Musings and Mirth

About Me

I spend way too much thinking about me. This is the blank space where that paragraph should be.

So You Wanna Be a Blogger Part 2

After a very long, tiring and ultimately drab Part 1, I think I can streamline things for you in Part 2.

But let’s refresh our memory.

1. Think of a site name. Register it with a registrar site, not the hosting site which offers free domain registration – you will be stuck with them for a long time unless you go to the hassle of transferring. I use godaddy.com for all of my site registrations.

2. They will send you a confirmation. Then you must get hosting. Find a decent host that you like – pay around $20 per month, not less, not more. You can pay less if you want, but don’t pay more until you need to later on.

3. Once you get the hosting, they will send you instructions. In those instructions will be their DNS pointers. You need to know these in order to point your site name to your server. They will look something like:

ns1.nameofsite.com and ns2.nameofsite.com

read more…

O Tiny Houses. I Love You So.

I have a new weird obsession. Tiny houses. Did you know there was a whole movement of tiny house enthusiasts? They are even more than just enthusiasts – they are devoted followers. Most of them are environmentalists who believe it’s possible to live in a tiny house that has just the things one person would need to live. The key with the tiny houses is that they are small enough that they don’t need a permit to build them and so one can build them anywhere. Theoretically.

The Tiny House Blog, though, doesn’t highlight tiny houses (but it does have those) – it also has just cute little houses in unexpected places. Thing is, I love the little places. I’ve never been a person who craves a big house. I look at big houses and they look lonely to me.

I would make an exception for a chateau or a manor house — those are so cool it doesn’t matter how big they are. Maybe it’s because I grew up in California where there are so many giant homes with no real history to them.

Here is what the Tiny House Blog put up today — so damned cute:

Here are some more tiny houses I love:

Things You Will Never Hear Me Say

“God has a plan for everyone.”
“Pray for me.”
“I’ll pray for you.”
“I am not afraid to die.”
“I love how I look”
“I have no regrets.”
“I don’t miss anyone.”
“Time moves too slowly.”

Heidi Montag: What is it, and Why is it Here

Oh god. There are many aspects to celebrity culture that freak my shit out but none more than Heidi Montag. The first thing I ever knew about her was that I couldn’t stand her. It’s not even worth my time to explain why because my goal was to make it through a day of interneting without reading any story about her, the self-made fake celebrity that she is. But — after she did this to herself:

It became my business. Why? Because can you believe we live in a world where women spend lots of money and go under the knife to look like this? What could be more horrifying? Well, okay, so lots of things: child abuse, school bullying, mass murder, rape, torture, sending soldiers off to die for an unjust and pointless war. Yes, lots and lots of tragedies emerge every second of every day. Heidi Montag is not a tragedy, particularly, but she is an example of the hideous excess of our culture.

I mean, really? Nothing else to do with your life than have someone puff up your tits to look like balloon animals and then have someone carve out your face to give you a more genetically appealing look? Really? To what end, Heidi Montag? So that people will hire you to go stand in a bikini at their events? There isn’t a way this story could end happily.

I want to live in a world again where it is frowned upon to do oneself this way. It used to be so. Stripper, whore and pimp culture did not used to be so widely accepted. Stripper poles did not used to be an exercise regime.

Look, as you know from reading my stuff, you three people who do, I believe firmly that sex culture is a good thing, especially for men, but for women to. When you deny it, weird shit starts to happen. Ugly flowers bloom in unnatural gardens. But this. This. Is. Wrong. What Heidi Montag has done is sad. There is no other word for it.

My Tooth Hurts

I noticed that a part of my tooth had chipped off a few weeks ago. It started as a kind of uncomfortable space between my molars but I thought, I’ll just go get a crown. Or else I thought, this is going to stop feeling annoying eventually. But I waited too long and now I have tooth pain. I have inflammation. I am now probably going to have to have a root canal. And then a crown. We’re talking something like $1600 when all is said and done. Talk about an unexpected expense.

I have been planning a trip to the Cannes Film Festival, you see. And so I really needed to pinch pennies. But of course, life is what happens to us while we’re busy making other plans. Thank you, John Lennon. I go in for an assessment with a root canal specialist on Monday. Until then, it’s anti-biotics.

I tell you this, though. If this were the olden times and no one really cared how many teeth you had – I swear – I’d grab a pair of pliers and some whiskey and I would yank it out myself. It hurts. And I think all of that money may or may not worth keeping this tooth.

I’ll probably have to shell out the dough. I’m annoyed. All’s I’m saying. The video above is courtesy if my friend Bill who likes to see me writhe in agony and fear. Marathon Man kind of cornered the market on dental pain as torture device.

Now, where did I put that bottle of Rye?

Raise Your Hand if You Love Mormons

I really have to confess my adoration for Mormons. This is probably due to HBO’s Big Love, which is one of the best and weirdest shows on TV. It really makes, I think, a good case for multiple marriages. It really seems to make a lot of sense when you think about it. Everybody wins. Isn’t it kind of a weird concept, this one man one woman thing? Anyway, PBS recently aired The Mormons, an in-depth look at their wacky history. Religion remains a fascinating thing to me. Show me a religious zealot and I’ll show you a sexual pervert. It is so often the case. Male sexuality – human sexuality – cannot be denied. This is a fact.

So when our nature erupts our faith we can lie and deny or we can bend the rules. Joseph Smith decided to bend the rules. God told him to. And when God speaks…one is best advised to listen. I feel lucky that I am not thusly conflicted. Of course, I will never have that celestial heaven either. And I believe I go nowhere and that nothing happens when I die. That is just how empty the bottom of my soul really is.

The FLDS is really horrifying in all ways. It is not the happy polygamous family with Bill and his three wives on Big Love – it is uneducated, sad little girls being married off to icky old men. It’s just rife with corruption and abuse.

Anyway, if you find yourself fascinated, check it out.