How does a woman like Maureen Dowd get to be a featured op-ed columnist for the New York Times? Sheer notoriety and the ability to provoke a reaction? Her latest column is absolutely wretched. Even Rush mentioned it as I was listening on the way to and from lunch. I’m amazed that she’s given as much journalistic validation as she is.
I need to make a concerted effort to write a journal entry without ranting against something. I don’t want this to be a neverending string of tirades.
Finally finished the family Christmas card last night (I design it every year). It’s usually a pretty simple affair, and this year adhered to the formula for the most part: An abstract drawing/pattern on the front with a kind of blanket sentence on the inside expressing the family’s well-wishes. This year, though, I printed it on red cardstock, so instead of the two folds necessary to make a card from standard 8.5 x 11, I just printed the paper on both sides and ran the sheets through the slicer. Bingo–only one fold required, and we get two cards per sheet instead of just one as before. I was pleased with myself.
I find Zooey Deschanel very attractive. She has that intelligent spark that a handful of actresses do (most of whom I find equally attractive).
Oh, geez, how can you in the same sentence confess that you listen to Rush and bemoan Maureen? They’re two sides of the same coin. I think that columnists run out of material every once in a while and it’s not unusual, post-election, to have this sort of lapse in brilliance or relevance. I’m not going to defend this episode, but I do think that in general, she’s hilarious and often spot-on. I don’t expect you to agree, anymore than you would expect me to enjoy the political stylings of, say, William Safire.
The cards sound cool, though ;-)
I knew it! :) I was going to add a sentence smoothing over that fact, but I figured I’d get the opportunity to defend myself once the comment(s) came in. Forgive me for baiting you (ever so slightly).
I agree–to a point. Rush is an arrogant blowhard, but I certainly agree with a greater percentage (not ALL) of his observations than Dowd’s (as you might well imagine). But my mentioning of him isn’t an endorsement of him over Dowd–just an observation.
And many of her columns are fairly clever in places, but c’mon–saying stuff like, “He doesn’t want to heal rifts; he wants to bring any riffraff who disagree to heel” in her post-election column? I laughed aloud when I read that… The sentence is more twisted than a pretzel, and it exemplifies much of her writing. I dunno. Maybe I’m too stuck on her communication style. But there are more progessive columnists out there who are good writers first, and I greatly enjoy reading their observations.
Have you seen Elf?
Not yet. I want to, though. I’ve heard it’s good.