The kids have it right.

The message on this wall was painted by a group of 5th graders eager to leave their elementary school with a splash of color and an inspiring message. I had hoped to simply pass it along here on the blog, but the message seemed all the more fitting when I read that Joshua Wolf has lost his initial appeal and that the US Attorney’s office has filed a motion to have him put back in jail.

If you’re unfamiliar with this case, Joshua Wolf has refused to comply with a court order to hand over video shot at a protest in San Francisco where an officer was injured. His reasons for not complying are simple: He wasn’t near the location where the officer was hurt, the footage does not help their investigation or case, and he believes that the true purpose of the government’s attempt to seize his tape is to identify the protesters who attended that rally.

In days where the Congressional majority is openly in support of warrantless wiretapping and military tribunals which are outside the due process of law, if we do not unite and stand against this flagrant abuse of power — whether focused on one videojournalist or an entire group of so-called suspected terrorists — we are in grave danger of losing the liberties that are hard-won and precious.

It’s a scary world we’re living in, but not because of terrorists. The political paranoia of this age will be our undoing long before the terrorists have a chance.

Technorati Tags: Joshua Wolf, warrantless wiretap, wiretap, tribunals

Update 9/15/06: (CBS News)

Facing a GOP revolt in the Senate, President Bush urged Congress on Friday to join in backing legislation to spell out strategies for interrogating and trying terror suspects, saying “the enemy wants to attack us again.”

“Time is running out,” Mr. Bush said during a Rose Garden news conference. “Congress needs to act wisely and promptly.”

Question: Which is the greater enemy? The Administration’s paranoia or the terrorists?

box monsters

Originally uploaded by nuthinfancy.

Here’s another one of my favorites, both blog and photos. (BTW, I am not blogging these in any particular order — they’re all equally cool to me).

I love Lee’s illustrations, and this one is particularly fun because we all have box monsters…c’mon, admit it!

In the far right corner of my garage as you’re looking inside, there is a whole colony of them!

Lee has great photos, illustrations, and a very fun blog with memes (what-is-this-doing-in-my-house-monday) so go have a look…and beware the box monsters!

Technorati Tags: Flickr

A Different Drummer

Originally uploaded by Art Is Us.

Sometimes it’s cool just to show off some of the work of others instead of my own and I’m completely knocked out by a couple of people on Flickr, so I figured I’d show you some of Art is Us’ wonderful artwork with fractals.

Of course, the title of this one caught my attention, too.

I have some others in mind to feature over the next couple of days…so stay tuned!

day lily

Originally uploaded by drumsnwhistles.

One of the more recent ink and colored pencil sketches I finished in December…Right now I’m stuck on what to do next, though the egrets are a tempting subject. I’m not sure I’d do them justice, though.

Every year, our kids receive a ‘goody box’ from their aunt full of fun little gifts. They get to open one each day…tonight Sticks unwrapped this little gem….and the photo on the box made us all spit our drinks across the room at each other. So Sticks, with his characteristic sense of mischief, “decorated” it a bit. Here’s the result:

Maybe he should plan on “sticking” with the drums. LOL!

Meet the pug, in ink-dot glory.
This is my summer masterpiece, my effort to fight the constant upflow of “work run drive work some more drive some more” currents in my life. Taking a .18mm technical pen and drawing my dog one dot at a time has been one of the most rewarding accomplishments of my summer.

It’s also an excellent way to force myself to slow down, breathe and think about absolutely nothing but where I’m going to put the next dot.

I can’t wait to start another one, just as soon as I find the right subject. It’s that inspiration thing — or lack of it. The past month has left me uninspired and listless — too many details are falling through the cracks while I put out the fires, and the fires are like the monster that never dies in the horror movie — they keep rising from the ashes after I think they’re out.

The problem is, I don’t do “overwhelmed” well. It makes me bitchy and nasty (some might argue that I’m bitchy and nasty ALL the time, but I don’t think so) and sends me into procrastination mode which completes the vicious ADHD circle of doing everything on a deadline.

Inking forces attention to details. Unfortunately I still haven’t figured out how to transfer that attention to the work/life/home things that most people handle without blinking. Maybe, maybe doing more of this will teach me something.