what i did not get for xmas, part 1

ok, so.....these are available on-line.....knowing my luck, if i owned them i would forget to wear them, or be unable to locate them at onion-slicing time....

whoo......

ok, so this from cnn.....NEW YORK (AP) -- A Long Island teenager has earned all 121 merit badges offered by the Boy Scouts of America. Oceanside resident Shawn Goldsmith earned his final badge -- for bugling -- in time for his 18th birthday in November. He far surpassed the 21 badges required to achieve the elite rank of Eagle Scout.

He said he took about five years to earn his first 62 badges and then nearly doubled that number in a matter of months. He did it with the encouragement of his grandmother, who died shortly before he reached his goal.

The Binghamton University freshman was awarded his final badges on Dec. 19. He said he hopes to become a businessman and politician.

mm notes: i have fond memories of my days as a brownie, a cadet, and then a full-fledged girl-scout.....the girl scout leader doubled as the 4-H leader...but that is a bit of unrelated trivia.....i can recall searching through the girl scout handbook for the easiest to earn badges.....the notion that a girl could earn every badge listed never crossed my mind....i am in awe of this incredible achievement....

last night of channakuh

ok, so...we invited guests for supper last night, and were pleasantly surprised when our guests arrived at dusk, brought out their menorah, and asked if we minded if they lit the candles and said the blessings....it was a sweet prelude to saying grace at the table......

a nice touch of irony

ok, so......i was forced by our lack of milk (soy and cow varieties) to get dressed and venture out into the world after basically doing nothing of substance on christmas friday save walk on the treadmill.....and listen to my children read aloud snippets from the newspaper account of my promotion...the article was not so bad.....but the file photo used is at least 5 years old....from my restaurant days.....if one looks really close one can see that i am wearing an apron despite the newspaper's efforts to crop the photo to a head-only shot......and so i was greatly amused to hear my name called aloud as i perused the aisles of the aldi.....'hey-there's_______, that new health department director!".......my presence noted by a couple of local caterers who can fully appreciate why one might get into, and then out-of the restaurant lifestyle.....i did respond aloud.....by adding that i was also a reformed restaurateur.......i will one day go back and actually read the article, written by a fellow who was in the group of 8th graders i escorted to paris and strasbourg over a decade ago.....he is a talented writer, and surely portrayed my career, such as it is, a respectable light......

run, lola, run.....

ok, so.....i bought this film on dvd from half.com because it was german, and my eldest was returning from a german-speaking country and i thought it would be fun to watch with him.....we never got around to watching the film while he was available...so last night my spouse and i watched it by ourselves.....i should say, we enjoyed it greedily without distractions....by some fluke i purchased a fine indie film that is refreshingly simple in its plot and starkly filmed....and ripe with existential questions.....the story opens with lola receiving a frantic phone call from manni, her boyfriend.....she had failed to pick him up after he did a test-run for his mob boss....and he lost the money owed to his boss when he left the shopping bag full of cash under his subway seat.....lola, whose motorbike was stolen earlier in the day, has 20 minutes to come up with the necessary cash and run it to her boyfriend, who is calling from- a yellow phonebooth in some berlin square......so far, so predictable....except that the story line is told three times over, with lola running the basic course through increasingly familiar streets each time, but turning out differently each time......one turns off the dvd player wondering if, like groundhog day, lola ran more times than we were shown.....so perfectly timed was the last go-around of the film.....from the wikipedia writeup i learned that the film is chock-ful of cameos by german celebrities...who knew?...i also learned that the english subtitles lacked many of the nuances important to the plot...ah well....i will fully admit that the original lure of the film was the star, franke potemte....who was in the first 2 bourne films.....i will gladly watch the film again if the notion arises before our german speaking child flies back to europe.....

ok, so this precious cat and muff tableau is from gawker.....i just love a sweet cat photo......

ok, so.....the obama santa says it all....

xmas day vegetarian option

ok, so....this is a variation on a recipe i have copied onto a file card years ago- but cannot find at this moment in time...

Torta Rustica

One recipe for pizza dough
¼ cup olive oil, mixed use..you may not need this much
1 Onion, chopped
8 Ounces mushrooms, sliced
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2 teaspoons
dried oregano
2 Large tomatoes, sliced, or 2 c marinara sauce

1/2 tsp salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 lb fresh, cleaned, spinach
1 lb eggplant
1 lb red peppers
1/2 lb sliced provolone cheese

1/2 lb mozzerella, sliced

Cut eggplant lengthwise in ¼ inch slices. Soak in salt water for 20 minutes.Pat the slices dry with paper towel, line baking sheets with parchment paper, brush eggplants slices with olive oil and bake in a 425F preheated oven for 10 minutes on each side. Set aside to cool.

Saute the onion, peppers and garlic in 3 tbs olive oil until tender.
Reduce the heat to medium add mushrooms, basil, oregano, and salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions and mushrooms are limp .

Preheat oven to 400F.

Roll out ¾ of the dough to a 16inch circle, approximately ½ inch thick. Place the dough in to a 9 x 3 spring form pan allowing a 1 inch overhang all around the pan. Layer each ingredient in the pan as desired, or dump them all in at once. Spinach does not need to be cooked prior to putting in Torta. Roll out the remaining dough into a circle to fit the top of the Torta Rustica. Lay it over the top and fold up the overhanging dough, crimping them together to seal the edges. Make 4 small slits in the top to let steam escape and brush with the beaten egg. Sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired. Place the Torta Rustica in the preheated oven and bake for 1 hour. Let cool to room temp before cutting and serving, serves 12.

flashbacks redeemed....

ok, so....i fully admit that i have given scathing commentary in the past over films and fictional works that have leaned far too heavily on flashbacks to move the plot forward......it is refreshing to see a marvelous film that successfully weaves flashbacks into a plausible plot.....in slumdog millionaire danny boyle's character jamal's correct quiz-show answers can be traced back to a series of childhood perils......oliver twist forced to put up with an older brother and far too many fagan-types..........and something that oliver didn't have to sustain him through these wretched times.....the certainty that he would be re-united with the love of his life.....a fine film.....sad that we were 2 out of maybe 8 folks at the early show.....

spam?

ok, so this from the huffington post...On Sunday a New York Times pool reporter disclosed that Barack Obama ordered "spam musubi" for lunch during a golf outing in Hawaii.

Mainlanders may be unfamiliar with the local delicacy. According to the pool report, "spam musubi, a local luncheon specialty, consists of spam and a fried egg on a bed of rice, all held together with a dried seaweed wrap. (Visualize a very big sushi role, slightly larger than a Hostess Ho Ho.)"

Here's a little history on the Hawaiian love affair with Spam, sometimes referred to as "The Hawaiian Steak." According to Wikipedia, Hawaii consumes the most Spam per capita in the United States, and it was first introduced to the island during World War II.

shirtless....

ok, so this composite photo of shirtless presidents from gawker......

helping hands during hard times....

ok, so....a two-kleenex op-ed piece from the newyorktimes....

a real bookstore fan

ok, so this from the nypost.... TOM Hanks makes his living in movies, but he loves books. The star braved a nasty LA storm the other day to help his local, cash-strapped, independent shop, cozy Village Books in Pacific Palisades. There was a bodyguard to his left and right, plus another at the front door and two police officers outside in a patrol car, as a very friendly Hanks sat at a small table in the back signing everything put in front of him. Hanks teased a little girl about her shyness, and joked that the store staff should ring a bell with each sale. He stayed a half-hour beyond his scheduled two-hour appearance - "until the last person," said Village Books owner Katie O'Laughlin. Thanks to Hanks, she added, "We're catching up on the rent." He signed Post correspondent David Finnigan's Penguin paperback copy of Jack Kerouac's "On the Road," scribbling, "Hit the road!"

latkes and omelets....

ok, so i have the day off....and after a cozy sleep-in i rallied to make our current version of potato pancakes-the one with red, yellow and sweet potatoes......yummy with sour cream and a bit of salt....i do have other frying pans, but i prefer the copper omelet pan from dehillerin for frying latkes.....which makes the pan is suitably hot for the perfect omelet..... ahhh.....life is good....

exact change

ok, so.....one of my many holiday pet peeves involves exact change, or rather...those who would hold up a long check-out line fumbling around in the bottom of one's purse for spare change so as to not get more change to unceremoniously drop in the bottom of one's purse.....i was tempted at the big lots this afternoon to hand the woman 13 cents, because i lost confidence that she would find the dime/nickels/pennies that could add up to the necessary amount.....in the end, she handed the cashier a quarter, and received 12 cents in change-which she tossed into her open purse.....but in this season of charity i can not leave out those who carry actual coin purses......these folks can be just an annoying as they try to come up with the exact coins by the braille method...coin purses tend to be too small for a good visual......the lady in front of me at the salvation army had such a coin purse.....and she also ended up handing over an extra dollar to cover the change she thought she had but could not find....i fully admit that i have change clanging about at the bottom of my purse, as well as change in the zipper pocket and the outside pocket......and when i have not visited the atm recently i may dip into my change to come up with the $1 for my powerball ticket.....i make a point of counting it out before i go into the store, so as to not be just another counting customer......

18th child?

ok, so...this from the www......After welcoming a 7-lb., 3 oz. daughter via C-section on Thursday to join their 17 other children, the proud papa tells the Associated Press: "We both would love to have more." The Duggars now have 10 sons and eight daughters, ranging in age from 17 months to 20 years, all with first names starting with the letter J, including the newborn addition, Jordyn-Grace Makiya Duggar.

'we would love to have more'......this is a guy truly tempting fate.....or at least statistical likelihoods....that a woman who has survived 18 pregnancies/c-sections could make it through the 19th go-around......i suppose he might croon a different tune if he had to raise all 19 as a single father......

new job, just like the old job.....

ok, so nearly 11 months after taking on the director's job in an interim capacity, i have been actually hired to do the director's job....i guess my starting day has already come and gone.....

close.....

ok, so...my eldest arrives tomorrow morning...the boy who used to be my baby that i have not seen since 7/31/08.......

forced marriage

ok, so this from jezebel...

Dr. Humayra Abedin, who, as we posted earlier, had been held captive by her parents in Bangladesh, who tricked her into visiting and were attempting to force her to marry, has finally been released.

Abedin, who had been studying in London and had planned to begin a residency in August, returned to Bangladesh after being told that her mother was seriously ill. This turned out to be a lie designed to lure Abedin back home for the purposes of forcing her to marry against her will. Abedin protested, and the London High Court, using the Forced Marriage Act, demanded that she be released. A Dhaka court agreed, much to Abedin's father's dismay: he "collapsed from shock after the ruling." Abedin will fly back to the UK at some point this week. ""We're delighted with the result, the rights of a Bangladeshi woman have been protected as they should be," says Abedin's lawyer, Sara Hossein, "Dr. Abedin looks very relieved, she's a very brave woman."

green onions

ok, so yesterday i made my usual three-store loop.....big lots/kroger/aldi....in record time as i had a very short list of needs/wants...it is now my custom to bring in my own reusable shopping bags....the bringing in of bags is still a novelty for many check-out clerks, despite the fact that each of the stores on my circuit sell reusable bags at the check-out...go figure.....at the kroger i opted for the self-check out option, as the other lanes were overflowing and i had only a handful of items....but when i carefully positioned my kroger shopping bag in front of the plastic kroger bags beside the scanner unit....the electronic message kept repeating- scan the first item before putting it in the bag....yikes- i paid for this bag months ago, and it is suitably worn enough to pass muster from a scrutinizing store manager if necessary.....so the self-check clerk came over to see what was happening, and she reset the machine.....and then we came to the green onions....which i had to look up as the tinyband that holds the bunch together lacks a upc code.....i put them in the bag, only to be told to take them out and scan them before putting them in my bag.....the self-check clerk again reset the machine...but only after she took them out of my bag and took them to her master register to make sure that i had actually entered in the cost of the green onions......an exhausting kroger experience.....fast-forward, if you will, to suppertime, when i opened the refigerator to find the green onions that had caused so much difficulty....not in the drawer, not hiding behind the boxed-up leftovers, not in the trunk of the car...not in the pantry with the crackers or the mac and cheese boxes....nowhere......could the clerk have gotten so distracted with all of the malfunctioning self-checkout machines that she is still clutching my $.68 bunch of green onions?.....maddening, as this was the single item that drew me inside the krogers in the first place.....if the aldi were to carry green onions i might be able to pare my saturday loop down to 2 stores.....i suspect that i will find the green onions in their clear plastic bag in some random location in this house- and it is my wish that i find them before they start to wilt and/or ooze.....and that i am able to conceal my brief senior moment from the rest of home-for-christmas crowd....

sausage stars

ok, so....i had these once at a brunch...i am going to make them over the holidays using soyburger....

HIDDEN VALLEY RANCH SAUSAGE STARS

2 c. (1 lb.) cooked crumbled sausage
1 1/2 c. grated sharp Cheddar cheese
1 1/2 c. grated Monterey Jack cheese
1 c. prepared Hidden Valley Ranch
Original Ranch Salad dressing mix
1 (2.25 oz.) can sliced ripe olives
1/2 c. chopped red pepper
1 pkg. fresh or frozen won ton wrappers (or egg rolls wrappers cut in 4ths)
Vegetable oil

Blot sausage dry with paper towels and combine with Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese, salad dressing, olives and red pepper. Lightly grease a mini (or regular) muffin tins and press 1 wrapper in each cup. Brush with oil, bake 5 minutes until golden. Remove from tins, place on baking sheet and fill with sausage mixture. Bake 5 minutes at 350 degrees or until bubbly. Makes 4 to 5 dozen.

on tape.....

ok, so....there are many global happenings caught on tape of late, but the incident of most concern to is not in Chicago, or in Mumbai....but at eku/d-ville....i ran by at 5:00 pm to give the final a day early to a fellow with lots of mitigating circumstances...and while i waited for him in the staff area, the tech guy and the desk lady were going over the video-feed from the hidden cameras....seems a lady reported a book stolen from the computer lab....and the camera not only recorded her setting it down at the pc station along with other assorted stuff, but also showed her dashing off with her purse out of the room, another student approaching her stuff and student leafing through up her textbook, then putting it back down..... and the same student coming back in moments later and putting the textbook in between her own stack of books.....it was surreal to watch the tech guy slow-mo the feed to get the best possible full-face image of the thief...and to see him email that image to those who deal with security issues.....up until this evening, it had never occurred to me that there may be security feeds in my classroom.....and that should the health folks want to know exactly what time time call it a night- generally before the official quitting time..it would all be there on tape......on the bright side- should i need a record of a brilliant turn-of-a-phrase.....i will know who to call....

interview process....

ok, so..i finally had the chance to interview for my own job yesterday.....a bit awkward as i have done the job as interim for 10 months.....at one point in the 'script' they asked me if i wanted a tour of the facility.....i have a second interview on friday...keep me in your prayers, gentle readers......

2 pound stash....

ok,so somehow i missed this story last week...from msnbc..

Stash for the afterlife: A photograph of a stash of cannabis found in the 2,700-year-old grave of a man in the Gobi Desert. Scientists are unsure if the marijuana was grown for more spiritual or medical purposes, but it's evident that the man was buried with a lot of it.

raising chickens?

ok, so there was a short piece in the huff-post about raising chickens in the backyard....or in our case...the side yard.....they eat your leftovers and you eat their eggs....which sounds a bit gross, but as i already eat eggs i could see myself eating the eggs of my own chickens.....and since we are zoned ar-1...i could do it legally.....hmmm......

lazy and shiftless.....

ok, so.....yesterday i can count the useful things i did with one hand.....i had good intentions of numerous projects, but after the mail brought my copy of a year in provence on dvd, i kinda dropped everything to watch it.....yeah, it is old, but it is charming and that suited me just fine on a cold dreary day.....

carolyn to replace hilary?

ok, so...wow!....the ap is reporting that carolyn kennedy has approached the governor of new york about being his choice to replace hilary's soon-to-be empty senate seat.....this is the seat once held by her uncle robert....

a star-studded video against prop 8

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

ok, so....

last lecture

ok, so the last lecture for this semester's class at eku/d-ville is this evening, to be followed by the final exam next thursday. student projects are due today, and i am hopeful that each student will actually turn in a project......some in the past chose to take the d-grade that comes with so many missing points...their parents will be horrified when they figure out how their precious children nearly flunked a health class.....but this is not my problem.....my problem will be to locate on-line randy pausch's last lecture to show the nature of a good death- one with dignity and closure....

the ultimate mac and cheese

ok, so this from the nytimes...

Macaroni and Humboldt Fog Cheese

Adapted from John DeLucie, Waverly Inn, after a recipe from Zingerman’s Roadhouse

Time: 40 minutes

FOR THE MACARONI:
Coarse sea salt
1 pound cavatappi, preferably De Cecco brand
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup onion cut into 1/3-inch dice
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 cups (1 pound) Humboldt Fog goat cheese
3/4 cup chopped roasted peppers, half red and half yellow (bottled is fine)
1 to 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
1 teaspoon Tabasco Green Pepper Sauce, more as needed

For the topping:
1 large egg
2 tablespoons whole milk
4 ounces Humboldt Fog, shaped into four disks about 1/2-inch thick, chilled
1 cup fine dry bread crumbs or panko
1 tablespoon butter, for frying.

1. For the macaroni: bring a large pot of water to a boil, and add 1 to 2 tablespoons salt. Add cavatappi and stir well. Cook until al dente, then drain well and set aside.

2. In a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, melt butter (do not brown) and add onions and bay leaf. Sauté until onions are soft, about 5 minutes, then discard bay leaf. Add flour and cook 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Whisk in milk, then cream. Simmer until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add mustard, Humboldt Fog, roasted peppers, black pepper, 1 teaspoon Tabasco and salt to taste. Stir pasta into cheese sauce; adjust seasonings, if necessary. Cover, remove from heat, and keep warm.

3. For the topping: in a small bowl, whisk together the egg and milk. Coat each disk of Humboldt Fog with egg mixture, then bread crumbs or panko; set aside. Place a small heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat, and melt butter. Add coated cheese disks, and fry until golden, turning once, about 1 minute a side.

4. To serve, place equal portions of macaroni in four wide shallow bowls. Top each with a disk of fried Humboldt Fog, and serve immediately.

Yield: 4 servings.

from crooks and liars...

ok, so....

condi's palace concert

ok, so this from the huffington post....

The outgoing US Secretary of State was accompanied by Louise Miliband, the wife of Foreign Secretary David Miliband, and three members of the London Symphony Orchestra in her performance of Brahms.

The stateswoman – who is a concert level pianist – was allowed to use a music room at the palace after expressing a wish to play for the Queen before leaving office at the end of the Bush administration in January.

The Queen listened to part of the performance, and afterward presented Miss Rice with an audio recording of the recital as a gift.

Miss Rice started playing the piano as a child and planned a career in music, originally enrolling at university to study the subject before switching to political science. At 15 she performed Mozart's Piano Concerto in D minor with the Denver Symphony Orchestra, as a prize for winning a student competition.

She was taught the instrument by her mother, who was a music teacher, and regularly performs private chamber music recitals with four friends, leading to her be described as the world's most prominent amateur musician.

Miss Rice was visiting London before heading for Brussels to attend a meeting of Nato leaders. Earlier in the day, she met Gordon Brown and Mr Miliband.

ashes and austen...

ok, so this from the daily mail..... The 17th-century cottage, with its quintessentially English garden filled with flower beds and herbs, has long been a place of pilgrimage for devotees of Jane Austen.

Now it seems increasing numbers are choosing the author's former home, which has become a museum in her honour, as their final resting place.

Museum staff have been shocked to find mounds of human ash around the grounds, left by relatives creeping in to honour the final wishes of loved ones.

But the management of Jane Austen's House Museum has moved to halt the practice.

In an open letter to the Jane Austen Society, collections manager Louise West wrote: 'While we understand many admirers of Jane Austen would love to have ashes laid here, it is something we do not allow.

'It is distressing for visitors to see mounds of human ash, particularly so for our gardener. Also, it is of no benefit to the garden!'

cuctom-knitted cozies

ok, so this from jezebel...."I decided on making cozies for empowering objects which happened to be very hard, masculine, recognizable objects. The covers kind of softened them up and changed their determined roles," explains extreme knitter Teresa Honeywell. She was, of course, inspired by a toilet-paper cozy at a flea market. "It kind of made me a little sad to see someone's handmade craft discarded and being sold for pennies, but it mostly saddened me because it was such a bizarre and useless object. I pictured a sad housewife with nothing better to do then knit up a cozy for a roll of toilet paper. I knew then that I wanted to use that same lonely technique, and meaningless process, to cover up an object that I wouldn't ever need or have the opportunity to use again in my new role as a housewife."

the new yorker

ok, so......this is to be the next new yorker cover, according to those who know such things......i am amused......having spent the past several days going through my stacks of new yorkers, and cutting out articles and cartoons i cannot live without....i tried to focus on pre-2008.....and so it was a bit nostalgic to read 1-3 year old movie reviews.....and commentary prior to obama's nomination let alone election.....i have pared down our print media collection to the point that all books in public spaces are on shelves and all magazines are in bins.....this house lacks the shelf-space to adequately handle the volumes on site......but then, that is what i like so much about my family......

ok so this from the nytimes....A report from our Berlin correspondent on design and society.

Masks fascinate me, as does the woolly territory between fashion and art. So my favorite artist at the recent Berlin Preview art fair was 23 year-old Frenchman Stephan Goldrajch, who showed a series of crocheted balaclavas at the stand of the Tel Aviv gallery Dollinger Art Project.

The macabre, carnavalesque spirit of the Belgian expressionist painter James Ensor seems to have rubbed off on Goldrajch, possibly during his studies at the Brussels Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts. As in Ensor’s paintings, there’s something compellingly primitive and schizophrenic in the young artist’s clusters of grotesquely-stylized faces.

The 23 year-old artist Stephan Goldrajch uses crochet and beadwork to build his demonic, colorful masks.

Stretched over polystyrene display heads, the masks resemble wearable items of clothing; slightly too-funky winter hats or out-of-control balaclava ski masks, perhaps. You probably wouldn’t want to wear these on the street for fear of terrifying fellow citizens, but their potential to be clothes is part of the masks’ appeal. Unlike most clothes, which work around your existing face, these balaclavas propose a new one — plus a new, scary personality to go with it.

Goldrajch is inspired by fairy tales, and has even written a few of his own, including the Legend of Bryone, “the most beloved princess of all times,” who gets her throat slit by the king merely for investigating a “Magnificent World” in a forest beyond the castle walls. (I love the deranged Bryone Song which explains the legend in the style of a French Klaus Nomi.)

Don a mask to discover your inner “eudemonist”: a being dedicated to procuring happiness in himself and others.

The artist has also started a Bryone Community which currently has about sixty members in Portugal, Israel, Belgium and France. The group shares a “eudemonist” view of the world, distributes “heads of happiness” (simple putty masks bearing lucky inscriptions), and makes masked performances.

So what is eudemonism? In the words of confessed opium-eater Thomas de Quincey, “I am too much of a eudæmonist; I hanker too much after a state of happiness both for myself and others.”

new people

ok, so....on the ride back from tennessee, my mother started talking about people i had never heard of before...of 2 men that my grandfather met while working for the w.p.a in the depression.....2 men that he worked with as a railroad crewline group that re-arranged track from cleveland to toledo and back......who knew?......

thanksgiving .....

ok, so.....i am thankful for the simple things this year.....$1.99 goat cheese at the aldi's, for the new puppy, for the replacement roof, for the notion to invest in drip hoses for my rose beds, for the opportunity to run the show as interim, for the courage to transfer our daughter to the cross-town school, for the upcoming/last tuition payment that will mark 2 sons through college debt-free, for the seafoam green cashmere sweater set i found at goodwill for $5.00, that i have no credit card debt to worry over in tough economic times, for the webcam that allows us to talk to our boy in austria in realtime, for the landslide election of barack obama- and while this is no small thing, my vote was counted in the losing column in this red state, for facebook wordtwist, which has allowed me to get to know extended family as far away as new zealand and be amused at the same time...last but not least i am thankful for my sweet spouse, and my dear sons and daughter......this is our first son-less thanksgiving, but we chatted with the new jersey-based child last evening, and have scheduled a webcam chat with the austria-based child at 9 (our time), which is some consolation. here is hoping that you and yours enjoy a day of thankful reflection as well as good food.....

spinach artichoke casserole

ok, so....over these past 27 years that i have spent with my extended family of in-laws at thanksgiving, i have managed to morph their original creamed spinach recipe into one a little less slimy:

3 packages (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed/squeezed
1 onion, chopped
1 stick butter at room temperature
2 (6 oz) jars marinated artichoke hearts, drained
1 cup Parmesan cheese
8 ounce package cream cheese at room temperature

Satue onion in 2 tbsp butter until soft. Arrange at the bottom of a casserole dish (i use the clay rabbit dish with fitted lid) Chop artichoke hearts coarsely and arrange on top of onions. Spread thawed and squeezed spinach on top of artichokes- the more squeezed the better, as the casserole can get soupy if the spinach is too wet. Combine butter, Parmesan and cream cheese ; spread over spinach. Dish may be covered and chilled overnight at this point. About 45 minutes before the meal, remove from the refrigerator; allow to warm to room temperature for 15 minutes, then bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

pecan tarts

ok, so.....i made these confections today...after the severe cold and cough drugs had kicked in....because i was home, rested, and bored.....

3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsbp softened butter
1 tbsp vanilla
3/4 cup chopped pecans
1 egg
2 refrigerated pie crusts

Bring pie crusts to room temperature. Beat egg, and add remaining ingredients. Cut pie crust into rounds with biscuit cutter; rerolling crust as needed. Place crusts into miniature tart pan; press crust into place with spoon or round-bottomed wooden tool. Spoon filling into each shell 2/3 full. Bake 20 minutes at 325 degrees or until crust is browned. Makes 36 tarts.

thera-flu

ok, so....a nice hot cup of thera-flu when one comes home from work miserable guarantees a 3 hour nap.....

three-day workweek...

ok, so.....a short workweek.....today will be like monday and wednesday rolled into one....

ok, so this cartoon was on wonkette.....with a label about palin and the dinosaurs being on the planet at the same time.....

new recipe

ok so, this is from the huffington post piece about recipes you will make this year for thanksgiving that you did not make last year...

Salt-and-Pepper Cheese Puffs (Gougeres)

1/2 C. Butter cut into chunks
1 1/2 C. All purpose flour
6 Large eggs, beaten to blend
1 1/4 C. Shredded sharp cheddar cheese (Aged white English, Irish, or Canadian recommended)
1 1/2 t. Fresh ground pepper
Course sea salt (Pretty, crunchy crystals such as imported Fleur de Sel)

1) In 3-4 qt. pan over high heat, bring 1 1/2 cups water and butter to full rolling boil. Remove from heat, add flour all at once and stir until mixture is a smooth thick paste--no lumps. Add quarter of the beaten eggs at a time stirring vigorously after each addition until dough is no longer slippery. Stir in cheese and pepper.

2) Spoon dough into large pastry bag fitted with plain 1/2" round tip. Pipe in 48 equal rounds on to 2 cooking parchment-lined or buttered 12"X15" baking sheets (or drop dough in rounded T. sized portions). Sprinkle each with a few grains of sea salt.

3) Bake in 400 degree oven until dry and well browned, about 30 minutes. Serve warm.

(Can be frozen: Reheat thawed puffs uncovered at 375 degrees until crisp and hot, about 5 minutes.)

brazil nut sticks

ok, so....i found whole brazil nuts in the freezer when i was searching for something to fix for supper....and so during the ohio state/michigan game i cracked enough nuts to make the following family favorite:

2 eggs
1 cup ground brazil nuts
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 cups brown sugar
1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

Beat eggs with sugar until light. Combine dry ingredients, and beat in egg/sugar mixture. Chill dough. Take small pieces of dough and roll into sticks about 2-3 inches long and 1/2 inch thick. Place on ungreased baking sheets at least 2 inches apart- these cookies spread! Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Roll in confectioners sugar.

HHS rule to bite dust.....

ok, so this from crooks and liars..

Medicine should be religion free in America. Have you ever wondered why they don't ever target legislation that puts restrictions on men?

From a press release:

In light of reports that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is preparing to enact a rule that would undermine critical health care services for women and families, Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Patty Murray (D-WA) today introduced legislation that would prevent the HHS rule from going into effect. The proposed HHS rule would require any health care entity that receives federal financing to certify in writing that none of its employees are required to assist in any way with medical services they find objectionable. The proposed bill would keep HHS from moving forward with this rule.

"In the final days of his administration, the President is again putting ideology first and attempting to roll back health care protections for women and families. The fact that the EEOC was never consulted in the drafting of this rule further illustrates that this is purely a political ploy. This HHS rule will threaten patients' rights, stand in the way of health care professionals, and restrict access to critical health care services for those who need them most.

The House is also introducing legislation to fight this too.

under the weather

ok, so....in the past 48 hours i have somehow come down with a stuffy head, drippy nose and sore throat.....and i really, really want to go back to bed but i have things that must be done today.....and most of the folks i work with feel just as bad so i must drag myself to work to set the example for carrying on.....ah well.....

tech issues

ok, so.....we had the pc worked on ...it is faster....but the keyboard only types letters intermittently.......

french mass of remembrance

ok, so this from NPR weekend edition..about st eustache in paris.....all about the sausage makers.....

thought for the day....

ok, so

Kurt Vonnegut

"Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before... He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way."

ok, so...

the last word from dick cavett

ok, so this from the nytimes.....

November 14, 2008, 10:00 pm
The Wild Wordsmith of Wasilla
By Dick Cavett

Electronic devices dislike me. There is never a day when something isn’t ailing. Three out of these five implements — answering machine, fax machine, printer, phone and electric can-opener — all dropped dead on me in the past few days.

Now something has gone wrong with all three television sets. They will only get Sarah Palin.

I can play a kind of Alaskan roulette. Any random channel clicked on by the remote brings up that eager face, with its continuing assaults on the English Lang.

There she is with Larry and Matt and just about everyone else but Dr. Phil (so far). If she is not yet on “Judge Judy,” I suspect it can’t be for lack of trying.

What have we done to deserve this, this media blitz that the astute Andrea Mitchell has labeled “The Victory Tour”?

I suppose it will be recorded as among political history’s ironies that Palin was brought in to help John McCain. I can’t blame feminists who might draw amusement from the fact that a woman managed to both cripple the male she was supposed to help while gleaning an almost Elvis-sized following for herself. Mac loses, Sarah wins big-time was the gist of headlines.

I feel a little sorry for John. He aimed low and missed.

What will ambitious politicos learn from this? That frayed syntax, bungled grammar and run-on sentences that ramble on long after thought has given out completely are a candidate’s valuable traits?

And how much more of all that lies in our future if God points her to those open-a-crack doors she refers to? The ones she resolves to splinter and bulldoze her way through upon glimpsing the opportunities, revealed from on high.

What on earth are our underpaid teachers, laboring in the vineyards of education, supposed to tell students about the following sentence, committed by the syntax-serial-killer from Wasilla High and gleaned by my colleague Maureen Dowd for preservation for those who ask, “How was it she talked?”

My concern has been the atrocities there in Darfur and the relevance to me with that issue as we spoke about Africa and some of the countries there that were kind of the people succumbing to the dictators and the corruption of some collapsed governments on the continent, the relevance was Alaska’s investment in Darfur with some of our permanent fund dollars.

And, she concluded, “never, ever did I talk about, well, gee, is it a country or a continent, I just don’t know about this issue.”

It’s admittedly a rare gift to produce a paragraph in which whole clumps of words could be removed without noticeably affecting the sense, if any.

(A cynic might wonder if Wasilla High School’s English and geography departments are draped in black.)

(How many contradictory and lying answers about The Empress’s New Clothes have you collected? I’ve got, so far, only four. Your additional ones welcome.)

Matt Lauer asked her about her daughter’s pregnancy and what went into the decision about how to handle it. Her “answer” did not contain the words “daughter,” “pregnancy,” “what to do about it” or, in fact, any two consecutive words related to Lauer’s query.

I saw this as a brief clip, so I don’t know whether Lauer recovered sufficiently to follow up, or could only sit there, covered in disbelief. If it happens again, Matt, I bequeath you what I heard myself say once to an elusive guest who stiffed me that way: “Were you able to hear any part of my question?”

At the risk of offending, well, you, for example, I worry about just what it is her hollering fans see in her that makes her the ideal choice to deal with the world’s problems: collapsed economies, global warming, hostile enemies and our current and far-flung twin battlefronts, either of which may prove to be the world’s second “30 Years’ War.”

Has there been a poll to see if the Sarah-ites are numbered among that baffling 26 percent of our population who, despite everything, still maintain that President George has done a heckuva job?

A woman in one of Palin’s crowds praised her for being “a mom like me … who thinks the way I do” and added, for ill measure, “That’s what I want in the White House.” Fine, but in what capacity?

Do this lady’s like-minded folk wonder how, say, Jefferson, Lincoln, the Roosevelts, et al (add your own favorites) managed so well without being soccer moms? Without being whizzes in the kitchen, whipping up moose soufflés? Without executing and wounding wolves from the air and without promoting that sad, threadbare hoax — sexual abstinence — as the answer to the sizzling loins of the young?

(In passing, has anyone observed that hunting animals with high-powered guns could only be defined as sport if both sides were equally armed?)

I’d love to hear what you think has caused such an alarming number of our fellow Americans to fall into the Sarah Swoon.

Could the willingness to crown one who seems to have no first language have anything to do with the oft-lamented fact that we seem to be alone among nations in having made the word “intellectual” an insult? (And yet…and yet…we did elect Obama. Surely not despite his brains.)

Sorry about all of the foregoing, as if you didn’t get enough of the lady every day in every medium but smoke signals.

I do not wish her ill. But I also don’t wish us ill. I hope she continues to find happiness in Alaska.

May I confess that upon first seeing her, I liked her looks? With the sound off, she presents a not uncomely frontal appearance.

But now, as the Brits say, “I’ll be glad to see the back of her.”

**********

PS: Lagniappe for English mavens: A friend of mine has made you laugh greatly over the years. David Lloyd is a comic genius (I can hear you wince, David) who wrote for “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “Cheers,” “Taxi,” “Frasier,” Jack Paar, Johnny Carson and me, not necessarily in that order. As a language fan, he has preserved many gems for posterity in his prodigious memory bank. Here comes my favorite:

A Navy lecturer was talking about some directives on the blackboard that he said to do something about, “except for these here ones with the asteroids in back of.”

Even David couldn’t make that up.

broadside of a barn.....

ok, so...for the first time in the 26 years we have lived in kentucky, we were offered uk tickets...for the season home opener against vmi......lots of drama getting to the vicinity of rupp arena after both of us finished work, manged traffic, rain, and parking issues....and security and finding people in our seats.....we sat down within moments of the tip-off....and i ma here to tell you that i was reminded of the quiddich world cup scene as harry walks into the stadium....major mayhem.....fireworks, strobe lights......seating to the rafters.....and then vmi started hitting un-answered 3-point shots....and for most of the evening vmi was up by 20+ points......there was a brief rush...when uk managed to even the score at 95/95....or maybe it was 97/97.....clearly, neither team had a notion of how to run defense....final score was 108-101...maybe....both teams scored over 100 points and still uk could not manage a win.....they could not dribble, they could not hit the 3-point shot..these highly recruited full scholarship student athletes could not hit the broad-side of a barn...as my daddy used to say.......and yet they scored 100 points.....go figure.......

withdrawal

ok, so......facebook's wordtwist game is not functioning this morning, and it was not functioning last night......and i am unclear if i can get through the work day without my daily dose of this addicting word game.....

rainy day.....

ok, so.....i really, really want to curl up under the covers with a book, and to skip work and class today......but i really, really have things that must be done today, so i must put that delicious notion out of my head.....

11/11

ok, so......i have been spending the past 5 veteran's day with my mom.....we shop a bit, eat at red lobster, and visit my dad's final resting place at camp nelson national cemetary......i scaled back our shopping stops yesterday, because the christmas gifts i seek are specialized to the point that i must find them on-line......and because i hoped to get back home in time to enjoy the rest of my day off cozily on the couch watching one of the agatha christie's miss marples i borrowed from the library......rainy days-off are meant to be enjoyed under an afghan, aren't they? there are few safe conversation topics available when i spend lengths of time with my mother....she single thread related to the election was meant with a rant about how sarah palin was overly scrutinized over those clothes that aren't even hers........and so i stuck to updates on obscure relations.....which is also frustrating, because she will remember only parts of the details...like so-and-so's son did go to college but she cannot remember where......the good news that she was able to recall was my aunt lola, who is feeling so much better after her knee replacements that she was up in trees picking apples at the family orchard during the season....my mother scoffed at the notion of lola climbing trees, but i took it as a good sign that she has not given up.....ah well.....as it is 11/12....and i do not have the luxury of spending this day under an afghan....must get dressed and get on to work...

just lovely

ok, so this from jezebel...A 2,000 year old gold earring was just found beneath a parking lot near Jerusalem's Old City. And it's nice: "A large pearl inlaid in gold with two drop pieces, each with an emerald and pearl set in gold," which would obviously have belonged to someone of status. Because Jerusalem was sacked so many times, and most precious metals were melted down or sold, such intact finds are rare — especially Roman ones. The piece is valuable not merely for its beauty but because it "brings attention to the life of women in antiquity."

from the urban dictionary

ok, so this was in today's daily kos.....

Palin

1. An applicant lacking even basic job skills

2. Someone supremely un-self-aware or lacking any relative sense of what he/she does or doesn't know.

HR sent me another Palin for the marketing manager job.

Palin v.

1. to abandon one's principles for short term gain

Tom, a devout vegan, palined when he consumed a happy meal solely to obtain the collectible toy it contained.

Palin n.

1. Pejorative term that refers to an incompetent, impractical, irrelevant or incapable person who has been appointed to a position of great importance.

2. A person who holds authority disproportionate to his or her requisite ethics and qualifications. Derived from John McCain's controversial 2008 Vice Presidential pick, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

John was recently made principal, but everybody thinks he's a Palin who can't do the job.

My new boss is such a Palin - he took my deserved place because the CEO is
his personal friend.

hangover

ok, so this from the huffington post...

worried to death....

ok, so.....ran did a bit of christmas browsing, stopped at the library, got my hair cut....and then completed my shopping at the aldi store.....and it was at the aldi's that i bumped into a woman who i know to be a staunch republican.....and the catch-up conversation turned to our mutual exhaustion over the election process, and while i concluded that i was optimistic and psyched.....this poor woman lamented that she is fearful for our safety after january 20....wtf?.......did she not get the part where the woman who would be a heart-beat away is clueless on so many things, including geography.....heck, if palin did get elected she would likely spend her first few months in office trying to get folks who opposed her fired...diplomacy would take a back seat to vengeance...or at least that is how she strikes me...ah well.....it was truly frightening to think that i know someone who cannot sleep at night for fear that obama's terrorist friends will come bashing through her door......

fabulous for $4

ok, so.....I really, really wish I lived near a Trader Joes...

Trader Joe’s Coastal Fume Blanc 2006

Price: $4
Maker: Trader Joe’s
Varietal: Fume Blanc
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 13.5%


I have enjoyed this wine on two occasions. I plan to try other wines from Trader Joes inexpensive selections, but as I have only dashed in and out of the store in Cincinnati I have never had time to really study the options.....

thought for the day....

ok, so this is my thought for this lovely saturday....

When one has much to put into them, a day has a hundred pockets.
Friedrich Nietzsche
German philosopher (1844 - 1900)

ok, so....

thanks to mamma's friend jane

ok, so......i credit the election, in part, to my friend jane, a lifelong republican living in ohio who opted to vote for obama in this critical election cycle....

amen, amen, and amen...

ok, so....president barak obama!!!...though much as i am thrilled for obama and his family, i am saddened that his grandma did not live to this this monumental day.....

yellow dog

ok, so.........i was just thinking of this sweet yellow dog as i contemplate my yellow dog democrat tendencies on this historic election eve....we hear from the neighbors aka base-camp 2 that he had a rough weekend, but we hope he can make it through tomorrow.....

last day

ok, so....i fear that mitch will prevail in kentucky...not because he deserved to be re-elected...but because his opponent is a scoundrel in his own right and couldn't sway enough democrats to vote for him.....maybe next time.....as for the remaining races i am watching from afar via political blogs, i am hopeful that kay hagan can successfully unseat liddy dole in north carolina in what has been a most un-lady-like battle.....i am hopeful that liddy's godless ad will blow up in her face.....yeah- that is not necessarily a christian comment.....but then i am not buying airtime touting my personal devotion......faith is private, and should never be tossed into the public arena to curry favor....

ok, so...

Obama as Antichrist theory a revelation
Joel Pett
Herald-Leader Cartoonist

Wow. Forgive my pre-election excitement, but after months of assuming that the right-wing yak-radio crowd is as willfully ignorant and intellectually dishonest as is humanly possible, finally, I've met my first Kentuckian who believes — drum roll and triumphal angelic chorus, please — that Barack Obama is the Antichrist.

Now, lots of people have been feared to be the Antichrist, including Hitler, various popes, Osama bin Laden and Christian Laettner. The Bible is pretty vague on the subject, but I've always figured the AC would turn wine back into water (good news in dry counties), give lepers something even worse, (like AIDS or Bengals tickets) and generally mislead humankind into end times, probably with phony campaign ads and tricky credit-card offers.

I think the good book also says the AC can really "drain the 3," which would seem to implicate either Obama or Laettner, but not the set-shot-era Hitler or bin Laden, who is said to be more of a ruthless defensive stopper.

My Antichrist guy wasn't a scary cave-dweller, but a pleasant dude, a working stiff, a real-life Joe-the-TV-repairman, whose daily routines presumably bring him into contact with ideas, not just of biblical times, but of — another drum roll, please — the 21st century.

A little political chit-chat revealed that he had never voted (he is 28), that his wife's church had convinced him of the Antichrist theory and that, among other things, he objected to welfare and affirmative action.

I explained that Obama is more about individual responsibility than government handouts and, for good measure, mentioned that although Obama hasn't benefited from quotas, both John McCain and George Dubya got into their respective institutions of higher learning as legacies, the original affirmative action for connected white guys.

His response? "Why shouldn't they? Their families helped build this country." (True enough, and unlike the forebears of minorities, they got paid for it.)

It was enlightening to be in the presence of someone so profoundly unqualified to live in a democracy, much less vote in it, but I didn't debate him very hard because I had never considered the possibility that the Democratic nominee, outwardly a remarkable, inspirational, historic candidate might be moonlighting as Armageddon-master to the true believers.

I also needed my TV service restored in time for Sean Hannity, whom I believe to be a contender, if not for Antichrist, at least for some quasi-satanic underling status, like fetching the Antichrist's anti-slippers or emptying his anti-bedpan.

In retrospect, I do have a question or two.

Why, after all, would the Antichrist bother with the travails of an election campaign? You would think that if you were going to preside over the downfall and devastation of humanity and ride herd on the Rapture, you'd forego the freezing February town halls in New Hampshire, skip the Cedar Rapids socials and get right to the anti-to-do list.

And if Obama loses, well I guess that thwart's God's centuries-old master plan. Seems odd that the fate of the planet could be affected by an undecided Ohio voter's view on trade protectionism or Freddie Mac. Democracy works in mysterious ways.

Finally, it occurs to me that if Obama is the Anti-christ, but benefited unfairly from affirmative action, then there must be a better-qualified white Antichrist out there somewhere who got passed over for the gig and is no doubt plenty ticked off.

So watch out if someone hijacks your plane or tries to give you Bengals tickets.

palin pranked...

ok, so.. a canadian radio show actually convinced palin's people that the president of france was on the line....

the goodwill

ok, so.....i dropped off a trunk-ful of clothes at the goodwill on my round of errands this day.....and i stifled my desire to go inside and look over the items that others have recently dropped off.....i had a list of things to accomplish, and goodwill-ing requires a leisurely agenda.....and so i found myself overly amused at the 150,000 dollars that was spent on sarah palin's behalf at luxury department stores.....she who has no time peruse the goodwill racks.....i have concluded that were I in her stilettos...i would have taken a day to shop for myself while an assistant talked foreign policy and constitution law as background noise.....i am certain that i could have assembled a decent wardrobe for less than $5000.....honestly...for less than $1000...and in a perfect world i'd have spent the remaining $149,000 on a vacation timeshare- not in paris because that is in a foreign country...maybe hawaii......i am just saying.....i am still aghast that a person could spend that kinda money on clothes.....

a respite from politics

ok, so.....i have just planted 125 bulbs in my expanded bed.....25 city of haarlem hyacinths....and 100 mixed red tulips...they will be a stunning mass come the spring.....when i will surely have recovered from digging 125 small holes....i am saddened to learn from our next-door-neighbor that the yellow dog we 'share' may be on his last legs....literally...the dog has gained so much weight from under-activity and overeating that he cannot get up to go outside and the neighbor called to ask our permission for treatment and/or euthanasia....the dog was outside on their stoop when i went to the grocery earlier today.....with the neighbor petting him, but i am unsure if he got to that part of the porch on his own or if she helped him.. so sign of him this afternoon......an odd death watch in that the neighbors do not acknowledge us in public or in private over this dog...that the appear to love dearly.....ah well.....the roofers have finished replacing our 20 year old shingles...in a mixed grey rather than black this time around.....i have great hopes of picking out the next shingle shade in 20 years.....the roofers were kind enough to reshingle the dog's new house, which we have placed on the brick walk about the spot where the red Adirondacks chairs stand during the summer...it is a sunny location and flat enough for the purpose.....now that the planting is done i am heading out to the deck to bask in the autumn sunshine while i plod through yet another book club selection that features a dysfunctional family.....

ok, so....here is the 1st amendment, in case sarah palin wants to check her facts...seems she thinks that the 1st amendment bars the press from criticizing her...

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

ok, so a nice get out and vote ad....

colbert endorses obama

ok, so...

who would leave his crippled wife for a rich woman?

ok, so.....this ad had to happen......

ok so.....liddy dole has met her match...

mamma's friend jane.....

ok, so...mamma's friend jane, a lifelong conservative, emailed me today because she was concerned about my pre-election angst and related sleep problems...to assure me that she had already voted (in ohio) for obama-biden.....in hopes that i could get back to restful slumber.....thanks, jane......you are a good woman.....

a good night's sleep...

ok, so i put aside my political (and professional) angst long enough to get a long and restful night's sleep.....will need to be at my best on this day, when the other shoe will surely drop.....gentle reader's, the shoe is question is thankfully not mine....

the knives are out....

ok, so this from daily kos....A second McCain source says she appears to be looking out for herself more than the McCain campaign. "She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone," said this McCain adviser. "She does not have any relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else.
"Also, she is playing for her own future and sees herself as the next leader of the party. Remember: Divas trust only unto themselves, as they see themselves as the beginning and end of all wisdom."

a new obama ad...

ok, so....a message of hope...

palin and domestic terror?

ok, so

1st class intellect; 1st class temperment

ok, so....

ron howard goes all-out for obama

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

ok, so this is a sweet surprise...

palin and the donkey scarf.....

ok, so....sarah is not especially attune to political symbolism.......

backpedaling....

ok, so this conservative morning talk show host really backpedaled on palin's 150K wardrobe when the emails started coming in.....

$150K

ok, so this from politico....The Republican National Committee has spent more than $150,000 to clothe and accessorize vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family since her surprise pick by John McCain in late August.

According to financial disclosure records, the accessorizing began in early September and included bills from Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York for a combined $49,425.74.

The records also document a couple of big-time shopping trips to Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, including one $75,062.63 spree in early September.

The RNC also spent $4,716.49 on hair and makeup through September after reporting no such costs in August.

The cash expenditures immediately raised questions among campaign finance experts about their legality under the Federal Election Commission's long-standing advisory opinions on using campaign cash to purchase items for personal use.

m.m.m.m.

ok, so.....today i had a glimpse of m.m.m.m......roughly translated as mean mamma's machiavellian moment.....and i am embarrassed to admit that i felt guilt...... the prince would have moved on quickly and chalked it all up to experience....the reality of the event is not yet public knowledge...and i have no need to take credit...public or private.....the bottom line is this....a detracting/destructive force has been removed from the equation.....

mccain's black kin

ok, so...this from cnn.....i do not post this video smugly....having already acknowledged my own northern ohio black connections...seems my mother grew up knowing but not knowing the black family that came for supper on sunday nights was family not just work-friends.....i hope to meet my black kin someday.......

money to burn

ok, so i actually took the time, along with thousands of other concerned citizens, to give over $640,000 to the congressional opponent of this wing-nut....i was so reminded of old mccarthy-era verbage.....reminded enough to cough up cash...........

an ad from moveon.org

ok, so....

the week that was....

ok, so....numerous folks came in and obtained applications for the job i am applying for/currently doing.......some looked more capable than others.....my car literally died in the parking lot of a sheltered workshop in frankfort.....thankfully i was able to get a battery jump before every able-bodied worker went home......in govt. folks tend to leave the leave the premises very quickly.....i spent most of saturday digging out daylilies from one of my oldest planting beds,....and i replanted/repositioned 36 old-fashioned irises in front of my hydrangeas before i tucked them all in with black mulch...10 bags that i bought the minute that lowes opened this morning.....the black mulch hides my drip hoses so much better than the brown mulch.....though it takes much more black mulch to hide brown mulch...i applied 10 bags in a 20 x 20 foot area.....at this rate it will take 30 more bags to protect my new plantings for the winter....yikes....seems decadent to buy mulch in a recession......but then i have this second job.....which is supposed to represent my travel funds....i have yet to hear from the 25th student....the one who failed to show up for the 2nd exam on thursday.....i did check to see if she dropped the class.....hopefully she is having a blonde moment and forgot the test....that is better than many of the scenarios that have crossed my mind.....we drive to cincy in the morning to attend a christening..it will be a quick turnaround as we have lots to do and little time to do it.....all of this...and i have not even mentioned the debate.....seems a decade ago.....

100,000

ok, so this is the crowd that showed up to hear obama in st louis today....wow.....

a message to sarah palin

ok, so this ad is quite a powerful message............

crazymccain

ok, so i could not help myself but to upload this picture from the debate.....

ok, so i cried for this young woman when i saw this ad.....

from the willamette weekly

ok, so....this says it all.........

talk to your parents about john mccain

ok, so this from moveon.org....

jackson run

ok, so i walked 3 miles in the blazing heat yesterday afternoon...by myself as the folks who usually show up at this event to walk in its usual saturday morning format failed to show up....ah well.......at least i can still walk this morning......no harm, no foul....

from crooks and liars..

ok, so....

daily show- the stupid vote

ok, so....

more from the daily kos...

ok, so i especially enjoyed this piece in the daily kos...

this is the best part....Yeah, she's firing up the wingnut base. Who cares. The wingnut base is the easiest group of people on the planet to fire up. They get fired up when they think gays might steal their marriages. They get fired up when they have to press "one" for English. They get fired up when some black guy gets all uppity and runs for president. They get fired up when their sub-sub-sub-version of Christianity isn't the dominant religious ideal of the nation. Holding Sarah Palin in front of them is like teasing a dog through a fence, but that's about it. what a great line...about teasing a dog through a fence....she seems determined to push the racial/terrorist/not like us card to the point that somebody gets hurt.....and how unamerican is that?

freudian slip of the week....

ok, so.... johnno refers to us as his fellow prisoners....and even sarah palin turns her head when he makes this slip.....

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

ok, so paris hilton seeks fake presidential campaign advice from fake president martin sheen....very funny...for the record, i'd trust entrepreneurial paris hilton with the country long before sarah palin....at least paris gets it....

palin's rape kit scandal earns her special place in hell..

ok, so this from mudflats.....an alaskan blog....

kathleen parker speaks up

ok, so this from crooks and liars....

from bill maher...

ok, so this on the election from bill maher... And finally, new rule: You can’t be President if you practice a violent, Middle Eastern religion and worship a genocidal desert god. Which is why Sarah Palin can’t be President. Now all the churches that Sarah Palin has attended, and she’s been to almost as many churches as she has colleges, have one thing in common: a belief that the Bible is literally true. She’s not “Country First”, she’s “Bible First”. And not just the New Testament. That’s the happy half of the book: the baby in the manger, Jesus doing magic tricks, long romantic walks on the water that turn into fishing trips with the guys and a generally positive message. Jesus, after all, preached love and forgiveness, not shooting wolves from an airplane.

The problem is Gov. Avon Lady, she takes the Old Testament literally too, and in that one, God is an insecure, rage-filled hybrid of Bobby Knight and Suge Knight. He’s been alive forever and He has anger issues. He’s like John McCain if John McCain could fart hail. He’s pro-slavery, pro-polygamy and homophobic and he’ll kill you for masturbating. More people get stoned in the Old Testament than in my Jacuzzi. That’s what I have to tell you guys… If there was a video of Barack Obama standing in front of his congregation being healed by a black witch doctor, this election would be over.

But there is that video of Sarah Palin.

planting plans for spring....

ok, so these are the bulbs i am ordering for my middle bed for spring....a lovely mass of yellow and red.....

colbert makes shakesperean parallels

ok, so this is a tad long, but the harvard shakespeare guy is just marvelous......

the waiver

ok, so....our daughter's switch from the city school to the county school has been complicated by her sports eligibility: she competed in cross country as a freshman, and according to the rules she must sit out an entire year from all sports unless she qualifies for this rule to be waived. The most widely used qualification is bonafide change of address. We live in the county school's district- and have no need to change address. We switched our daughter to a school that provides coursework unavailable in the city school, like agriculture, equine science, small animal science as well as clubs like the FFA.....yeah, well, that and the fact that she did so very poorly as a freshman and the d-ville school counselors seemed disinterested in helping her.....to make a long story short, we were turned down on our request for a waiver, a decision that we appealed. The hearing was thursday in lexington.....imagine our surprise when the d-ville football coach showed up to argue against the waiver.....like our child was some sort of star runner that would give her new school an unfair advantage......we have to wait another 10 business days to get the transcript of the hearing, and then another couple of days to hear what the athletic association board decided. we understand fully that this has more to do with football and basketball players and the recruitment that goes on....it makes no sense that our child has changed to the school across town but cannot run in a few races.

ok, so this is an especially funny colbert clip...

ok, so my sibling sent me some wingnut email about how a judge somewhere has questioned barak's citizenship.....the birth certificate is already google-able....what a desperate attempt to derail an election- from mccain, a candidate who was born in panama...and not the us of a......