden fur, strong muscles, the size of a medium-sized German Shepherd dog.
It took a long time to get my breath back.
What a beautiful gift....

Added by LadyBug on July 26, 2009 at 8:15am — 1 Comment

Free Associations

Join my new group, Free Associations. Feel free to say anything that comes to mind, without censorship, no matter how trivial, irrelevant, boring or outrageous. Just speak your mind in one continuous thread. No restrictions on topics or language used. Adult content.

http://teebeedee.ning.com/group/freeassociations

Or access the group through my page.

Added by Gary Freedman on July 25, 2009 at 10:14am — No Comments

Why I'm Smarter Than A Harvard Professor

Five simple rules for dealing with the police.

1. Be respectful.

2. Do what the officer tells you to do even if you think it's stupid, meaningless, or offensive. (Police forced their way into my house on one occasion and accused me of having threatened to commit a serious crime. I was innocent. But they didn't believe me at first. They even told me what chair I should sit in -- IN MY OWN HOUSE. But I did as they told, and they eventually left. Even if the police enter YOUR… Continue

Added by Gary Freedman on July 25, 2009 at 10:00am — 2 Comments

Reflections on Turning 60

ON turning 60

The first television in our house was a massive 19” box…that had two stations….both beamed from Yakima, 90 miles away. This meant that ANY kind of weather interfered with the reception.

I remember staying home from school…feigning sickness…so I could be there when it was delivered. The first thing I remember seeing on TV was a NBA basketball game…the Celtics were playing…I remember their floor.

Queen for a Day…where the MAJOR prize was usually a… Continue

Added by Madhatterat60 on July 25, 2009 at 9:21am — No Comments

So, what exactly should we call ourselves now?

Ning-A-Ding-Lings? Ningompoops? Ningbats? OpeNING Statements? Ningleberries?

Added by Snagg on July 24, 2009 at 3:53pm — 7 Comments

Theme and Variations: On Pushing the Envelope

THEME

I get accused of "pushing the envelope" -- here, on TBD, and elsewhere in life. There's merit to the observation. I am constantly testing the limits, constantly challenging the rules. I took a battery of psychological tests a few years ago and the test results said: "Subject has a tendency to challenge or denounce social sanctions to the point where he may lose sight of his own best interests."

Several days ago a TBD member posted the following comment on a blog I… Continue

Added by Gary Freedman on July 24, 2009 at 10:00am — 13 Comments

Lifes Adventure

We all get stuck in a rut from time to time,the same thing day in and day out,why?

Try something new, maybe something that you have always wanted to try, but never got around to do it. Heck one of the first things I plan on doing when I no longer have to drive is learn how to fly. Thats not all I want to take cooking classes dancing, singing ( I can not carry a tune but what the heck) I want to do some more traveling to places I've seen but have not got a chance to… Continue

Added by cynthia Hunter on July 23, 2009 at 4:02pm — 3 Comments

Greetings from the Zombie Trenchies

After six days and nights of giving my daughter meds every four hours around the clock, I have a new theory about why people our age decide to have new babies:

1) They don't remember what it's like. Or..
2) Their lease prohibits dogs.

Added by Quilty on July 23, 2009 at 12:43pm — 4 Comments

Robert F Kennedy, Jr Explains Vaccines and the Autism Cover Up

There has been much discussion about childhood vaccines and their relationship to autism. Bobby Kenndy, Jr and Joe Scarborough discuss Thimerosal, a preservative used in (childhood) vaccines which is said to cause Autism and many learning disabilities, such as ADD, ADHD, speech delay, hyperactivity and other childhood disorders. Thimerosal breaks down to release neurotoxic ethyl mercury. Mercury causes neurotoxicity in humans, especially in fetuses and small infants whose brains are still… Continue

Added by OCNaturalDoc on July 23, 2009 at 12:00pm — 3 Comments

IF STATEMENTS IN C SCRIPTED

IF STATEMENTS IN C SCRIPTED:

IF {

war is a function for profit;

}

AND IF

{

war is politics by other means;

}

THEN

{

politics is a function for profit;

}

IN C

FOR

{

IF (war) {

return profit;

IF (war ? (war || politics));

}

profit (politics)

return ( );

}

SCRIPTED

IF {

function (profit) {

war;

IF {

war = (war(… Continue

Added by ZenDog on July 22, 2009 at 6:00pm — 1 Comment

After two days, I'm still a little depressed about this.......

I was in a drug store Monday evening (the 20th - hint, hint), and while filling out the check the perfectly nice young female clerk helpfully offered the day's date.

I told her, "Thanks, but I knew that one. Big Trivia Fan here."

First Bad Sign: Her reply - "Huh?"

I drew a breath and asked her if she knew what world-famous event had occurred on that day, forty years earlier, that was the cause of newspaper reports and tv segments and talk radio debates and… Continue

Added by Snagg on July 22, 2009 at 6:00pm — 17 Comments

Once Upon a Time, I Was Invited to the White House.....

Note: This is not my personal story, but it sure made me think about how tolerant we've become. Just switch out the location, characters, and particulars and insert your own - we all share a similar story.

We have acquiesced many times in the face of confrontation --- even at our greatest expense. And where are we now? Faced with challenges that seem too much to handle, so we expect someone else to come in a clean up the mess. Well, clean up costs big money. And in the case of our… Continue

Added by OCNaturalDoc on July 22, 2009 at 5:00pm — No Comments

Cool article.....

Nice article in yesterdays paper about my National Track meet competition and the upcoming premier of my film "Ballbusters" .. can read it at http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/news/dundee/1675575,Talk-about-town_el072109.article

Added by Andrew R. Boyce on July 22, 2009 at 1:37pm — 3 Comments

Let 'em Whine!

I post a blog now and then to keep track on the wackiness of the frenzied cRyght, just to see what their latest piss and whine is. I see the truly ignorant are still after a "legitimate birth certificate", regardless of the fact that the Clinton Machine dug, the State Department investigated and was satisfied, as did a number of other legitimate sources....the drivers of the cRyght keep the true idiots circling the chum in the… Continue

Added by Madhatterat60 on July 22, 2009 at 8:03am — No Comments

It's All Done

The surgery went textbook perfectly. Plates and screws and bolts are all in place, and she's resting as comfortably as can be expected.

Many thanks to all of you who had us in your thoughts and prayers.

~q.

Added by Quilty on July 21, 2009 at 2:03pm — 1 Comment

!!!! BEWARE !!!! Scamers are lurking

This is also posted on message board.

Do you think that we should have a place to post the names of scammers?

This is a message that i wrote to some one warning them of a person trying to run a scam for money

well i got a friend request on 7/2 and it was Justina. By the forth of july she was in love and wanting to come here. As soon as she started to talk about wanting to come here and marrying it was obvious that she was a scam. I decided to string her along… Continue

Added by GIL on July 20, 2009 at 4:06pm — 1 Comment

Does Referring to a Town in Austria Constitute a Prohibited F-Bomb?

I left a post on "All Drift All The Time" about the town of Fucking, Austria. It was meant as humorous, and I think it would be viewed as humorous by any reasonable standard. I do not believe that referring to the name of a town in Austria, whether it be Vienna, Linz, or Fucking constitutes the use of offensive language. It does not even constitute an F-bomb by any stretch of the imagination.

Several days later -- I emphasize, several days later -- I was deleted from the group on the… Continue

Added by Gary Freedman on July 20, 2009 at 11:38am — 5 Comments

Bing - Two thumbs down

I'm a fuddy duddy. Yes it's true. So I forced myself to try Microsoft's new search engine Bing. I did a taste test: I searched for "FTP client torrent" on Bing. I got a list of commercial FTP client sites, and a link to the uTorrent client. Hurrah.

Then I googled the same thing. Got a link to the BulletProofFTP client with crack on Pirate Bay (still alive!). The link brought me to a torrent description. The torrent appeared to be valid, though "I did not download it, install it or… Continue

Added by Alendar on July 20, 2009 at 11:11am — 1 Comment