the library....

ok, so...i got up early to drive to the recycle center......my car was filled completely (trunk, back seat and the passenger side of the front seat....) with the recyclables from rotary pancake day.......rinsed out syrup bottles, juice and milk jugs, pancake mixes boxes....and as well as boxes that once held frozen sausage patties.......i have 2 dozen partially empty squeeze margarine bottles in my basement refrigerator waiting for me to consolidate the contents and recycle the empties.....my fellow rotarians were highly amused at my mission...and asked if i had considered climbing into the dumpster out back to recover items discarded earlier in the day.....clearly i was not among folks who recycle passionately......but i digress from my library story.......so i drove across the street from the recycle center to the interim library to check out the last installment of the john adams miniseries.....and as i was walking back to the dvd section, i saw the 2 caged rabbits in the children's section.....and i was overcome with the urge to open the cage door and release them.....yeah- these are not likely rabbits that have ever been in the wild and would just as likely be found run over in the parking lot......the newspaper headline would read...crazed recycler goes on cage rampage......these rabbits do lead pitiable lives....i took the time to rub their noses and whisper earnest apologies for their plight......i was distracted while walking back toward the books-on-cd by book on french chateaux (or is it chateaus?) and discovered a sweet cache of books about living in paris.....i thought i had already read them all, but found 2 that had somehow been published under my radar.....and while i perused the audio books, i was amused to overhear a conversation in the genealogy section between two older hippie-ish folks who collectively fail to find elevated consciousness in yoga.....my own thoughts leaped to a child-of-mine who would have discreetly transcribed the conversation on the back of an envelope.....i had tucked my wallet in my pocket and left my purse in the car.....neither pen nor paper when one needed it most........

bunning's idle threat...

ok, so this from the huff-post....The Louisville Courier-Journal has another bombshell about Sen. Jim Bunning, the embattled Republican who is increasingly going rogue in an effort to hold onto his seat.

In recent weeks, Senate Republican leaders have walked right up to the edge of declaring open war on Bunning. Minority Leader (and fellow Kentucky senator) Mitch McConnell and others reportedly believe Bunning is likely to lose his reelection race in 2010, and so are trying to nudge him into retirement by sending signals that the party establishment will not back him.

Bunning has responded aggressively, threatening to sue the Senate Republicans' campaign arm if it doesn't fully back his reelection.

And now the latest: Bunning "reportedly said privately that if he is hindered in raising money for his re-election campaign he is ready with a response that would be politically devastating for Senate Republicans: his resignation."

The Kentucky Republican suggested that possible scenario at a campaign fundraiser for him on Capitol Hill earlier this week, according to three sources who asked not to be identified because of the politically sensitive nature of Bunning's remarks.


The implication, they said, was that Bunning would allow Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, a Democrat, to appoint his replacement -- a move that could give Democrats the 60 votes they need to block Republican filibusters in the Senate.

"I would get the last laugh. Don't forget Kentucky has a Democrat governor," one of the sources quoted Bunning as saying.

at a loss for words....

ok, so.....i have yet to win a round of lexulous on facebook.....i get the same number of tiles as everybody else...but these clever doubled-up words that earn the big scores never cross my mind......i appear to lack knowledge of 2-letter words......or the patience to keep putting letters on top of an existing word until the word can get past the computerized word-check....ah well....i enjoy playing despite my poor win-loss record....

rain, rain...

ok, so the mm has to drive in the driving rain to e-town for a meeting....how unfair is that?!

ok, so...my class is done with sex and can move on to drugs after the 2nd exam...

a good night's sleep.....

ok, so...i came home from work yesterday afternoon a miserable wretch who could not swallow without pain, and made it my business to take a hot bath and go to bed.......so far so good until my child woke me up when she got home from school to ask me why i was home.....for the record, when one finds one's mother dressed in pajamas, in bed, on a work day.....asleep....there should be nothing to ask.......ah well....i did manage to get back to sleep until 5:30, when i felt compelled to get back up and fix supper......i may not feel great but i never miss meals.....in order to assure sleep after obama's speech i indulged in a little nyquil......and slept like a baby until the alarm went off......my throat is still sore, but less so than yesterday.....

driving permit...

ok, so the last child at home developed a strategy for taking the driving permit test...now that she is of age...do the on-line practice test a few times until a passing score was obtained...then take the test for real at the court house....oops......either she she didn't count on the for-real test having different questions, or she didn't feel the need to read through the relevant driver's education material that accompanied the practice test on-line....even after failing there was no studying of the instructional material as prep for next time......i suppose it could have been worse.........another girl who failed the test came out of the testing room blaming her mother.....go figure how it could have been the mamma's fault....

slumdog millionaire...

ok, so.....we attended an annual february birthday party in lexington last night, and arrived back home in time to stay up til midnight watching this lovely movie collect most of its oscars.......which always sounds better the night before one has to get up and go to work the next day.....

a little birthday shopping...

ok, so....i will make she rounds this morning on the look-out for luscious treats for my birthday dinner.....there are those who would prefer to quick drive to lexington for a special dinner out...but i prefer to put together my own celebration with favorite foods that might not be on anybody else's menu......i have a recipe for an olive and orange salad (from the nytimes) ......and i hope to find dense cheesecake that can be topped with red raspberries....i already have some frozen mussels in garlic butter (from the aldi).....so i have an appetizer, a fish course....and a dessert idea....just need some sort of main event.....grilled steaks might be good if the night is not too cold.....so many options....

hair weave stops bullet...

ok, so this from the world wide web.....In Kansas City, Missouri, a woman's life was saved when a bullet intended for her head was stopped - by her weave!

The 20-year-old woman was in a parking lot when a man called out to her that her ex-boyfriend still loved her. When she did not reciprocate, she heard a gunshot, and then witnessed her ex firing a gun at her.

She fled and then called police. The ex-boyfriend and his accomplice were arrested.

The bullet, which would have pierced her skull, got tangled in her weave, saving her life.

working in my sleep

ok, so.....i worked the night away...mostly worrying about how to manage to keep up operations if our building would be unavailable due to some sort of damage.....many non-work related folks show in these work dreams......i have no idea why this happens.....as i do not dream about work folks in my non-work dreams......

Aldi's versus Trader Joe's

ok, so this from the NYTimes....

Do You Know Who Owns Trader Joe’s?
By Stephen J. Dubner
Do you shop at Trader Joe’s?

From what I have seen, the world is divided into three sets of people.

1. Those who have never been to a Trader Joe’s, and perhaps have never heard of it.

2. Those who love Trader Joe’s more than they love their own families.

3. Those who love Trader Joe’s more than they love their own families and are incensed that there isn’t one nearby.

So, let me ask those of you who fall into categories 2 and 3: Who owns Trader Joe’s?

1. Some great California family full of surfers and gardeners.

2. A small band of communal farmers in Oregon.

3. A huge German discount-grocery chain best known in the U.S. for no-glamor stores often located in marginal neighborhoods.


Yeah, it’s No. 3. The company is called Aldi and, though I’d seen one or two of its stores in the past, I didn’t even know it was a grocery store. Then I read this very interesting Wall Street Journal piece about the company’s ambitious new plan for the U.S., which calls for 75 new stores this year. The article claims that Aldi is so good at selling cheap goods that WalMart couldn’t compete with it in Germany. How do they do it? Here’s one way:

Store-brand goods generally make up 22 percent of U.S. food sales in terms of unit volume, according to research by Nielsen Co., while in some European markets, they account for about 30 percent. At Aldi, 95 percent of the goods are the retailer’s own brands.

They are, in other words, not the obvious owner of a chain like Trader Joe’s — which, although it tries to be ruthlessly cheap, also has a very high style quotient and neighborhood grocery store vibe.

I thought of all this when I ran into a friend who used to work at a Trader Joe’s. I asked her if she knew who owned the chain. She said no, then thought about it, and then remembered: “Oh yeah, some Germans!” She knew this only because some Aldi executives came to look at her store a few times, and she says management asked all the employees to not talk to the Aldi executives. She was uncertain why this was necessary. But then she remembered something: “The carts we used to wheel boxes up and down the aisles, we called them U-boats, because they were shaped like a U. We were told to definitely not call them U-boats whenever the Germans were visiting.”

sudden storm

ok, so yesterday the storm sirens went off....and as i glanced out the window on my way downstairs to the most internal room, the sky was nearly pitch black......by the time i made sure everybody else was on their way to relative safety, the sound of the hail was resounding......we had insisted a foster couple who were just leaving come back inside with their 2 infants.......a woman came in off the street with hail in her hair, reporting that she was on her way home from an early shift and saw our building as a safe haven....we had our weather radio with us- blaring the updates.....and the weather radar on the pc nearest the lab area....and then.....the sky seemed to turn instantly blue....and shined brightly on the hail scattered about like so much rock salt......and then there was the rainbow.....rather low in the sky as rainbows go.....the folks at church last night reported seeing a double rainbow.....but that sight alluded me.....ah well.......next storm, i suppose....

back taxes....

ok, so....i read this morning with amusement that ole' sarah back up there in alaska owes back taxes on the $17,000 in per diem payments she accepted when she stayed at her own house rather than in juneau where she was elected to serve.......the back-taxes issue has been trotted out by the GOP numerous times of late......in sarah's case it is kinda like the pot calling the kettle black....

procrastination.....

ok, so.....i have numerous personal and work-related projects that i am ignoring for the time being.....too bad there is no medication for blatant laziness.....

the simpson's newest intro....

ok, so this intro is really, really funny.....the couch escapes rather than have the simpson's sit back upon it...

ok, so this from google reader.....Johann Wolfgang von Goethe "When ideas fail, words come in very handy."

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Obama Poster Debate - David Ross and Ed Colbert

Colbert Report Full Episodes
Funny Political News

Christian Bale Parody
Joke of the Day

ok, so.....this piece about the obama poster lawsuits is pretty funny.....especially since the lawyer in the bit is colbert's brother....and pronounces his last name in the traditional manner....

closeted....

ok, so in my dreams last evening, i was moving into somebody else's apartment...and all of my stuff was put into a kitchen pantry-closet....on shelves rather than in drawers.....and this apartment was memorable in that it had sculpture...large pieces.....a cow beside the bed in the guest room- which was not my room...i never was shown to MY room......and a calder-like mobile hanging from the ceiling in the entryway.....a curious dream.....

sweet pleasures....

ok, so....i spent an unexpected amount of time in my garden....pulling spring onions....i am in awe that after 26 years of uninterrupted gardening seasons that there would be ANY spring onions left to pull....but these weeds are just too crafty to eradicate...for every clump that one can pull up intact...there are thrice the number that simply break off at ground level....to rise another day....maddening....i am pleased that the rambling rose along the back fence survived the drought as well as the ice storm....there are three crocuses blooming along the brick path near the rose arbor....and in spots there are daffodils pushing up an inch or two.....signs of spring...but way to early too take seriously.....the aroma of cold boxwood may have inspired my lengthy bit of procrastination outside...i am supposed to be grading exam #1, and updating my blackboard gradebook.....but the day is far too glorious for working on my second job...no...i believe i will continue to relax and enjoy my day off from my day job.....

martha on letterman....

ok, so i enjoyed this clip....not just for the sight of dave chugging hot sauce, but also for martha joking that she invented the pomegranate....

the winds that came after the ice.....

ok, so the howling winds that raced through this area from yesterday afternoon onwards seem to have brought down whatever loose limbs that the ice storm missed.....and took off several of our window screens in the process.....in the semi-darkness the roof looks intact......that is a small blessing in these unpredictable days....

cheri

ok, so...michelle pfeiffer is in berlin promoting her newest film, cheri directed by stephen frears (the queen) and based on one of my favorite works by colette cheri/the last of cheri........the article describes it as a tragicomedy.....yikes.....i simply saw the sadness of a woman facing down the aging process...nothing especially funny about that at all....the closest this film will come is lexington....maybe cincy......or netflix.....

say

ok, so....i didn't stay up late enough to see john mayer sing this song on the grammy's...but i love this song...

jane and the zombies....

ok, so this from jezebel.....though i must admit i had already heard about the book on wait,wait...don't tell me....Seth Grahame-Smith's new novel, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, is a "delightful comedy of manners" featuring Elizabeth, Darcy, and the undead. I'd say Jane was rolling, but she probably stopped caring long ago.

wild tail.....

ok, so this wild tale (tail?) from the world wide web....Workers at an Ohio pet shop are used to worried pet owners bringing their animals in to be treated in the store's clinic.

But an unaccompanied visit Saturday by a deer to the PetSmart in Rossfield was a first for the store.

Manager Trudi Urie says the wounded doe was hanging out behind the store and then ran through an open door into a stockroom.

Staff members made sure the animal couldn't enter the shop area and called police and a veterinarian.

Agustin Cuesta had the deer brought into the clinic and closed a wound on its hind leg with dissolvable stitches as assistants held it down.

He says he couldn't tell how the animal got hurt.

melted cheese

ok, so in my dream i had driven all the way to toronto for a herbal conference at which i was to read a poem set to a powerpoint slide show, and describe the piece with precious banter for at least 30 minutes, not including the lunch based on herbs that i was serving.....the first line of this piece, which i could see clearly as i slept but which has faded since getting up and making coffee.....had to do with melted cheese.......given my appreciation for all cheeses in the melted state, i consider this a plausible dream sequence.....

too little too late...

ok, so....i stopped by the krogers in l-burg on my way home from frankfort.....to pick up a few things while i waited for my a-rated chinese supper to be whipped up at the restaurant in the same minimall.....and as i was checking out of the krogers i was presented with a long list of peanut butter containing products that i have purchased in the past few months...mostly granola bars.....mostly granola bars that were eaten long before the recalls were announced......so i suppose that we lived long enough to be told of the recall is a good thing....right?

pick-up stix

ok, so....so we spent a few quality hours snipping, sawing, and/or picking up branches....too bad we have more work to do til we are done....

unseasonably warm

ok so.......it is so warm I will go to church without a coat......ironic given the storm flotsom that litters the ground in all directions...

weariness as the disaster winds down...

ok, so...i have worked 12 days in a row.....and i am tired and weary....both physically, and emotionally...especially now that i have sat and listened to a videoconference detailing just how agancies apply for fema reimbursement....omg......we'll not see the first dime, but we will likely spend hours and hours pursuing the fantasy....

weary

ok so...i have worked the last 10 days....and I am starting to look and feel like the living dead....i do not sleep well for worrying about all that needs done....the glass remains halfful but the wine is a bit cloudy...

ok, so i just love this superbowl commercial..

pristine

ok so.....my fridge and freezer are so clean and empty to be frightening......it is like really nobody lives here....

resourcefulness

ok so...we heard at church about a welfare check made at the senior housing towet....to the surprise of the visitor the older gentleman had rigged a solar panel to his balcony to run a heater, the tv and a coffeemaker....and he was entertaining elderly ladyfriends...wow

lights...take 2

ok so....we have lights again but no landline or web.....making do with my phone's web access....hesitant to break out the bubbly in case this iis a false alarm...