It's more about the action than the standing around looking sad

Five days a week I drive along about four miles of road that is flanked by cemeteries. I hardly notice them on the drive in because traffic is pretty light; we all glide right by. The drive home is a different matter.

We are bumper to bumper, no hope of getting around the 301 bus, sullen about our jobs and stymied by the traffic. Quite a few heads are turned towards the grave stones that dapple the grassy knolls on either side of us. Large monuments, modest head stones, and plaques flat on the ground that are only noticeable because of the plastic flowers standing vigil over them.

Every day my eyes slide across names, birth datess, and death dates of strangers. I wonder the usual questions. What kind of life? What kind of person? How the hell do you pronounce that name?

Then the news broke about the Burr Oak Cemetery fiasco. I noticed fewer people were just casually glancing at the cemeteries and more people were peering across the lawns to catch a glimpse of any wrongdoing. I didn't. Even if these cemeteries were caught up in the same dispicible practice, they'd have sense enough to cut it out until the whole thing cooled down.

Today something caught my eye. Various colors dotted the marble gardens and there was more movement among the trees. People were coming to these cemeteries to make sure their loved ones were resting in peace. Or, just as likely, to see if this cemetery was also up to no good, and to get money for it.

My skepticism was gearing up to reach 11. I shook my head, thinking of how quickly people try to capitalize on everything - even the death of their loved ones. All these people coming to check if they had a case against the cemetery's caretakers, under the guise of paying respects to Aunt Betty.

But I suppose there are some out there who are genuinely checking in on their families' remains. People who were reminded that even the dead could use our attention now and again, even as an afterthought. People who felt hindsighted love for the buried and nearly forgotten. People who cherished memories in private and were now forced to wonder if the last memory of that loved wouldn't be a kind smile or a fond funereal farewell, but the long and laborious fight to make sure the ones they love really do get to rest in peace.

And deep in my skeptical heart, I know that if I were to find out someone had desecrated my grandparents' graves, I wouldn't sue anybody. I'd fuck them up, but I wouldn't bother to sue them. My grandfather was buried in the mid-80's, my grandmother in the mid-90's. They both rest in Kansas, in adjoining plots that I haven't seen since the day we buried my grandmother.

So I'm trying to see the good in people, trying to see each new boquet of flowers scattered around the cemetery as an example of people who love the dead enough to leave the saddest memories alone and keep with them every day the best moments and sweetest thoughts.

I cook with my grandmother's bowls and pans, I keep my towels in a cabinet my grandfather made. I remember playing cards and watching Johnny Carson with the two most stable adults in my childhood. I'll hold on those memories. I'll remember those good, strong, healthy times instead of counting the years that I haven't stood beside their headstone to say words that don't mean as much as I want them to mean.

And I hope each person coming to check on their parents, grandparents, children, and friends will understand that in the end, it's still the thought that counts.

News?

So last night I'm toddling around the apartment about to go to bed and suddenly there is a mess of lights and sirens flying by out side. Cops mostly, but also two ambulances. They were heading south, and the fire station is south of me, so I don't know if there were fire trucks. It was quite a ruckus at any rate.

So today I went to see what happened. I checked both of our weekly, local (Oak Park centric) papers' web sites, and I couldn't find anything. So I wrote to one of them:

"I live on Oak Park Avenue, and last night there were about six squad cars blaring by, alarms and lights going. It sounded like there were more coming from a block or more west of OP Ave, too, but that might have just been a Doppler thing. I also heard two ambulances. What happened?

Why isn't this newsworthy? I'm not trying to be a smart ass here, I just don't understand why all the news on oakleaves.com is old news, not new news. I understand that you publish every Wednesday, but does that necessitate a completely block on current events throughout the week?

Meg"

And this lady writes back,

"Meg,
Who said it’s not newsworthy? I heard the sirens too, around 10 p.m. We don’t work overnight. When we find out what happened, we’ll get it on the web.
Cheri"

What the fuck? She's the editor of this paper and she hears all these sirens and can't be bothered to put her damn coat on and go get the haps? Yes, it was cold last night, but if I had a press pass I'd be running down there like a hooker to a ho convention, half because I'm nosy and half because it's my damn job.

This shit is why she's always going to be the editor of some shitty local weekly rag instead of working at a real newspaper.

Web 2.0 IS NOT YOUR FRIEND

Web 2.0 'distracts good design'

Nielsen: Making a site easy to use should be the first priority

Hype about Web 2.0 is making web firms neglect the basics of good design, web usability guru Jakob Nielsen has said.

He warned that the rush to make webpages more dynamic often meant users were badly served.

He said sites peppered with personalisation tools were in danger of resembling the "glossy but useless" sites at the height of the dotcom boom.

Research into website use shows that sites were better off getting the basics right, said Mr Nielsen."

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Do you hear that, fucking internet? Looking good doesn't equal being good, so quit with the rounded edges and start with the doing something fucking useful.

Woman denied degree over photo, sues university

Woman denied degree over photo, sues university

MILLERSVILLE, Pennsylvania (AP) -- A woman denied a teaching degree on the eve of graduation because of a MySpace photo has sued the university.

Millersville University instead granted Stacy Snyder a degree in English last year after learning of her Web-published picture, which bore the caption "Drunken Pirate."

"I dreamed about being a teacher for a long time," said Snyder, 27, who now works as a nanny.

The photo, taken at a 2005 Halloween party, shows Snyder wearing a pirate hat while drinking from a plastic "Mr. Goodbar" cup. It was posted on her own MySpace site.

Although Snyder apologized, she learned the day before graduation that she would not be awarded an education degree or teaching certificate.

Jane S. Bray, dean of the School of Education, accused Snyder of promoting underage drinking, the suit states.

The federal lawsuit seeks at least $75,000 in damages. Millersville spokeswoman Janet Kacskos referred questions to a state System of Higher Education spokesman, who declined comment.

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Erm...if she's 27 now, and the photo was from 2005, she was 25 and well over the legal drinking age.

Does this mean that picture of me drunk might keep me from getting my crappy associate degree from my shitty community college? Damn.

I call bullshit here.

Drunken man parks horse in bank foyer - Yahoo! News

Drunken man parks horse in bank foyer - Yahoo! News

Drunken man parks horse in bank foyer

BERLIN - An early-morning bank customer had a bit of a shock when he found a horse at the automatic teller machine.

The horse's owner, identified only as Wolfgang H., had a bit too much to drink the night before and decided to sleep it off inside the bank's heated foyer, police said Tuesday.

The 40-year-old machinist told Bild newspaper he had had "a few beers" with a friend in Wiesenburg, southwest of Berlin, and decided to hit the hay in the bank on his way home.

Confronted with the lack of a hitching-post, he brought the 6-year-old horse, named Sammy, in with him.

When a customer came across the horse and sleeping rider in the bank at 4:15 a.m. Monday, he called police, who then came and woke the owner up and sent him on his way.

No charges were filed, but there might be some cleanup needed: Apparently Sammy made his own after-hours deposit on the carpet.