Thanks to everyone for their kind words of support and for keeping their fingers crossed about the Cake Eater Pad situation.

I don't know what the hell is going to happen, but we'll find out soon enough. The husband and I decided yesterday we're going to ignore it until tomorrow. We didn't want our weekend wrecked because of all this crap, so until tomorrow we're officially delusional/in denial.

Second, The Cake Eater Chronicles has officially reached Large Mammal status in the ecosystem. How the hell that happened, I don't know, but it did. I suspect link whoring has something to do with it, but who the hell knows how that ecosystem thingy works. NZ Bear's algorithms are one of the few mysteries we have left to us. It's best left a mystery, if you ask me, but I'm sure some enterprising person will suss it out someday.

While I'm chuffed to be a large mammal, I will admit I'm pretty happy to be the smallest of the large mammals. I don't want to have to worry about being a large large mammal, as well. I have plenty on my plate as it is without worrying about if I look fat in this.

Posted by: Kathy at 12:02 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Jeff Goldstein needs cold, hard cash or he won't put up any more Martha Stewart photoshops.

Go. Give.

Because we wouldn't want to have to suffer through our boring lives without wondering how Martha's getting along in prison.

Posted by: Kathy at 03:58 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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...an avatar for their blog that screams, "I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way"?

No, seriously.

I'm thinking the upper right hand corner of this pig is a little boring. What with all that blank space, there's room for something new and visually interesting.

UPDATE: And, no, I don't want Marie Antoinette up there.

UPDATE 2: She should be luscious and wearing glasses.

And be a brunette.

Because I am luscious, wear glasses and am a brunette.

Posted by: Kathy at 12:41 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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1 Heh heh. Would you like some assistance with that, Kathy?

Posted by: sadie at February 19, 2005 03:39 AM (4CLu3)

2 Check your email in the morning;-)

Posted by: Sadie at February 19, 2005 03:43 AM (4CLu3)

3 Hey, Lady, I just dropped you an email, too! Enjoy. Thanks!

Posted by: Christina at February 19, 2005 06:49 AM (zJsUT)

4 Because I am luscious, wear glasses and am a brunette. I'm listening.

Posted by: Joe R. the Unabrewer at February 19, 2005 01:34 PM (R4gIs)

5 Oh, hell....I tried to post a suitable comment, but it's late and everything I come up with seems designed specifically to get me into a world of hurt.....

Posted by: Robert the Llama Butcher at February 19, 2005 10:49 PM (ywZa8)

6 I want that too.... mmmmmmm sexyblog

Posted by: Adrianne Truett at February 20, 2005 09:27 PM (0OALK)

7 My pinup toon is from Rion Vernon. He's a got others, including one that was leggy and just a little too racy—from my husband's POV—for me to use. Furthermore, he's very open about allowing bloggers (at least the not-yet-profitable ones) to use his images in their blog designs (provided credit is given, of course). I don't remember any in glasses, but it's very possible there were some.

Posted by: Attila Girl at February 23, 2005 06:23 PM (RjyQ5)

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Peggy Noonan on Blogging in today's Opinion Journal. {registration required}

{...}When you hear name-calling like what we've been hearing from the elite media this week, you know someone must be doing something right. The hysterical edge makes you wonder if writers for newspapers and magazines and professors in J-schools don't have a serious case of freedom envy.

The bloggers have that freedom. They have the still pent-up energy of a liberated citizenry, too. The MSM doesn't. It has lost its old monopoly on information. It is angry.

But MSM criticism of the blogosphere misses the point, or rather points.

Blogging changes how business is done in American journalism. The MSM isn't over. It just can no longer pose as if it is The Guardian of Established Truth. The MSM is just another player now. A big one, but a player. {...}

Amen!

The information wants to be free. We're simply allowing for it.

Read also: Robbo.

{...}I'm glad she didn't focus exclusively on those bloggers going toe to toe with the MSM in the fields of news and politics, but also mentioned folks like Lileks and Terry Teachout. For every INDCent Bill or Dr. Rusty out there scalping Dan Rather or posting Jihadi snuff films, there's also someone blogging about their favorite music, changing the baby's diapers or when they ought to plant the spring bulbs. This is one of the major beauties of writing in the 'Sphere as opposed to the MSM. Not only do I not have to ask an editor if I can run another Eason Jordan story, I also don't have to ask if I can post about the daily harassment I suffer at the hands of my cat who, as soon as I get home, starts demanding loudly that I sit down in the library so he can jump into my lap.

Likewise, and equally importantly, readers of blogs aren't confined by the MSM's gatekeeping. If someone stumbles across our site, likes my cat-blogging for instance and is sufficiently impressed with the quality of our writing, why, they're free to come back any time. And to request more of the same. (We're always open to suggestions. That's what the TastyBits (TM) Mail Sack is all about.)

That, by the way, is why we Llamas like to think we have something pretty special going on around here. We get into the political debate now and again, but we also opine about whatever else crosses our crazed minds. As Steve-O likes to say, we cover the waterfront, gathering rats and toasting them on sticks so you don't have to. {...}

Interests vary from person to person. When you remove the control that says only this should be interesting, everyone wins. I'll say it again: the information wants to be free. If I can do someone a service by pointing them to an article that interests them, I will have served my purpose as a blogger. From there on in, no matter what I say about it, it's up to you, my devoted Cake Eater Reader, to, in the words of the Oracle, make up your own damn minds.

I, for one, think you're capable of it.

Posted by: Kathy at 10:22 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Poor Howie Kurtz.

Subjected to keeping track of what the blogosphere is saying for Judy Woodruff.
(scroll down on the transcript: about a third of the way)

A bona fide watchdog of a journalist watching the blogs watch journalists. And on and on. And this looks like it's going to be a daily Inside Politics feature, too.

It's like one big multimedia circle jerk.

Dear Howie,

Please end your association with CNN at once. The career you save might be your own. At the very least tell Judy to read the blogs on her own. You're a bit above this sort of thing.

Thanks!

Kathy Nelson
Cake Eater Chronicles

Posted by: Kathy at 10:48 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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As the traffic has gone up a bit lately and we've got a few new people commenting, I would like to revisit my comments policy. I laid it all out on the old blogspot home, but failed to bring it along with me when I moved. My bad.

Since the archives are goofed up on the old blog, and there are numerous entries about this, I'm going to cut and paste, ok? That work for everyone? Ok, good. Here we go.

First:

Anyway, let me just outline the Comments Policy quickly so you can get back to surfing pr0n.

1. Abusive comments will be deleted---just as soon as I figure out how to do that. What qualifies as abusive? Well, if you tell another commenter (or me) that they should go and do certain things with a donkey, your post will be deleted. It's really quite simple. See #2 for guidelines on how not to have your comments deleted.

2. My mother reads my blog and the woman has no shortage of opinions, so you might be hearing from her. Like mother, like daughter. However, since my mom is reading this thing, and knowing that she believes in the "it's takes a village" concept, know that she will smack you down if you get out of line. And I'll let her. She's my mother---she owns me. I have no choice in this regard. So, it would seem that the best rule of thumb for commenting here would be---ahem---if you wouldn't want your mother reading what you wrote, don't post it for my mom to read.

And second:

While we're on the subject of comments, it seems Blogger wants you to log in if you leave one. Which we all know is so conducive to cooperation. (I wouldn't log in to leave a comment---are you kidding? Way too much work.) But it does give you the handy-dandy option of posting anonymously! (Note to the Blogger People: WOW! Way to invite the trolls in, kids!) If you choose the option to post anonymously to save yourself the time and hassle of logging in, that's fine with me...AS LONG AS YOU LEAVE A HANDLE IN THE TEXT SECTION. That's all I ask. I'm not asking for an email address or a weblink. Just leave a name to go with the opinion. That's not a whole hell of a lot in the scheme of things, so please do it.

So, as you might be able to deduce, I first had Haloscan comments, then switched over to Blogger's variant. But now I have the primo commenting system: Movable Type's commenting system rocks. It's non-intrusive and while I realize our benevolent dictator has had some issues in recent days with DOS attacks on trackbacks and comments, it's still the best thing around. It's the most user-friendly system out there. While these posts don't cover everything, they should give you a clear understanding of what I do and do not like when it comes to what gets posted on my space. No to anonymity (unless I say it's ok on certain posts.) and respect for the sensibilities of others. That's not too much to ask, really.

Sooooo, I can understand about spoofing your email address to prevent spam because nasty bots do spider this site occasionally. No issues with that. Yet, I don't really see why anyone would have issues coming up with some sort of unique, recognizable handle to use when they post a comment. For the edification of someone who posted a comment this morning: a pronoun is not a handle. While I love the fact that people come here and want to discuss things and would never do anything to prevent that, I would simply ask that if you're going to comment, leave a handle by which I---and my readers---will be able to identify you. That's it. Again, I don't think that's too much to ask.

Any ?'s--email me and I'll try and explain it. I'm just trying to be fair. I don't want to delete comments, but I have a serious thing about anonymous comments. Accountability in words is a big thing for me. If you're afraid to post your name---or even a handle you've come up with that, you believe, serves the purpose of anonymity---the general rule of thumb is that you shouldn't be posting. While I like to respect privacy, your anonymity is not fair to my readers or to me, and in the future, now that the policy is laid out, I WILL start hitting the delete button. Even if they're worthwhile, respectful comments, they will go. I've been reading other people's blogs long enough to know this is where the road to Troll Town starts, and quite frankly, I just don't want to go there. I haven't had to delete anyone's comments so far, and I want it to stay that way.

I thank you all in advance for your consideration.

Posted by: Kathy at 01:29 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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