Silflay Hraka

Carnival of the Vanities #240 follows hot on the heels of Carnival of the Vanities #239. The 239th edition was delayed for nearly a week while I searched for the time and energy to put it together. I promise to try harder to keep the carnivals on a more regular schedule but I can’t swear they’ll be here every Wednesday. I can barely even find time to call my momma much less feed this blog. Of course, sometimes I can feed the blog and communicate with mom all in one go. That’s always nice.

Where am I going with this? I dunno. Nowhere, I suppose. I usually try to combine a story with the carny for mom’s sake but I just got off the phone with her so I don’t have any stories to share. I guess that means we can get on with the carnival.

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Leading the pack this week is GrrlScientist with Chromosomal Chaos and Cancer. In it she examines the link between chromosomal decay and cancer. She also mentions the HIV-Aids connection. I bring it up because it’s apropos of the fact that I have recently made friends with at least two people who work for the CDC here in Atlanta. I find that to be extremely cool. Neither works in virology, but it’s still cool. Neither could get me to shut up about “The Hot Zone“.

Riversider presents an in-depth look at How the Ribble Works. It’s a long, muddy walk through the ecosystem of the river Ribble. Very thorough. Good job, Riversider.

Andrew Ian Dodge presents The Virginia Martyrdom Operation.

Leon Gettler correlates CEO mansions and company stock price. Guess what? The bigger the mansion, the worse the stock performance. Go figger.

Lisa presents Train birthday party ideas. Speaking of birthdays, there are several to celebrate this weekend. I want to send out birthday wishes to Nephew Ethan, Niece Taylor and That Girl, celebrating their 6th, 7th and 29th birthday’s this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Happy Birthday, all!

GrrlScientist talks about the Virginia Tech killer and says that Treating Mental Illness Defies Quick Fixes.

Andrew Ian Dodge shows the VT Killer terrorism link in The Virginia Martyrdom Operation.

Koranteng Ofosu-Amaah presents Excellent Discussions and imagines a ficticious meeting between Muammar Gaddafi, Omar Al-Bashir and John Negroponte.

And, lastly, Madeleine Begun Kane gives us Sleepless In Geekdom, in which an on-call husband speaks in tongues.

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That’s all the carnys for this week, folks. If you want to be in one of next week’s carnys, submit your material to Blog Carnival. I’m for bed. G’night!

Okay, I’m a leetle late with this particular episode of the Carnival of the Vanities. I have no real excuse, I suppose. I mean, I know I probably could’ve found some time to throw something together last week. But I wouldn’t have been into it and I feel that the Carnival deserves only my best effort, so I delayed instead.

Really.

So I’m finally here with a few minutes to myself and a little extra energy to spare so I thought I’d catch up. Plus, I’ll have to put together episode #240 tomorrow night so I just have to do it tonight.

I’m just going to run through the list of entries and I apologize again for the lateness of the effort.

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The first entry comes from Mad Kane. She was sick. That was like two weeks ago. Hope she’s feeling better.

David Richeson asks Are You Sure You Know What You Really Want? He says what we think we want isn’t really what we want. That’s good because I am definitely not getting what I think I want. This is some panacea.

GrrlScientist walks throughA Mouse Model of Bipolar Disorder. I think the symptoms represent some people I know. I don’t think they know.

Paul also has a question: Free breast implants…what next! Free ogling, I assume.

Paul Sunstone talks about Young Love and suggests young love is more self-centered than more mature love. I guess this means I’m still young. Yippee!

Andrew Ian Dodge talks about PPP segmentation.

Madeleine Begun Kane gets a second entry into this week’s carny because I’m a bad carny shepherd and took a damned long time to put this up. She says Give Me A Break.

Koranteng Ofosu-Amaah speaks of Bags and Stamps. Evidently Louis Vutton has been stealing ideas.

Jack Yoest saw Bush at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast. Something in his post smacks of the situation in Northern Island.

Leon Gettler presents Wolfowitz and World Bank nepotism uproar. Evidently there’s a pattern of abuse at the World Bank.

Romeo Vitelli walks through what happened After Ford’s Theater.

Brandon Peele presents his Relationship to Truth.

Adam Graham give us The Purchasing of the Presidency. This one is near and dear to my heart. I remember reading how G.W. Bush had raised a record amount of money for a run to the Presidency and thinking how he was basically being foisted on America by a bunch of corporations and other wealthy individuals. That’s probably when I first started disliking the man. Now a bunch of wealthy types are trying to foist Hilary Clinton on us. These aren’t our candidates. These are the candidates those with wealth and power want in office. What should we do? Vote for the guy who hasn’t got all the money being given to him. That’s why I’ll probably vote John McCain.

Okay, Madeleine Kane gets three entries because I’m a crappy editor. But that’s it! No more! She gives us an ADD Ode (Limerick). I didn’t quite make it through the whole thing.

Wayne Hurlbert says we should Move away from the crowd.

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And that’s it until Wednesday. For those of you wanting to get an entry in, submit it through Blog Carnival before tomorrow evening. Talk to you then!

Okay, I’m sure some of you have noticed that the 239th edition of the Carnival of the Vanities did not appear in this space as scheduled.

Yeah. I’m working on it. I’m waaaay behind, obviously. As always, I plead a busy schedule. I haven’t had time to sit since…Monday of last week? Maybe?

A quick update for mom and whomever else is interested. Doctor’s visit on Friday for a problem I’ve been having with my left hip. He sent me for x-rays. They’re due tomorrow and I’ll know more then, I hope. Pray for good news. (Good news would be that I don’t have any bone leaching from that area and that I didn’t break it or anything stupid like that. Good news would be that it’s a muscle thing that will heal given enough time. It’s been something like 11 weeks so far.)

Friday night me and some of my guy friends from church went to feed and cloth the homeless in downtown Atlanta. That was humbling but uplifting at the same time. We all took our spare clothes and met with a ministry group that does this every Friday. We mingled with a group of about 50 homeless men and women, handed out food and then helped distribute clothing and passes to the shelter. It certainly helps reinforce the lesson that we should all count our blessings. One thing I heard repeated from the homeless group was how they tried to focus on the gifts God had given. They were also very appreciative just to have someone talk to them and treat the with a little respect and concern.

Tonight was “Do Justice” at Puritan Mill here in Atlanta. It was a party and singles mixer meant to raise awareness about slavery in America and the world. I didn’t realize this but evidently Atlanta is the number one city in the U.S. for the sex slave trade. Yippee. We’re number one. Also highlighted were the sex slave trade in Cambodia and the kidnapping of youths by rebel groups in Uganda. I got a t-shirt.

Anyway, lots is going on. I suspect I’m going to have to put a call out for someone willing to take over Carnival of the Vanities or perhaps send it out for rotation again. My life doesn’t appear to be too conducive to blogging these days. Too much going on.

That’s the update. I will have the Carny up soon. We might have one tomorrow and one on Wednesday, just to catch up.

Ma, I’ll call soon!

Yeah, yeah. I know I’m at least a day late putting up the carny. So sue me. I’ve been busy. And I lost track of time. I honestly haven’t even known what day it was for most of the week. I’ve been a day behind or ahead the entire time. Monday was a lost day, Tuesday was Monday, Wednesday was Thursday, today was too and tomorrow should be Saturday for all I know. Too much going on.

To be fair, carny readers don’t have much to complain about. I forgot my nephew’s birthday last week, my good friend The Romanian’s on Monday and just barely remembered the Boogie Scarecrow’s birthday was today. I have this nagging feeling that today is someone else’s birthday as well but I can’t figure it out for the life of me. One of my new friend’s here, I suppose. April is apparently a busy month for birthdays.

Anyway, there’s another special occasion to celebrate and we’ll start the carny with that.

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Andrew Ian Dodge is gettin’ hitched and tells about it in a Dodgey Column. Congrats, Andrew. All the best from Carnival of the Vanities and the Silflay Hraka crowd.

Continuing with the carny, Adam talks about a subject near-and-dear to my heart: The Isolation of Academia. If he could’ve been there the many, many times I bitched about the textbook publishing racket whilst pursuing my MBA…not only do they overcharge, they keep you buying new books by coming out with “new” editions every third semester. The new editions usually contain minor edits but those edits keep universities from buying back older textbooks and selling them for less. Someday, somebody is going to break up that racket. Textbook publishers should be boiled in hot oil and sliced up in to tiny ribbons. There ain’t nobody eviler than a textbook publisher.

Bastiges.

While we’re spewing vitriol, we’ll include Mad Kane. My guess is that Mad doesn’t care much for Orrin Hatch judging from what I read in Truth On The Lam.

Further speaking of vitriol, Paul Sunstone recounts the heated debate between Creationists, Intelligent Designers and Scientists in Buddhism and the Grand Debate Over Evolution. I’m an “Intelligent Designer” myself. I see nothing in science that contradicts the existence of God and nothing in God that precludes the findings of science.

Another hot topic in science is Just How Smart Are Ravens? GrrlScientist pursues that one. One of these days, she may get to the bottom of “how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pop?” I’m waiting.

DWSUWF has questions of his own, asking “Can Chuck Hagel save the GOP from the Bushies?” Save the GOP from the Bushies? Or the Bushies from the GOP (and others)?

Riversider gives a nice presentation on Barrages and Wetland Ecosystems: the Environmental and Economic Impacts.

Leon Gettler gives us an update on the BAE scandal in the U.K. with More BAE shenanigans.

mom & dad make a list of Ten Simple Chores for Kids. I like lists.

Lastly, Wayne Hurlbert says that Business blogs are Small business secret weapons.

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That’s it for this week’s incredibly late Carnival of the Vanities. The 239th edition of the same may or may not be posted in this space on Wednesday of next week. Keep your fingers crossed. This weekend and next week are looking a little less busy than the past few have been. That could all change at any minute as I have yet to learn how to be happy just sitting around the house.

If you do want to be part of the next potential Carnival of the Vanities, please submit your post through Blog Carnival.

Until the next edition of this eldest of carnivals appears, adieu.

Okay, okay. I know. CoTV #238 is late. It’s coming. Tonight. I swear.

Okay, the Carny is a little late this week. My apologies to all those who submitted and those readers who eagerly await the carnival every week. I have been running flat out since Monday. There was work then the NCAA basketball game on Monday, work and meeting with the co-leaders of my church community group on Tuesday and work and men’s church group tonight. I have had precious little time to myself all week and it’s not likely to stop any time soon. There’s work and date night tomorrow (That Girl. Current status: beyond talking to “hanging out” and then work and a long drive to North Carolina on Friday. I tend to schedule my time to the fullest.

I’m also dealing with a possibly fractured rib. I caught an elbow to the midriff playing Ultimate Frisbee in the park. I think I broke something. Don’t worry, Ma. I’m fine.

Anyway, the carny goes on. This week’s is going to be unedited. I haven’t had time to read the entries so I present them as received.

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Andrew Ian Dodge presents Get thy Virgin in order.

GrrlScientist presents Ancient Roadrunner-like Bird from the Age of Dinosaurs.

Sholom Anarchy presents Carnival for Peace #1.

Leon Gettler presents Betting on Conrad Black’s chances

mom & dad present Ten Things That I’ve Learned in Life

Nenad Ristic presents Money Conciousness » 8 Reasons Why I Hate Internet Marketing Videos

Greg Swann presents Want to make sure you can defend yourself from internet bad guys? Aim for the body, not the head . . .

Koranteng Ofosu-Amaah presents Articles of Faith

Brandon Peele presents Spiritual Autolysis

Riversider presents Take A Preston Minibreak

Wayne Hurlbert presents Recession management: Personnel relations

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That’s all for this week’s 237th Carnival. Sorry again for the lateness of this edition and for the poor editing. My hope is that I will learn to manage my time a little better and have next week’s CoTV up on Wednesday morning. If you’d like to submit a post for next week’s carny, please do so through Blog Carnival. Until then, buenas noches!

Hmmm…what direction to take? I’m not feeling it right now so we’ll just go where we’re lead, shall we? It’s the 236th edition of the Carnival of the Vanities and that seems to me to be some kind of milestone. That’s one carnival a week for the past 236 weeks. I can’t suggest that there’s actually been a Carnival of the Vanities every week for the last four-and-a-half years but it’s likely near enough. There’s been some question as to whether the Carnival of the Vanities would continue at various times in the past, but it manages to keep rolling. And look at all the other Carnivals that owe their existence to this one.

I feel good about it and possibly just a bit smug. I’m not the originator of the Carny. That’d be brother Bigwig. Maybe I’ll talk him into taking a turn as Carny administrator again in the future. It would seem fitting to have him revisit his bastard creation at some point in the future. Until then, there’s me keeping this thing on life-support.

Let’s get on with it, shall we?

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I don’t have much commentary for the entries this week, I think. For one, I’m watching “The Lion in Winter” on cable and for two…well, I don’t have much commentary. I think.

Marsha Hudnall says we should use our Intrinsic Motivation for Healthy Weight Loss. My intrinsic motivation led me to crave a chocolate chip cookie today after lunch. I always listen to my intrinsic motivation. My non-intrinsic motivation leads me to have a piece of dark chocolate and a glass of red wine every day. I don’t plan on dying of heart disease.

I did have a dream last night that I had Parkinson’s. That’s more likely to be my future, barring some medical advances or another miracle from Pope John Paul II. Good thing I believe in miracles.

BTW, I lied about the commentary.

Leon Gettler equates Sarbanes-Oxley, Gonzales and the Ken Lay defence. “I didn’t know” has been the en vogue answer since Ronald Reagan forgot about the whole Iran-Contra affair. Methinks Reagan had a better excuse than Gonzales or Lay.

GrrlScientist covers the Rare Bird Captured in Peru. It’s a small owl that has rarely been seen in the wild. My cousin has a similar claim to fame in that he spotted the rare Stygian Owl some years ago in Texas. “Stygian” has graced the license plate of my aunt and uncle ever since.

Madeleine Begun Kane bemoans That Errant List. Perhaps Mad and I have something in common. I make looots of lists. I make lists of lists even. It’s what I do whilst attending meetings in order to keep myself entertained. Thankfully, I generally am able to recreate any list I misplace.

Pushpa Sathish presents 101 Bonehead Mistakes Every Manager Should Avoid. It’s a good list of do’s and don’ts. It seems to be common sensical but I’m always surprised by how many managers don’t know or do most of them.

Hueina Su advises that we should Take Time for Friendships. Good advice.

Wolfie talks tax rates in the U.K. in Brown’s New Pensions Blow.

Lastly, Wayne Hurlbert presents the value of Politeness: Respect for others pays. Also good advice.

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And that’s the 236th edition of the Carnival of the Vanities. Check back next week for the 237th. Barring some miracle or some minor inconvenience, that is. I’m a busy guy, you know.

If you’d like your writing featured in the Carnival of the Vanities, write something insightful and worthwhile and send it in through Blog Carnival.

Until then, I bid you adieu.

If it’s Wednesday, it must be time for the Carnival of the Vanities. Since I didn’t finish the carny last night as I am wont to do, I’ll have to squeeze it into my day somehow. I would save it for this evening but I’ll be watching Molly Ringwald in “Sweet Charity” with a friend of mine. (That Girl. Current status: on speaking terms. I hesitate to guess what the status will be next week. But for now we have free tickets to the Fox Theater and that’s okay.)

This week’s carny is rather short and since I am having to squeeze it in, will probably go unthemed. In order to get this thing up, let’s go ahead and get started.

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Marsha Hudnall presents Study Shows Diets — Once Again — Aren’t the Best Weight Loss Program. I think the definition of “diet” is key. If you define diet as a short-term adjustment to what you eat, it’s going to fail. If you define diet as a permanent adjustment to what and how you eat, it’s more likely to succeed. People seem shocked that they lose weight when they change their eating patterns only to put it back on when they go back to eating what they used to eat. What did they think was going to happen? Stay thin eating the same old crap they used to eat?

Adam gives us New Media Economics. It’s all about supply and demand in the blogosphere. I think there is a dividing line between the micro and macro-economics of the situation needed, but don’t have time to delve into it. If you have time and energy, please feel free…

Broc Copeland presents 3 Ways to Market Blogs Using MyBlogLog. You’ll note there is no link to this story. That’s because Broc’s third way to market your blog is to basically spam someone else’s blog comments. I think all comment spammers should die. They will get no link love from me or this carny.

Bull Jones sings Oops! The VA did it again!. I have a good friend working for the VA in NC. She was overwhelmed with calls the last time they lost personal data. Guess she’s dealing with it again.

GrrlScientist presents Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted): God: The Failed Hypothesis. Somebody somewhere wrote a book that God couldn’t possibly exist and tested it “scientifically”. I think it’s the case of supporting what you set out to prove rather than looking objectively at the evidence. For my money, God exists and He has blessed me much. So there.

Madeleine Begun Kane presents Taxing Times. I guess it’s time to do my taxes, even though it’s not April. I don’t know why I always delay. It only takes me about an hour and I always seem to get money back. I’m a procrastinator, I guess.

Pushpa Sathish presents Doing Business in India: 20 Cultural Norms You Need to Know. Pushpa is my kind of business blogger. This is the kind of thing that is a.) not obvious and b.) actually useful. Good job, Pushpa.

Alan K. Henderson gives us a set of sci-fi governments in Presidential Administrations: The Good, The Bad, And The Lost. Captain Kirk doesn’t get an office in the sci-fi government? C’mon!

Mama Duck gives tips on Using toddler energy for a cleaner house… I always suggest using a toddler to clean the house. You just attach a handle and push them around the floor.

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And that’s it for this week’s carny. Just in time too. I gotta’ get out of here to pick up my date for the evening. I and the Carnival of the Vanities will return next week. If you’d like to submit a post for CoTV consideration, please do so through Blog Carnival. See you next week!

I’m going to try something a little different with this week’s Carnival and get right down to business. Don’t get too excited. I’m still going to talk a lot, I’m just going to intersperse my commentary in with the posts a little more.

The reason behind this is that the first two posts at least provide personal reference points for me and I plan to use them to tell you what’s on my mind.

Kid Various kicks of the Carnival with a really good discussion of the movie ‘300′, which I went to see on Saturday. Most of the talk about the movie, strangely enough, seems to focus not on the fact that it’s mediocre at best once you get past the beautiful cinematics, but on the underlying themes.

Yes, the plot is thin and the acting ham-fisted, but you’d have to be pretty thick to miss the parallels between the Spartan-Persian conflict and the current “War on Terrorism”. A small, lonely, devoted band of white men stand between the evil, enslaved Persians and the ideal of Democracy and freedom. There are also many Christian themes brought out in the movie. There’s a scene in which Xerxes promises King Leonidas power over the entire world if Leo will only kneel and worship before him. And the movie ends with a shot of Leonidas, arms outstretched, sacrificied in death so that the world may live. It’s pretty obvious stuff.

The coolest part is that ‘300′ matches the comic almost frame for frame. And the comic was first published in 1998, three or four years before the “War on Terror” even began. Frank, you’re a prescient being.

In the end, the movie is a gorgeous piece of film and builds on the effects in “Sin City”. It still isn’t great, but it’s entertaining. It did make me want to see how “Return of the Dark Knight” would look on the big screen. And who would play the Dark Knight himself? Ed Harris.

Natalie also sparked some memories with A visit to the Musee du quai Branly. This time last year, I’d just gotten back from a week spent in Paris. The trip was much on my mind last week and I couldn’t help thinking of the places I’d been and the person beside me for most of the journey. I found myself wandering the narrow alleys of St. Germain and Montemarte in my mind. I found myself praying again in the Basilica du Sacre Coeur and taking in the night lights from the river Seine or from atop Le Tour Eiffel. I even heard the metro trains in the passing of the MARTA.

BTW, Mom, That Girl and I are speaking again. As of yesterday. Thought you’d like to know. I’ll keep you apprised of any changes in our status as friends.

On with the Carny, sans personal asides for the duration.

DWSUWF presents The Partisan Hypocrite Test. Take this test to find out if you’re a partisan hypocrite or not. I’m not. Hint: if you can spot the similarity between Scooter Libby and Bill Clinton, you’re not a hypocrite.

Alan K. Henderson uses Ann Coulter as an excuse to give us Henderson’s Rules Of Name-Calling. The one rule he missed is “no name-calling”.

Sholom sent in two posts for this week’s Carny but I have a non-strict rule against two posts from the same individual in one edition of CoTV. I present the first I read. Anarcho-Judaism: Come, let us rejioce! I think he really means “rejioce” as it’s spelt that way with great regularity.

Wayne Hurlbert presents Business ideas: Understanding wisdom. I don’t know what he’s talking about but maybe I’m not ready to hear it yet.

Okay, just kidding. I’m a smart-ass. What can I say?

Andrew Ian Dodge channels our very own Bigwig in Camoron wants to stop you flying. They’re two sides of the same coin, ladies and gentlemen.

Jack Yoest presents Job Interview: How To Tell If the Candidate Will Lie, Cheat, Steal?

I know I promised no more personal asides, but I lied. I have to say that everyone I know at work is uniformly wonderful to work with. I’ve never met a larger group of smart, dedicated, hard-working, competent individuals. And my boss doesn’t even read this blog.

Marsha Hudnall brings up another subject close to my heart. Diet and Fitness: Binge Eating Overtakes Other Eating Disorders. MA, hope you’re alive and well out there and I hope you beat it.

Riversider echoes a German Trade Unionists Call For Mobilisation.

Leon Gettler tells how Conrad Black fell for website hoax.

Lastly, Madeleine Begun Kane defends her right to free speech in Why I Don’t Hate My Hate Mail.

Also lastly, Lisa gives Rubber ducky birthday party ideas.

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That’s it for this week’s CoTV. Thanks to all for their good submissions. If you’d like your post to be considered for inclusion in the Carnival of the Vanities, please submit your post through Blog Carnival. Your post may or may not be included in this space at roughly the same time next week.

Until then, thanks for visiting and enjoy the Carnival of the Vanities.

So this weeks Carnival is a little delayed. It’s not my fault. Seriously. I had it all wrapped up last night, hit the wrong set of keys and bam! Gone. By the time I’d finished, I had no more energy to recreate the thing and decided to delay until this evening. If the Carnival seems a little thinner than usual, it’s because I still don’t have a lot of energy for it. I’ve been busy every night for three weeks it seems and…

Well, no more excuses. Here’s your Carnival.

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Koranteng Ofosu-Amaah is a deep, deep guy. He writes about stuff I wouldn’t even notice. Like the typefaces used on book covers. In Types and Faces he examines how certain typefaces have come to represent Africa.

Adam says we should open up the U.S. currency market to competition. I would be happy if we could use any kind of currency here and abroad. Maybe we should start a trend and start accepting the peso or something. I mean, might as well, right? Read his take in Woodrow Wilson Pleads the Fifth.

Madeleine Begun Kane gives us a short rhyme about Office Politics. I am not sure I get it. Maybe you will.

Old Friend of Hraka, CGHill explores how radio stations are beginning to give us the “Reader’s Digest” version of songs in Get to the point. It’s a telling expose about the attention span of the average…

Where was I again?

Nick Queen is some kind of paranormal researcher. He has three recordings that may or may not contain Voices From Beyond.

Marsha Hudnall talks about Fat Actresses & Size Acceptance.

Andrew Ian Dodge is Banned In Beijing. I have to imagine that we are as well. Hell, I have friends that can’t even get here from their work places.

Jack Yoest asks Are Business Elites Capitalists? Apparently they aren’t. Apparently they’re all just a bunch of flaming liberals. Who knew?

Lastly, Wayne Hurlbert catches a lucky break and gets this post in for the Carny at 2:57 a.m. I was just going to save it for next week but anyone submitting to this Carnival at that time of the morning deserves a little extra effort. Wayne wants you all to blog in Blog evangelism: Overcoming resistence. I personally do not want you all to blog. If everyone blogged, we’d have no one left to read our writing.

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And that’s it for this week’s Carnival of the Vanities. The Carnival of the Vanities appears in this space every Wednesday when I can get to it. If you’d like your writing to be featured in this lovely Carnival, please submit your material through Blog Carnival.

Until next week, enjoy the Carnival of the Vanities.