On Birds, From Worst To Best
The magnificent frigate. New Guinean birds of paradise (http://youtu.be/SB8UodV_DJg). Herons! Cormorants!
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On Today Only: The Awl Is Auditioning New Commenters!
@Nrbelex Yes!
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On 10 Things I Believed When I Was A Little Kid In Order Of How Embarrassing They Still Are When I Remember Them Today
@jfruh Me too! Curly hair, big nose, dark skin....I just assumed it was the case until age 8 or 10.
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On Jane's Addiction 1987-1991, In Order
No breaking news post about Berlusconi, totemic satyr spirit animal of The Awl, resigning on Saturday? Guess I have to hold out till tomorrow...
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On A Conspiracy of Hogs: The McRib as Arbitrage
@zidaane Don't get me started on the Riblet...LUV U VEGGIE SLURRY, BOILED INNA PLASTIC BAG.
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On It's Cute That New York is Slowly Catching Up with Wisconsin
@neologism SO FUNNY since Matt lives in Oregon (as does Claire Evans) and we have been canning veggies + shooting deer for DECADES before NYC decided we were cool and stole our beardy mountain man look.
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On The End Of The Rodeo For The World's Greatest Cowboy
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On The Horrible, Important Story Of The State-Run Developmental Center
In Oregon the bulk of MR/DD citizens are housed in (small) group homes, because this type of abuse (and worse!) was endemic at Fairview, the state institution. I worked at a group home with high functioning clients for a year and a half, and we had some clients that had been transferred from Fairview, it was so horrible to see the behaviors that came directly from there...drinking coffee straight from the pot and eating so fast they choked and needed whatever we're calling the Heimlich Maneuver these days - because back at Fairview, if you weren't super fast, you didn't eat/drink. Also hearing tales of how the mentally deranged sexual predators were kept in the same wards as the uncommunicative developmentally disabled, uggh I could go on and on. Interestingly on Fairview's wikipedia page there's no mention of WHY the place was closed, or what happened there...
When I worked at the group home I took a lot of pride in giving the clients the best life and community they had ever had, and I really liked the job, but I couldn't continue to live on $7.50 an hour. I remember clocking a bunch of overtime and HOPING my bi-weekly paycheck would crack five hundred dollars. Many of the staff members were one step away from a group home themselves. My first day working was 9/11, and it was gnarly trying to explain what was being depicted on the tv...but interestingly enough, in the months afterwards, when all my friends with tech bubble point-and-click jobs were bemoaning the lack of substance/meaning in their work, I had no such problem.
TL/DR: Group homes are the best alternative, but they need to pay a living wage.
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On Children Get Close-Up Lesson In Nature
@Gef the Talking Mongoose That Katt Williams bit is one of the funniest, smartest things ever. "I am I a REAL tiger? Maybe I'm just a badass koala bear" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3_p8b2fwjk
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On Eugene Polley, 1915 - 2012
Surprisingly, my hometown is spelled Downers Grove, no apostrophe. Perhaps this gift to modern convenience will outshine the only other claim to fame of the town, Emo Philips.