a bit of tech support humor

I had a really nice visit with my parents yesterday. I spent a couple of hours providing some computer support for my mom (and just a little bit for my dad) -- recovering folders that had been dragged into other folders, dragged into yet other folders, and teaching how to send attachments again now that the Windows 10 upgrade "changed everything." At the end of our session, I showed my mom this video and she laughed pretty hard. We both agreed she isn't as bad as this... although I have heard the phrases "Slow down! I need to write this down; you are going so fast!" and "I didn't grow up with these things, you know." I always feel badly when we are visiting for a holiday or other occasion and we don't have time to just have a cup of tea, relax, and even spend time doing tech support (much easier in person than it is over the phone, trust me). It was a nice visit. Anyway, I was feeling fairly happy with my own level of technology expertise (and patience) yesterday and then woke up this morning to learn that someone in Armenia had hacked an important account. I spent this morning changing passwords and am hoping that there is no other damage. That's hubris for you. Enjoy your day.

by the way, I'm still ranting on the cartoon caption contest

Some may know that I continue to enter The New Yorker cartoon caption contest. Not weekly, mind you, but often enough. Am I discouraged by the sexism? Yes. Do I wish I had made my profile name "George Elliott"? You betcha. I have had some close entries in the past, and some have said I have entered even better captions than the three finalists in the past (back when the editors were narrowing down the final three for votes). These days, The New Yorker has changed the way the finalists are chosen. They get more than 5,000 entries per week, so it doesn't surprise me they have gone to crowd-source voting.

The last contest I entered (before vacation) left me perplexed. I voted on about 50 entries (unfunny, somewhat funny, funny) without seeing my own entry before giving up for lack of time. One of the entries below was in the mix. I voted it "somewhat funny," but would have voted my own "funny." My entry, below the first, I would argue is funnier. Worthy of top three? Maybe. Because I was on vacation, I missed the voting on the top three. I don't know what they were and will find out when the winner is announced. Anyway, my disappointment continues. Will I keep trying? Probably. 

POST SCRIPT!! Just learned (Tuesday, August 9th, two days after writing this post,) that the top three captions for this contest included one that was EXACTLY the same as mine, entered by a Susan Robinson, of Willow, NY!!!! What?!? How can it be? My exact entry is in the top three, but someone else's name is underneath it in my printed copy. It is a mystery to me how these are selected. I wish I could have voted for "mine". (The other two were: "There's really nothing to it," and " If you see the cartoonist, have him drop me a line." Both are also very funny.) If you want to see what the winner ends up being, go to: http://contest.newyorker.com/ and the winner should be announced soon. I still can't believe all this happened while I was away for one week. How did I find out? Tom made my lunch today and put the following in my lunch bag as a "note." (It got a bit crunched in the lunch bag.) If I hadn't screen captured my original entry, I might not believe it. Boo hoo. 

POST POST SCRIPT.... (8/19/2016)... MY CAPTION WON! (I mean, Susan Robinson's caption won.) Arghhhhhhh.

ground control to . . .

Far above the Moon 

Planet Earth is blue 

And there's nothing I can do

The New Yorker - Schwartz

I spent my lunch hour listening to David Bowie songs on WFUV streaming. What a talent. I appreciate all his art . . . thank you, David Bowie, for surrealism extraordinaire.

foiled again

I am trying not to get discouraged, but I have had a few narrow misses with The New Yorker Caption Contest over the past year or so. A couple of times, those closest to me (who are of course biased) felt that my submissions were as good or better than the three finalists chosen. After reading about claims of sexism and stereotypes - subtle and not so subtle - in The New Yorker cartoons, I can't help but notice that women are very infrequently among the finalists and it makes me wonder if the judges look at the names when they make their selections - or if they review name-blind. My name is definitely fem. Time will tell.

Anyway, here you go... my submission above, and the three that made it below (you may have to click on it to enlarge it). I will keep trying and maybe one of these days I will be asking you to please vote for me! This week's cartoon was actually out of the 1950s in terms of men's and women's roles, so I won't be entering at all unless I can think of some way to bite back. 

reminds me of a song

The New Yorker - a cartoon by  Drew Dernavich

One of the most romantic songs of the early 1990s was Peter Gabriel's In Your Eyes. (... the light, the heat.) I had a little laugh over this cartoon and then thought about how eye contact (depending on the culture) is so very important. All this looking down at devices certainly has changed things.

nutty...

John O'Brien - The New Yorker

little laugh?

The New Yorker

back to school

Shanahan - The New Yorker

The teen starts his senior year of high school tomorrow. It is a bit surreal actually, thank you. Golf season has been underway since mid-August. He has an active social life and is rarely home these past couple weeks of summer. I suppose all this separation is intended to prepare me for next year when he heads to college. He is interested in environmental studies. I guess this is a bit of a change from when he was about five or six and he told me his career plans: "When I grow up, I want to work for either the FBI, the CIA, or the SPCA." I wish I had written down all the hilarious things he said when he was young. He was and still is a funny kid.

silliness

Courtesy of the The New Yorker

happy 4th

Courtesy of The New Yorker

This struck me as very funny. I hope you have a nice holiday weekend, however you choose to spend it! Today is yoga, housecleaning and readying for a family visit tomorrow. With any luck I will have some down time. (We picked tomorrow instead of today for holiday revelry because the forecast for tomorrow is better than for today, when we may get some more rain.) I will be making a very involved treat for my niece who requested it as part of her birthday celebration. Later.

sunday chuckles

Ready to have some cartoon fun? The New Yorker now has a random cartoon generator page, here. (Yes, I am still submitting captions for the Caption Contest when I remember to. One of my dreams is to become a finalist and be published in The New Yorker.)

My stroll through a few cartoons popped up this one, and I really like it.

And my caption submission for today which was not well thought out, but was the first thing that I thought of when looking at it (the Rorschach of caption process) is here:

on being there

The New Yorker - Harry Bliss Cartoon

what i like

Funny.

The New Yorker: A cartoon by Jason Adam Katzenstein

good books on a chilly day

For Christmas, Tom got me two books I have been wanting to read -- and read in hard copy as opposed to via my usual e-reading method on the Nook. Some books just do better with the printed page.These two are among them.

One of those books is Billy Collins' new collection of poems called Aimless Love. It is true Billy... and I will enjoy reading the poems for many years.

The other is Roz Chast's graphic memoir titled Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant? I sat down to read this today, and it is definitely a one-sitting book. Absolutely captivating. This is the review I just put up on Goodreads:

Oh Roz Chast, you're killin' me. I encourage everyone over a certain age to read this book... whether your parents are gone or if you look ahead to that probability that your parents will decline and die before you do. One of my favorite New Yorker cartoonists, Roz Chast has a way with her pen and what she captures in voice and in visuals. This mostly graphic memoir will make you laugh and make you cry, and you will be very glad you've read it.

So there you have it. Get out there and get it if you haven't read it yet. Worth your time. As I sit here from inside the house, watching the ever constant gusting wind blow fine white powder horizontally across the  immediate foreground (with regular temperature well below zero and wind chills in the range of -25 to -40 degrees Fahrenheit all day and into tomorrow morning), I am very thankful to be inside, warm and toasty, with nowhere to go except here. The family is in for the night. Life is good.

and it's a new year . . .

by Paul Noth

Thanks to Paul Noth and The New Yorker.

another perspective

The New Yorker - Pat Byrnes

Ha ha.

"and oh how they danced, the little children of..."

The New Yorker - Zachary Kanin

[Note: My title for this post is an oblique reference. If you didn't get it, you might have to visit these Spinal Tap lyrics, here.]

how's waldo?

what do you really need?

The New Yorker - Joe Dator

Think about it. . . .

a time for reflection

Leo Cullum (The New Yorker)

True autumn weekend in upstate New York with a forecast that looks gray, rainy and maybe even snowy. The temps are falling from the balmy fall weather we have enjoyed lately. Looks like a good weekend to head to the cider mill and pick up some apples, doughnuts, cider, and a warm pie to take the chill away. It has been such a nice autumn this year. Enjoy your weekend.