Picture: Bug Meeting

I wonder if there's an agenda, a diplomatic protocol, or if it's just two bugs meeting for a little nectar/pollen snack.

Comment Elsewhere: Social Network Cynicism

Terry at I See Invisible People has been discovering that Facebook, for all its utility and entertainment value, also has blazingly insensitive aspects. My comment

Facebook is like a TV station, a cable channel, or a magazine, or a newspaper: they provide a service which attracts an audience. Then they sell access to that audience to advertisers: advertisers will pay more for an audience that is more likely to be interested in their product, so Facebook, which knows a lot about its users, should be able, in theory, to sell high-potential audiences to advertisers for good money.

Someone who uses this prescription gift app is giving Facebook a lot of information about themselves and/or the recipient.

So far, Facebook has been treading a fine line (i.e. a big gray area): trying to be useful to their advertisers without blatantly prostituting their users or violating their individual privacy. But I’m not sure they’re making all the money they think they should be making, yet. So they’re being more aggressive about extracting information, and they’re being more aggressive about finding ways to draw in advertisers, and they’re being more aggressive about attracting the high-value 18-35 demographic (though I still don’t know why that is; they’re not the ones with all the money) by being “edgy”….

Yeah, it’s a little cynical. OK, it’s a lot cynical, but I didn’t make up the business model.

Four Years, 1167 posts later....

To mark the fourth anniversary of the humble beginnings of this blog (Seriously humble, friends), I will note other blogs -- many of them blogs of considerably energy and high quality -- which have added me to their blogrolls, in spite of my attempts to take a hiatus and generally focus my energies elsewhere. These are roughly in the order that I noticed them. If you like what I do here, check them out; apparently they do to, and you might find them worthwhile. I do.

• A Shrewdness of Apes by Ms. Cornelius


• BlueBird's Classroom. BlueBird and Ms. Cornelius are both classroom teachers who have a wonderfully perceptive and warm approach, as well as funny and rigorous.


• Scott McLemee's Quick Study


• Progressive Historians, where I'm an active commenter and recently rejoined the blogging team.


• ACRLog, the blog of the Association of College and Reference Librarians. No, I haven't a clue what got their attention, though I have done a bunch of book lists and intellectual memes


• Ericstotle, aka Eric Vance Johnson.


• The Academy's Bench Warmer, aka Geschichte Grad, one of my PH colleagues


• Spherical Frictionless Cow. Serious points for the name.

That's about it for new linkfriends. Not bad for someone who's mostly coasting, with the increasingly frequent, ill-tempered rant.

I'd also like to thank, with a link, the hardcore sources I've been reading on politics that I don't normally, and am going to go back to mostly ignoring:

• Talking Points Memo
• Think Progress
• Matthew Yglesias
• Daniel Larison
• Sadly, No!
• Andrew Sullivan
• FiveThirtyEight.com
• Digby's Hullabaloo
• FireDogLake
• Kevin Drum
• Political Animal

It's been a good ride!

Thursday Lyric: Magic Muffin Dance

Christy's long-time partner (spouse in all but law, of course) Boda was kind enough to send the words along to my favorite of Christy's originals. It's such a charming little tune, too: lilting and bouncy; it's a bit hard to join in at first, but it's so irresistable once you get the rhythm of it.

This song has always reminded me of Stan Rogers' description of Archie Fisher's "Witch of the Westmorland" as "a five hundred year old legend that Archie made up." It has that wonderful faerie tale quality that's almost timeless.

Magic Muffin Dance
words and music by Christy Simpson
copyright1996

As you probably know, bunnies don’t wear clothes
They’re wrapped in fur to their little rabbit toes
It’s an old tradition, it’s a wondrous sight
When the Muffin Dance begins in the sparkle of the night for…

Seven lucky bunnies (x6)
Doing the Magic Muffin Dance.

Well, they measure out the flour and they measure out the sugar
They count out the eggs and they mix it all together
They add a little magic, pour the batter in the pans
They cook ‘em in the oven and get ready for the dance. They’re

Seven lucky bunnies (x6)
Doing the Magic Muffin Dance.

Well, one is a sister of a brother of a cousin
Of an aunt who lives in the nearby wood.
She eats all her carrots and she does her bunny chores
She knows she’ll be chosen if she is good. One of…

Seven lucky bunnies (x6)
Doing the Magic Muffin Dance.

Well, they dance to the music of the silvery night
They dance to the stars and the pale moonlight
They dance to the water as it rushes down the stream
They dance to the rhythm and the music of your dreams. They’re…

Seven lucky bunnies (x6)
Doing the Magic Muffin Dance.

They dance in a circle and they dance in a square.
They dance with all four feet in the air.
They dance in a line and they dance in a heap
They dance with all their hearts and then they fall asleep. They’re…

Seven lucky bunnies (x6)
Doing the Magic Muffin Dance.

ending (counterpoint with chorus): one bunny, two bunnies, three bunnies, four bunnies, five bunnies, six bunnies, seven bunnies doing the Magic Muffin Dance.

You were loved

Christy Simpson has left us. Barely fifty years old, she had a career as a pediatric intensive care nurse, a calling as a singer/songwriter, and a warm soul. I got to know her because I married a friend of hers, and those too-rare visits were always sweet moments.

In addition to losing a friend, we've had to explain things a bit to the Little Anachronism: it's the first time anyone has died whose music is a presence in our home and (though it was too long ago to have made an impression on a growing brain) who the little one got to visit in person. On the other hand, we've been bringing up Christy's music again; it's been too long.

My favorite of her songs is "The Magic Muffin Dance" (aka "Seven Lucky Bunnies"), but it's a bear to transcribe. Here's one I can do more quickly:

Know That I am loved.
by Christy Simpson

I've got a cat. He's black and white
Sometimes he wakes me up in the middle of the night
His name is Joshua, and he wants a drink, he hops right up into the bathroom sink.
He purrs and then I turn the water on and I know I'm loved

I've got a dog: we walk each day
She eats things off the ground: it's like a big buffet
She's always glad to see me when I've been away
Five minutes, and hour or a very long day.
She wags her tail and she smiles at me and I know I'm loved

I've got a bear: her name is mabel
She spends most of her time on my bedside table
When I go on a trip she always comes along
She's polite and listens when I sing my song.
She lets me squeeze her tight in the middle of the night
I know I'm loved

My mom and dad live far away
Sometimes they call on the telephone just to say
"The weather is cold. We've got the flu.
Between the zoo and the aquarium there's lots to do,
We miss you and honey, we're so proud of you."
then I know I'm loved

I've got a best friend: her name is Boda
Sometimes we sit and talk and we share a soda
She lets me cry when I feel sad, and when she hugs me tight it doesn't seem so bad
We laugh and play, it sends my blues away, and I know I'm loved

So if you're feeling alone
If you're feeling kind of blue
Well, here's a little something that you might do:
Take a look around at the folks you know and consider all the little things they do to show you that you're special, and you'll know you're loved. (2x)


It's a simple message, but it's exactly the kind of song that works: the simple message is set in concrete details -- real ones, mostly -- which make it come alive. Christy also set Shel Silverstein's They've Put a Brassiere on the Camel to music, and makes it her own in the process. Yes, both songs are on the same CD.