Blogs add dash of spice to politics

My latest nomination for the ugliest word in the English language is “blog.” It sounds to me like a combination of “bogs” and “blahs,” which is far from its meaning.

I thought it was probably an acronym, but it actually is a shortened version of “Web log,” and is a personal diary or journal which anyone can log on to and read. The writers are called “bloggers,” and they are creating quite a stir.

A recent article in The Village Voice complained that blogging is taking the place of parties, phone calls and coffee times. This writer called the Blogosphere “a land where the smart get smarter, the connected connect to one another and the losers go home.”

In a recent national survey, the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that more than 2 million Americans have their own blog. Most of them nobody reads, but with the political season in high gear, a whole new field of pundits are blogging and are making money and reputations doing it.

At the Democratic convention, some bloggers were credentialed as news media. And the liveliest stories around seem to be originating on blogs.

If all of this seems too much like a free-for-all for you, there is an excellent traditional Web site for seniors recently recommended by Laura D.L. Bracken in The Spokesman-Review: www.firstgov.gov/Topics/Seniors.shtml. She’s right; it is amazing and extremely easy to use. I defy you to come away empty-handed (or maybe it should be empty-headed?)

What not to wear

A popular cable television show focuses on fashion tips, primarily for younger viewers, but my friend Martha in Mississippi sent me some fashion combinations to be avoided by seniors at all costs: ankle bracelets and bunion pads; a nose ring and bifocals, miniskirts and support hose. And if those images weren’t disturbing enough, just think that in 50 years, nursing homes will be filled with old women sporting tattoos.

Roots of the Blues, 1900-1950

Brad Keeler will be teaching this course for seniors at the Corbin Senior Center. He will be tracing the evolution of the blues and featuring such legends as Blind Willie McTell, T Bone Walker and Muddy Waters. The class will be on Thursday evenings, Oct. 14 through Dec. 9. The cost is $26. Call the Institute for Extended Learning at 279-6025 for information and registration.

And nothing like the Blues

I hope everyone has had an experience similar to mine. Recently a dear friend did such an incredibly generous and thoughtful thing for me that I was totally overcome. When I explained that I must repay her in some way, she told me that such a gesture “would ruin everything.” So I tried to accept her deed graciously and vowed to myself that in the future I would heed Gloria Steinem’s admonition to perform “random acts of kindness” again and again.

The United Nations Day Celebration Dinner will be on Oct. 14 with Washington State Sen. Lisa Brown speaking on “The Importance of Women’s Political Leadership at Home and Abroad.” Contact Marion Moos at 747-2407.

A final poetic note from T.S. Eliot

“We shall not cease from exploration

And the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time.”