Lincolnite: Lincoln's Online Community

Long Weekend Ahead

December 17, 2004 at 10:24am By: Mr. Wilson Posted in 625 Elm Street

I have a loooong weekend ahead of me. Twelve indoor soccer games await me: 4 tonight, 4 tomorrow, and 4 on Sunday. The games on Saturday and Sunday don’t bother me so much. But tonight’s games mean I won’t get home until 10:00pm or so, and I won’t have eaten supper yet. My body will be pretty ticked off at me, but whaddayagonnado?

On the plus side, the Missus and I hope to get together with friends on Saturday night. We don’t have a specific plan yet, but I’m sure whatever plan we do come up with will include food. Mmmm...food.

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Bowling Together, Bowling Alone

December 16, 2004 at 4:30pm By: Mr. Wilson Posted in 625 Elm Street

When Robert Putnam’s Bowling Alone was released in 2000, it took the academic and civic world by storm. Putnam’s thesis is, in short, that as bowling leagues go, so goes society. Bowling leagues have decreased over the years, a trend which is associated with simultaneous declines in civic participation, social capital, and so on.

Now Jason Kaufman has a retort.

For the Common Good? American Civic Life and the Golden Age of Fraternity argues that, contrary to Putnam’s assertions, the decline of some types of civic organizations—fraternal clubs in particular—is actually a good thing. Fraternal organizations were divisive; their decline indicates that Americans are becoming more equal and less desirous of exclusive clubs to “protect” themselves from others. Kaufman’s proposal sounds far from bullet-proof, but I’m intrigued enough to pick up his book from the library. (It doesn’t appear Lincoln’s libraries have a copy yet.)

I’ll keep you posted.

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The Frustrations of Winter

December 16, 2004 at 10:28am By: Mr. Wilson Posted in 625 Elm Street

I happen to love winter, but I know that many (most?) Lincolnites would prefer to skip all that snow, ice, and bitter wind. Love it or hate it, nearly all of us can empathize with this guy‘s frustrations. (530KB WMV file)

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Daisy Photo

December 15, 2004 at 6:24pm By: Mr. Wilson Posted in 625 Elm Street

I don’t know why, but I feel like posting a photo of Daisy today. So here she is.

Speaking of Daisy, I took her in this morning to get her hair cut. She wasn’t all that shaggy, but it had been two months since her last trim. With Christmas coming up we wanted her to look extra-nice for the inevitable barrage of photos as she shreds the piles of wrapping paper and boxes.

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Shh!

December 10, 2004 at 3:39pm By: Mr. Wilson Posted in 625 Elm Street

Do you ever get frustrated by people who think that speaking on a cellphone requires increasing the volume of their voice by no fewer than 30 decibels? Or, more generally, does it just irk the heck out of you when people yammer away on a cellphone in a place where you’re forced to listen? Would you like to do something about it? The Society for Handheld Hushing has some tools for you to use in your (futile) quest.

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