I've discovered the most amazing OS X app -- Konfabulator! It's a javascript "engine" that runs cute little applets called Widgets that do anything and everything. I'm testing a blog posting widget right now. If this post appears, it works!

The L.A.Times published a lovely obituary today that included some of Mattie Stepanek's poetry along with snippets from interviews he has given in the last few years.

"We all have life storms," he told Chris Cuomo on "Prime Time Thursday" in December 2001, "and when we get through them or recover from them, we should celebrate that we got through it. That's what my life's philosophy means: to remember to play after every storm."

iTunes is currently playing: The Sheltering Sky from the album 1996 by Ryuichi Sakamoto.

Isn't this the cutest thing?? According to blogger site radio daisy pad, this new Canadian quarter was designed by an 11 year old. We should all be so creative, eh?

iTunes is currently playing: I Can Do That from the album A Chorus Line (1975 Original Broadway Cast) sung by Wayne Cilento.

Writer and Advocate Mattie Stepanek Dies at 13

In his 13 years, Mattie Stepanek became nationally known as a “peacemaker and poet” whose story of living with a rare neuromuscular disorder led to five published books, numerous television appearances and a friendship with former President Jimmy Carter.

Read the story on ABCNews.com.

iTunes is currently playing: Goodbye from the album Lost In Translation by Kevin Shields.

Hanks is great fun as a man "without a country" stuck in a NYC airport. His three airport employee sidekicks are good, too. (The character played by Catherine Zeta Jones is majorly annoying!) It's pretty amazing that they built that entire airport on a soundstage in lovely (HA!) Palmdale. I'd probably rate it 2.5 or 2.75 out of 4, mostly because it was a bit too long. This will be a good rental in a few months.

iTunes is currently playing: All Around the World from the album Affection by Lisa Stansfield.

I stumbled upon this cool blogger site today: Snap Happy. Most of the text is in Swedish (I think) but (interestingly) its single photo album (called "Snap Happy Impressions") is annotated in English. Go figure. Anyway, the single photo album on the site has some great shots. Enjoy!

iTunes is currently playing: I Drove All Night from the album The Essential Cyndi Lauper by Cyndi Lauper.

What broke in a man when he could bring himself to kill another?

- Alan Paton, "Cry, The Beloved Country", 1948

iTunes is currently playing: Belfast to Boston (live version) by James Taylor.

This Time magazine article presents the history of blogging and points you to some influential/interesting/successful blogs.

iTunes is currently playing: Desert Rose from the album Brand New Day by Sting.

Tuesday night we watched the Detroit Pistons win the NBA Finals, beating the Lakers in five games. We hate the Lakers and we SO wanted them to lose! In an ideal world, Larry Brown would have coached our Sixers to victory. Still, it was nice to see him finally taking some team all the way, even if it wasn't ours, and to see the Laker dynasty stopped dead in its tracks!

So four hours after the champagne bottles were uncorked in Detroit, the following was posted on MSNBC.com: "Pistons looking like Motown's one-hit wonder... Enjoy this title, Piston fans, because it won't happen next year".

Sounds like a comment scribbled by a disgruntled Laker fan, doesn't it. But it's not. It was written by NBCSports.com contributor Bob Duff, who apparently writes for a newspaper in Ontario. (That would be Ontario, CANADA, not Ontario, CALIFORNIA.)

Why does Mr. Duff believe the Pistons have peaked? He gives two reasons.

1) Larry Brown focuses on DEFENSE and, according to this bozo, a team that wins a title by defending can't do it more than once. (I don't know about that. I think any team that can defend Kobe and KING KONG well enough to win 5 games out of 6 might be on to something...)

2) Rasheed Wallace might not be on the roster next year. (I guess Bob didn't notice that Rasheed sat out big chunks of games 3 and 4 due to foul trouble and the Pistons still managed to win those games!)

Personally, I think people who live in that frozen tundra to the north of us should stick to writing about hockey and socialized medicine and leave the NBA to us. If they have to put their two cents in, maybe they could at least wait a day or two to start raining on the victory parade.

iTunes is currently playing:
No System For Love from the album Beth Nielsen Chapman by Beth Nielsen Chapman.

This picture of Target, my half-bengal, being held by his daddy was taken with a Pop 9 camera. The Pop 9 (a cool camera with nine lenses) is available through the Lomographic Society International at www.lomography.com.