307th Friday Blog Roundup
I obviously have been dealing with a few rage issues this week … but moving on to someone else’s righteous rage issues …
The Washington Post had an article this week about the Sterling Hall bombing and how the FBI was renewing their search for Leo Burt (one of the four bombers) who has been at large for 40 years. You can’t help but think about the bombing when you step into Sterling Hall. I had a class on quantum mechanics in the building (oh, yes, a lesser known fact about me: I am a huge science nerd who loves physics just as much as I love talking about my reproductive organs — and y’all know how much I like to write a post about my ovaries).
More interesting than an article about the one bomber still at large is the story of Karl Armstrong, who served time for the bombing and returned to the campus to run a juice cart. I still remember where I was standing when I learned that the friendly Loose Juice man was one of the bombers.
Because, it sort of gives you pause. I mean, you’re standing there on Library Mall on a perfectly pleasant day, watching a man dole out juice, and it feels … sort of wrong … to be purchasing food from a man who protested the war by bombing a college building (and killing a man in the process, as well as injuring others). And yet, he served time in jail, so isn’t it now his right — after paying the price for his crime — to rebuild his life?
I found out this week that he purchased one of my favourite Madison sandwich shops — the Radical Rye. And I’m sort of wondering if patrons thought about it. Or if they just shrugged their shoulders and ordered their sandwich.
If, let’s say, the Unabomber was released from prison and opened a fantastic sushi shop in town, would you eat there?
No really, where do you fall on the purchasing-tasty-food-from-former-bombers continuum?
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This weekend marks the one-year anniversary of self-hosting my site in this space. And I still love it. I haven’t even utilized all the great things one can do when they self-host.
(On a side note, if you are on Typepad and are freaking out about the buy-out and want to move to WordPress, Plaid House Designs, which is run by two ALI bloggers, is running a special. They moved my enormous blog from Blogger to here last year.)
The reason why I moved this time last year was that I wanted to be in my new home and settled before the Creme de la Creme opened. Which means, yes, the 2010 Creme de la Creme will be opening again in a few weeks. I am giving you this heads up because I am tweaking the timing of things this year. The list will open early — by early November — but it will close February 1st rather than at the end of March. Which means that it will only accept new submissions for a month after it posts.
The reason is that it drags on for me (I do so much of the work prior to January 1st) and it drags on for you (how many people read the last few that go up in March/April?) So in light of the fact that the list is best enjoyed during January, I am going to open early and close early.
What does it mean to be forewarned? Well, the list is a first-come-first-up sort of deal, so if you want to be high-up on the list, you need to submit your post early. So this next month or so is a good time to peruse your 2010 archives and see if you already have a post in-hand that you want to submit. All posts will go up, but if you care where you go on the list, now is the time to pick so you can be first out of the starting gate.
And please, for the love, promise me that when the post goes up, you will actually read the whole thing through before submitting. It saves me and you much frustration down the road.
By the way, this is the fifth Creme de la Creme. Which feels like it should have some fanfare attached to it.
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And now, the blogs…
A Run for My Money has a post about knowing that she’s done with family building. Despite the fact that their diagnosis was male factor infertility, her husband is having a vasectomy, just to give them the closure they need to know that family building is done. I love this thought: “And that this time it was going to be goodbye for real. But this time it was on my terms and not at the mercy of infertility.”
DI Mom has a post about a question one should never ask another person. Let’s play a game and see if you can guess what it is before you click over. And then let her know if you were able to guess it. For what it’s worth — I was asked twice this week.
It Is What It Is (or Is It?) has been writing a chilling series of posts this week about the accident that killed her brother, but the post I actually want to highlight came at the end of last week (sue me — I read it on Friday so I’m counting it with this week). It’s about being stuck as she moves into the adoption process. Read this gorgeous thought: “We string the days together, one after another, to create our experience of life. So, I think to myself, what’s it going to be? Is the quagmire of this process going to be the un-doing of the dream?” You need to go over and read (and appreciate) the post as a whole.
Lastly, Negative Nelly Flips has a post about jealousy. She explains that while she sailed through jealousy in other areas of life, it is hitting her hard now with infertility. She needed to go into the baby section of a store and she writes, “I should be feeling him/her kick and worrying about the nursery not being finished and storing diapers up for the big day. But I’m shopping for a baby that’s not mine. And I’m no longer pregnant.” While shopping, she receives more news, and she turns the jealousy inward by the end of the post, allowing it to eat her raw. I hope that by writing the post and releasing it, she was able to find peace again.
The roundup to the Roundup: Would you buy the Unibomber’s sushi? The Creme de la Creme is coming soon. And lots of great posts to read.
13 comments
No way would I buy the unibomber’s sushi… well maybe. Interesting question and I guess if we don;t believe that people have done their time and it should be behind them, then why bother giving them the time???? Really tough question, will have to ponder this myself some more so I can figure out what I really think.
Well, I wouldn’t buy anyone’s sushi. 🙂
But if the Unabomber was making delicious cheeseburgers…I probably still wouldn’t buy them. However, I have less of a problem with your juice guy…because I imagine he was young and impetuous and passionate and did not have the forethought to realize that his actions might have the repercussions they did. A lifelong crazy person? Hell no. A foolish young man who made a huge mistake and paid for it and is now trying to live a productive life? Probably, I’d buy his food. But I think you may have inadvertently pinpointed a large problem with our justice system – do we ever consider that someone has paid their debt to society, or will they be punished forever?
Maybe not the Unabomber (since I think that crazy guy is locked up for life!), but in the case of Karl Armstrong, I think I would. If someone has paid their dues, why should we continue to punish them? Everyone deserves a second chance. That’s what the justice system is all about. Unfortunately, many people don’t see it that way. I may not agree with the punishment some criminals receive for crimes, but that doesn’t matter. The point is, the penal system felt that punishment was just and that’s the way it’s going to be. How would you even know if a criminal owned your favorite restaurant unless someone told you?
because the unabomber targeted people working in genetics and because my father is a geneticist (albeit not the kind most people think of: he takes care of very sick babies and does not do much tinkering with DNA to create a superrace or whatever it is people are afraid of), my childhood was punctuated by warnings from my parents about the mail, unknown packages, and so on. i loved mail and packages; i learned to be afraid of the mailbox. so no, i would not buy his sushi.
on the other hand, i did used to buy stationery from Tokyo Rose.
Omg, radical rye!! I LOVE that place, but yeah, that’s a bit…odd. must tell my mad-town friends!
I would have to see the ex-bomber and base any purchases on the vibe given off, which is a totally unquantifiable but if they seemed creepy I’d avoid the place, if they seemed kind then ok.
It’s incredibly interesting that Karl Armstrong selected that location for his juice stand. Did he need to return to the scene of the crime and provide delicious, vitamin containing beverages to people as some sort of personal atonement?
Thanks for featuring me! Not sure “peace” is what I’ve found after writing that post but something close to it. Reassurance from others that my craziness is ok? Knowing I’m not alone helps and seeing others get through this is hopeful 🙂 I even sent my sis-in-law a congrats card! And I *think* I actually meant it .
Mmmm….probably not. You cannot do something that horrible to human kind and then expect us all to just “trust you” again. There are mistakes and then there are very poor life choices.
ICLW #115
http://lovelyladybump.blogspot.com/
Thanks for the shout out, woman. I’m so glad you aren’t on blogger anymore.
I’m going to hope that I would be able to be in a place to believe in reform and 2nd chances. I might even be a total weirdo and seek out to purchase a food item from a place that was giving someone a 2nd chance. It’s hard when it’s specifically The Unibomber…so that makes me realize that I probably would pick and choose my reformed criminal cafes.
I would never, ever, EVER eat the Unabomber’s sushi! To even think I would do so makes me sick!!!!
Eh, but that’s probably more because I don’t eat **anything** I swim with.
Trade the sushi for extra dark chocolate, and if it’s been one of those days where I must.have.chocolate.NOW! … I’ll probably buy the some – maybe a lot.
This post has made me think about how many times we buy stuff from people/stores without realizing exactly WHO we’re buying it from. Would I buy something from a pregnant crack head so she could go get her next fix? Not in a million years, but sometimes you just don’t know. There’s a happy thought if you’re shopping this weekend! 😉
If I agreed that the sentence was correct, I think I’d have to try and treat it like any other business. Bygones be bygones, etc. But I’d feel weird. If I thought the sentence was too harsh, I’d probably be slightly more eager to patronise the business, as a sort of compensation. If I thought the sentence was too light, I probably wouldn’t patronise the business, at least not unless/until such time/event as would even things out.
Bea