Various and Sundry, August 26

So apparently today is Women's Equality Day. How nice. "Women now represent one in four state legislators, 17 members of the Senate, three justices on the Supreme Court, 74 generals in the armed forces, and seven Cabinet-level positions in the Obama Administration, according to [Secretary of Labor Hilda] Solis." Yeah, so that's equality right there, you betcha.

I thought this report on The Secret Life of Pronouns (yes, pronouns) was fascinating. As the researcher himself said,

"Never in a million years would I have thought that pronouns would be a worthwhile research topic. I ran study after study and initially found large and unexpected differences between people in their pronoun use. In hindsight, I think I ignored the findings because they didn't make sense. One day, I lined up about five experiments that I had conducted and every one revealed the same effects. It was that day that I finally admitted to myself that pronouns must be meaningful."

I liked this obituary for the Horror film writer Jimmy Sangster, largely because he seemed so sane. I mean, there are a lot of obituaries of sane people, but he just didn't seem to be a tortured artist in any way.

Asked by the Web site Hammer Graveyard what led him to the horror genre, he replied, “I wrote horror movies because it was my job,” adding, “So, when anyone asks me what were the influences that prompted me to be a ‘horror film’ writer, I tell them it was Wages!”

The title of his autobiography is Do You Want it Good or Tuesday? There's a realist for you.

At long last, we have learned the answer to why God doesn't answer prayer. It was, of course, the Bloggess who figured it out who, along with her sister, determined the other things God has to do with his time. Such as “Just because God doesn’t answer your prayers it doesn’t mean he’s not listening. It probably just means you’re boring. Maybe try incorporating car chases into your prayers. Or something with vampires. Vampires are really hot right now.” I'll be doing that.

Continuing on this religious note, in light of the recent earthquake damaging the National Cathedral, and the hurricane hurtling toward New York, I thought it would be worth passing on this Parish Emergency Planning Kit developed by the Diocese of Texas. It looks like a very useful resource. I encourage you to pass it along before the next earthquake. As well as including car chases in your prayers.