Search This Blog

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

In honor of Wiki's Going Dark: Pausing for Station Identification on The Last Leaf Gardner


Of course, when Dr. Seuss (who has been mentioned in a prior post here on TLLG, which can be found by clicking here), said, "The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go,” he was talking about reading books, and not reading things on the Internet, and while I read many things on the Internet for my small business, I am certainly one who enjoys reading books.

In fact, once upon a time, when I was about to have a surgical procedure on my knee, which would require a hospital stay, a dear friend gave me some money to buy "an appropriate nightgown to wear in the hospital." After she handed me some rumpled bills, she  gave me a stern warning, "Don't buy books with this!"
A few days later she asked if I found "an appropriate nightgown". My response to her was that "the bookstore did not sell nightgowns . . . ."

All kidding aside, the ability to read is a great gift, and the availability of things to read is crucial, and even more so for me as a gardener, who is always needing information on the 80+ things which I grow in my urban (NYC) terrace garden, as well as the 15+ things I grow in my indoor succulent garden. Now that I maintain this blog, contribute to nybg's (New York Botanical Gardens) tumblr, create Virtual Stories, and guest blog, I am always in need of correct data, and often Wiki provides me with valuable information. Therefore, I find this Seuss quote apropos to pay homage to Wiki's anti-SOPA black-out which is today, January the 18th of 2011.

I have not had steady work for quite some time and therefore, at this moment, I cannot afford to donate to Wiki's editors, but I can, today, on Wiki's black-out day (which I know has nothing to do with fees and everything to do with censorship), have The Last Leaf Gardener's blog pause — as radio programs do when they run tests of their emergency broadcasting systems — to offer my sincere wishes in Wiki's plight to protect the integrity and principles of content offered on the Internet.

Today I went to a funeral mass for SP, one of the residents who lived at the home where (as I've stated in a previous post here on TLLG), I have done volunteer work since 2003, and the presider of the mass talked about the importance of people bringing light to others as our dearly departed resident had done during her life time. The presider went on to explain that at the Easter Vigil Mass we have the church in total darkness, then – as a congregation — we light each other's candles from the main (paschal candle) until everyone is holding a candle whose light was taken from the same source. The presider's meditation made me think not only of SP, but of Wiki, and their mission to bring an unbiased light of knowledge, on an array of subjects, to anyone and everyone, and I wish them well with their cause, and I thank them for the wealth of knowledge they have shared with me on may subjects.  Moreover, I don't think I am being presumptuous in saying my fellow bloggers are grateful for Wiki too.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.