Gettin' board

I know I've got at least a couple of ajedrez-playin' readers out there, so here's a link to a Spanish-language post inspired by a shot I took in Buenos Aires last year. I mentioned some time ago that Argentina's graffiti seemed in general to be more elegant and thought-provoking, not to mention funnier, than what DC usually gets, and Mariano has taken my photo a step further by quoting Jorge Luis Borges at it. For those of us whose Spanish vocab didn't include the terms for chess pieces, here's a translation of what he's quoting.

Fainting king, slanting bishop, fierce
queen, straightforward tower and cunning pawn
on the black and white path
searching and fighting their armed battle.
They ignore the player’s pointing hand
governs his destiny,
they ignore that a tamed severity
holds his will and day.
The player is himself a prisoner
(the sentence is Omar’s) of another board
of dark nights and light days.
God moves the player, and he, the chess piece.
Which God behind God begins the conspiracy
of dust and time and dream and agony?
Translated by Blanca Lista.

Management principles

On the grounds that if you get work done well and quickly, you will be rewarded with more work, IE has been challenged to go above and beyond with her fundraising efforts for the Nation's Triathlon. If you've got some spare change rattling around and think that it would be peachy to improve the chances for people diagnosed with leukemia or lymphoma, pop over to her site and make a donation.

As regular readers and friends know, I was a teenage lymphoma patient, which involved many aspects of craptacularity. I was also insanely, ridiculously, play-the-lottery-today lucky in my doctor. Il Padre one day asked him how, since we could call Dr. G at 3 AM and always get an answer; he did rounds every day, including all the holidays; he took as much time as patients and their families wanted when there was information to share; he never missed a chance to comfort someone who needed it; he ran four miles a day; he had a family of his own; and he attended services for any patient who died, he stayed in the field without burning out. Dr. G looked at him steadily and said, "When I started in practice, the death rate for pediatric lymphoma and leukemia was about 90%. Now it's 45% and falling. That's why. And that's how."

Help IE fight the good fight, y'all. Small changes matter.

Angels on Aerials in leather and chrome

The barn has acquired a new kitten, a little adolescent tortoiseshell charmer with gold eyes and the tentative name of Calamari, to go with the current lads, Ratatouille and Vermi(n)celli. She's on house arrest until her vet appointment later this week, but in the meantime the boys have stepped up their mousing game, bringing her two almost-but-not-quite-dead mice. Chewie and Celli are neutered but still chivalrous, and of course how could they be otherwise in a barn? Calamari is personable enough, and she's very fond of chasing the furry end of a dressage whip, but she's less interested in cuddling with people than the boy cats are, possibly because she's a rescue case. The barn is a sweet gig for any cat, what with the freedom to roam about and the prospect of epic numbers of mice on which to prey, and doubly so for one who was in danger of being abandoned to the mercies of the elements.

Apropos of her story, the New York Times just ran an article on Rescue Ink, a band of tattooed do-gooders who focus on helping dogs and cats in bad situations. I defy anyone to go through the accompanying slide show of big scary-looking biker guys cuddling small pets without being stricken with awwww. To paraphrase Jessica Rabbit, these guys aren't bad—they're just drawn that way.

Also sprach ZaraScalzi

Because it wasn't creepy-ass idiotic enough when one of their breathless newsdroids gasped that the Obama's fist-bump the night of Barack's win was a possible "terrorist fist jab," now Fox is referring to Michelle Obama as "Obama's Baby Mama." I am so chock with disgust I cannot formulate words. Fortunately, John Scalzi makes his living at it.