Kathy Riordan

Kathy Riordan
Location
Florida, United States
Birthday
April 27
Bio
One woman's view of life and the universe. Follow @katriord on Twitter. Some nice people have said some incredibly nice things about me, which I appreciate, including being called "The mayor of Twitter" (@palafo), "The Queen of Twitter" (@lizadonnelly), "One of the funniest women on the planet" (@LATimestot), and "A friend to many" (@BillGatesZune).

Editor’s Pick
OCTOBER 18, 2009 9:09PM

Thank God I Didn't Marry You

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Thank God I didn't marry you.

You were too quirky, even though you were smart.  And funny.  And I was never bored.  Your leg wouldn't hold still.  You were a runner.  I can't do runners.  You overthought everything.  Our timing was off.  Yo… Read full post »

Editor’s Pick
AUGUST 14, 2009 9:23AM

That Pesky Squirrel!

Everyone loves a vacation in the great outdoors, especially when it's somewhere as beautiful as Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies.

Melissa and Jackson Brandts, visiting from Minnesota, loved it so much they decided to stop and take a picture in front of scenic Lake Minnewanka.

They set up t… Read full post »

Editor’s Pick
JUNE 24, 2009 12:07AM

Not That 'Neda' - How the Wrong Photo Became an Icon

When the graphic video of a young girl dying on the streets of Tehran was first uploaded to the Internet last Saturday, there was no name attached to it.  All we knew was the face of a young girl struggling for her last breaths after a sniper's bullet exploded in her… Read full post »

Editor’s Pick
SEPTEMBER 28, 2009 3:18PM

Blogger Helps Secret Service Pull Obama Death Poll from FB

The Secret Service got an assist from a Southern California blogger at 'The Political Carnival' on Sunday when she tipped them off to a poll on Facebook asking whether President Obama should be killed.

GottaLaff  broke the story online Sunday when she discovered the 'Obama Death Poll' on Fa… Read full post »

Editor’s Pick
OCTOBER 11, 2009 11:35PM

The Day Matthew Shepard Died

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SLC International Airport, Salt Lake City, Utah, one of the first things I saw the morning Matthew Shepard died. 

 

 

It was a route I'd flown countless times.  SLC-MSP.  Salt Lake City to Minneapolis.  I thought nothing of it.  

The day before… Read full post »

NOVEMBER 12, 2009 5:31PM

Paris

 

 

6PARIS ROSES  Paris slid under her feet.

There were shop windows, and pastries, and bouquets of multicolored roses, lavender and pink and rose and cream, and perfumes for the making.

Songs for the taking.  Montmarte.  Sacre Coeur.  The Tour Eiffel, like butterflies… Read full post »

Editor’s Pick
OCTOBER 23, 2009 9:03AM

White House Releases Official Obama Family Photo

If you checked the White House's Flickr site early this morning, you found out why famed Vanity Fair photographer Annie Leibovitz has been spending so much time at the White House lately.

 

leibovitzPresident Barack Obama, Sasha Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and Malia Obama, in the Green RoomRead full post »

Editor’s Pick
SEPTEMBER 3, 2009 1:49AM

Real Canadians Talking Real Healthcare, Eh?

Two Americans (@Shoq on Twitter and his brother) recently headed to Canada on vacation, armed with a videocamera, and interviewed real Canadians about their healthcare system.

This was the result:

 

YouTube video produced by @Shoq for ushealthcrisis.com. 

 

 Co-pay. &nbsRead full post »
NOVEMBER 22, 2009 8:10PM

And Now, to Bed


 

Is there anything more wonderful than the bed?

 

comfy bed 

 

The first notion of 'us' is found in it.

Our mothers give birth to us in it.

We are cradled to sleep in it.

Our parents tuck us into it.  And read us stories.

It nestles our dreams.Read full post »

 

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CNN anchor Lou Dobbs, whose controversial brand of advocacy journalism put him in the crosshairs of public opinion.  Dobbs announced Wednesday he will be leaving the network.

 

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Veteran CNN journalist John King, who will be replacing Lou Dobbs in the 7 p.m. time slot,Read full post »

Editor’s Pick
OCTOBER 12, 2009 4:49PM

The Great White

Predictably, every year at least one person, on finding out I live in Florida, says something like, "But don't you miss the four seasons?"

Of course, those people don't realize that a summer in Wisconsin can include all four seasons.  Autumn arrived a couple of weeks ago, and close on its… Read full post »

OCTOBER 25, 2009 9:38AM

Under a New Mexico Sky

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Some things are just as they seem.  So when a blank canvas stretches across the imagination painted by the image of turquoise heavens blanching down on ribbons of lilacs, adobe and sagebrush, it is just what it is.

Heaven.

Canyon Road in the springtime.  Taos in DecembRead full post »

 

 

If I ever had to cast a movie of my own life, here's how it would go:

 

 

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James Garner as my dad.  A young James Garner.

 

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A young Deborah Kerr as my mother when she was younger.

 

My sister would say Doris Roberts… Read full post »

 

 

Well. . . I was gonna post some more poetry this morning for a lazy weekend, but I can see by the looks of things there's more than one hangover 'round these parts, and a few people still draggin' around in tatters after that battle with the HMS Devonia… Read full post »

OCTOBER 17, 2009 11:35AM

Open Salon Weekends: Bad Hair, A History

I had this in the hopper the day iamsurly posted her now famous post on bad hair (great minds), and held this back as a result.  Since it's the weekend, it seems like a light and fluffy time to let it fly, no tiaras.  Just lots of silly trendy (and someRead full post »

NOVEMBER 13, 2009 7:29PM

In Search of Pirate Wimmen

 

 

Avast, ye mateys.  There's mutiny afoot.  

 

 

(Warning:  obligatory cute pet photo below)

 

 

 

 

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Back in my happy place. . .

 

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Baby bird in search of Pirate Wimmen. . .and rum.

 

 

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GratuitoRead full post »

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FIVE TWENTY-EIGHT.  A.M.   (although it seemed scarcely a minute past midnight when the frozen ring of the kitchen bell pulled my feet out from their comfortable curled-under between me and the old Army cot, and into the only pair of genuine Levi Strauss bluejeans I had everRead full post »

NOVEMBER 16, 2009 7:16AM

The Curve of the Earth

 

 

Once in a while, we need to gain altitude to gain perspective.

 

 

 deicingsunrise

Deicing in a Wisconsin field at 28 degrees.

 

 

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Sunday comes in the window.

 

 

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Golden patchwork near the confluence of the Saint Croix and MississiRead full post »

Editor’s Pick
NOVEMBER 3, 2009 10:03PM

Finally, Standing in Line for My Own H1N1 Vaccination

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Actually, it was a pretty short line.

Last year, the first thing we did upon arriving in Florida after a summer in Wisconsin and long drive south was head for the polling booths, anticipating long waits for the US presidential election.  And there were waits, of about three hours, but… Read full post »

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My favorite veteran, my husband, US Army Air Corps, World War II. 

 

 

 ROUGE BOUQUET 

Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918)

 

In a wood they call the Rouge Bouquet 
There is a new-made grave to-day, 
Built by never a spade nor pick 
Yet covered with earth ten metr/…

Read full post »

Editor’s Pick
JUNE 20, 2009 11:45PM

Her Name was 'Neda'

 

 
 

Her name was Neda.

Earlier this afternoon, doing the same thing I've done every day this week, scanning thousands and thousands of tweets coming out of Iran for those I thought needed to be

Read full post »
Editor’s Pick
SEPTEMBER 14, 2009 1:26AM

Sagebrush and Funeral Potatoes

 

 

get-attachment-10It's hard to say when my romance with the open road began.  Sometime in the early '60's I remember my father bundling us all into cozy sleeping bags in the back of a paneled Chevy station wagon and heading for points south, Vegas by morning for cheap buffet breakfast,Read full post »

Editor’s Pick
SEPTEMBER 28, 2009 8:13AM

Twitter Is What You Make It: Who You Should Follow, and Why

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I've watched with interest in the months since I  joined Twitter as one news organization after another, and one celebrity after another, has gotten Twitter wrong.

I've seen it characterized as "tweeting one's oatmeal" more often than I've seen it credited for bringing anything ser… Read full post »

Editor’s Pick
OCTOBER 13, 2009 6:16PM

A Night On the Orient Express

The only other person I knew who'd been on the Orient Express bought a sterling silver cigarette holder as a prop for the occasion.

I remember hearing this over champagne cocktails in the Pump Room in Chicago one flickery night. 

A sterling silver cigarette holder.   

It seemed appropr… Read full post »

Ever since the call went out to find Miss Freaky Troll Super Fab some dishy new digs, I've searched high and low in all my favorite haunts for just the right thing.

Since Freaky is known to be a surfer, and has been seen occasionally lurking behind umbrella drinks, I pulled outRead full post »