One of the more maudlin moments in internet history was the sudden and unexplained disappearance of: "Cigarette Smoking Blog" by Helen Rittelmeyer.
Though discovered only a few weeks prior to its demise, it was one of Mine Host's favourite reads.
Riveting content. (Subject matter that appealed heavily to Mine Host)
Well written.
Now gone.
The authoress had apparently moved from North America to Australia, and compiled the above list of pros & cons to life in Australia.
She list the following as "positives" about Australia:
Good weather - Depends which part of Oz. (Apparently much of North America has quite bleak weather)
Lamb very cheap - Is this true? Why would anybody notice? Beef is the one natural food on this planet.
Kookaburras - Agreed, lovely sound.
Women glow, Men chunder - A common enough sentiment, though not often one hears North Americans spruiking it up as one of Australia's more pleasant aspects.
Never have to learn Civil War history - I don't understand the question.
Monarchy - Easy to see why she'd think this - when you consider some of what gets voted in as President over there.
True Love - Can't argue with that!
Sharp-eyed Helen Rittelmeyer has detected a couple of areas in which Australia could do with some improvement:
Bourbon very expensive - I do not understand the question.
Upside-down - Ms Rittelmeyer clearly has her desk globe inverted, this is easily rectified.
Get hit by car b/c looked wrong way crossing the street - I do not understand how this can be.
Bad coffee - Nobody from North America is in any position to level such an accusation at Australia. In fact she should go to jail just for saying this.
Fewer magazines to write for - She's clearly so starstruck by love that she's overlooked such things as, telecommuting, or the internet.
Miss U.S. Friends - Is this the title of a beauty pageant?
We'll vote later on whether she can stay here.
Mine Host strongly urges a "yes" vote.
4 comments:
Helen Rittelmeyer is now Helen Andrews, is a policy analyst in the Social Foundations Program at The Centre for Independent Studies, and she supposedly has a blog at First Things.
Here's a link: http://www.abc.net.au/news/helen-andrews/5623666
...this being one of my fav' blogs, when Mine Host mentioned her Cigarette Smoking Blog, I went looking (the blog is blocked, and "by invitation only") to see what else she might have written or what her current incarnation is.
That's as far as I got tho': I'm curious, but not fanatical lol.
Thanks for that, though there doesn't seem to be much at that "First Things".
Cigarette Smoking Blog had lots of exciting stories about mercenaries in Africa & stuff like that. Thrilling ripping stuff!
I really miss it.
I feel I must comment, even after all this time, because you don't seem to get as many as you should. I don't have a website or I would recommend you more (Facebook is a poor substitute and a swamp, anyway). Don't know what the Cigarette Smoking Blog was about, as I am a lifetime non-smoker, but it sounded interesting anyway, if there were more about things besides smoking.
Good weather - America usually has quite nice weather in most seasons, depending where on the continent you are. Winter's a bitch where I live, though.
Lamb very cheap - I'm a native Texan although I don't live there anymore, but I quite agree about beef.
Kookaburras - Agreed, lovely sound. Any more insights about it?
Women glow, Men chunder - No. Women do glow. Men just sweat.
Never have to learn Civil War history - I don't understand the question. Fair enough.
Monarchy - Easy to see why she'd think this - when you consider some of what gets voted in as President over there. Have to agree with this too.
True Love - Married 47 years to the same man. Will kill him if he tries to get rid of me. Survivor benefits, you know.
Rebecca H: The blog had nothing to do with cigarettes or smoking. (I think the name came from what she was doing when she typed her first blog post, or something like that)
It was thoroughly riveting stuff, and not the sort of stuff any young lady I've known has ever written about or shown interest in.
(the motivations, activities and anecdotes of the actions of mercenaries in Africa - for example).
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