1775 Welcome back Gaylords!

For 25 years we enjoyed the Little Professor Bookstore in the Lane Avenue Mall operated by the Gaylord family--husband, wife and kids. It expanded to five, went public, then bankrupt. The family also operated some Cookstores, and I think perhaps a bath and linens shop. Now they've come home.

The new bookstore, back on Lane Avenue, will be called Liberty Books, and will have a coffee bar, internet access, and study area. Oh--I'm in heaven. It will be 10,000 sq. ft. and have 7,000 magazine titles. Be still my heart. Newspapers (foreign) will be printed from the internet and sold by special order.

Here's an Aug. 3, 1998 Publisher's Weekly article about its demise:

"In today 's cutthroat bookselling environment, smaller chains look for a niche to survive. Crown Books's Chapter 11 filing last month is the latest in a string of bankruptcies and downsizings that have caused many observers to question the viability of regional bookstore chains.

Left behind as Barnes & Noble and Borders grew rapidly in the 1990s and often not as flexible or close to the market as single-store independents, most regional chains have suffered dramatically.

In addition to the high profile bankruptcies of Crown and Lauriat's, three other, smaller regional chains filed for Chapter 11 over the last 10 months. The Gaylord Companies, which operated five Little Professor Bookstores as well as six Cookstores in Ohio, filed for Chapter 11 last November. Village Green Bookstores, which at one point operated 12 stores in upstate New York, went the Chapter 11 route in January."

Story about Empire Books in West Virginia, owned by the Gaylords.

1774 Cat Bloggers

Many years and one cat ago, my beloved We Be Three (died of CRF at age 4) had a web page. It was in the distant, dark past, before anyone thought of blogs, and when librarians who knew a little html were ahead of the pack instead of sitting in the back. I can't remember how it was posted, or where, Japan possibly, and I think I used to walk across the street to the vet hospital to scan her photos because I didn't have a scanner.
She was a lynx point Siamese (almost) with issues. After her death, I went right to Cat Welfare and rescued our current calico, who, because she was abandoned, also had issues, but at least she loves to cuddle and she doesn't eat the furniture.

Now I do occasionally look through the cat blogs to look at cute pictures. I was checking out Catbloggers, and looked at their http://www.frappr.com/catbloggers map, and discovered they have no one from Ohio. When I get well and can follow instructions maybe I'll read through it and see what's required. My cat, however, will not be given her own blog, Jane. I also need to read the instructions with my digital camera, another project for the future.

And no, I'm taking no applications for my son, either. Even if you sent me your resume, and you passed muster (beautiful, intelligent, employed, sense of humor, Christian, good cook), he does not take his mother's advice.

cat

1773 Preparation H: Itchy and Tender

What are Californians thinking? San Franciscans passed Proposition H, which outlaws handguns, so now people who watched what happened in New Orleans and know the "big one" is coming any day when they may need to protect life and property, are buying shotguns! The voters couldn't disarm the criminals, so they decided to disarm the law abiding citizens. Those folks spend too much time in the sun. There's a challenge, of course.

1772 Fat Ohio

The Nutrition and Physical Activity Program to Prevent Obesity and Other Chronic Diseases is designed to help states prevent obesity and other chronic diseases by addressing two closely related factors — poor nutrition and inadequate physical activity. The program supports states with developing and implementing science-based nutrition and physical activity interventions. The program’s major goals are balancing caloric intake and expenditure; increasing physical activity; improving nutrition through increased consumption of fruits and vegetables; reducing television time; and increasing breastfeeding.

In 2005–2006, 21 states are funded at $400,000 to $450,000 for capacity building. Seven states are funded at $750,000 to $1.3 million for basic implementation, bringing the total number of funded states to 28. CDC site.

Ohio is fat--I think Columbus is 5th or 6th fat city USA. We are not one of the 21 states taking federal dollars to fund yet another bureaucracy that will pay the salaries of nutritionists and physical therapists on temporary contracts as the money is filtered through the state offices. (I've been a librarian on state library contracts , so I know how this works.)

Can we talk? I think we know what's causing this--too many calories and too little exercise. I can't imagine one more TV ad will take one more hand back off from a Big Mac or a third helping of turkey and dressing.

But, let's do lunch, soon.

1771 My Life in a Box

This quiz makes no allowance for "retirement." I think that is why I was rated low in financial health. I had to check "unemployed." Also, of course my grandparents are deceased (lived into their 90s) and the writer wants you to have more than 3-5 close friends, which is silly. That would add stress! So I'm rated low on family and friends.

This Is My Life, Rated
Life:	9.2
Mind:	8.9
Body:	8.9
Spirit:	8.4
Friends/Family:	6.6
Love:	10
Finance:	8.6
Take the Rate My Life Quiz

I saw this at Bethany's Blog.

1770 Some ads are so cute

that you forget to notice what the product is! I always stop and watch the TV ad of the young woman explaining how to get-over/break-up with a boyfriend. Her final instruction is about deleting his phone number from her cell phone and answering in the affirmative when it asks if she really wants to dump him. You've seen it, right? She's sitting on a bed in dark jeans and laughing while she talks about it. It's really cute--but I have no recall if she is advertising a motel chain, a jeans brand or a phone service. However, it does remind me of this item that was circulating the internet last fall during the campaign.

1. Open a new file in your PC.
2. Name it "John Kerry."
3. Send it to the trash.
4. Empty the trash.
5. Your PC will ask you, "do you really want to get rid of John Kerry?"
6. Answer calmly, "yes," and press the mouse button firmly.
7. Feel better don't you?

1769 Misquoting Christians? What's new?

Wayne Lutz points out at his blog, No Shades of Gray, that Pat Robertson didn't say what the media says he said. It's a fine, fine line that Wayne draws in the sand, but he's got a point--CNN misquoted him and that's being passed around.

"Virtually all of the news accounts that I have heard or read, and even many of the blogs that I otherwise respect, are perpetuating a lie about Robertson. They are saying that he has called down the wrath of God on a Pennsylvania town for voting against the idea of introducing Intelligent Design into schools. CNN, as quoted on a friend's blog, states the lie like this:

Conservative Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson told citizens of a Pennsylvania town that they had rejected God by voting their school board out of office for supporting "intelligent design" and warned them Thursday not to be surprised if disaster struck.

Just one niggling little problem with that: That is not what Robertson said. Not that the truth has ever been a priority at CNN, especially in connection with conservatives in general and Christians in particular.

I heard what Robertson said, and no, Robertson did not "warn them" "not to be surprised if disaster struck." That quote is a lie, and it is being perpetuated by even well-meaning people.

What Robertson said was that IF something bad were to happen to this town, then, those people, having rejected Him, should not call on Him for help, rather they should call on Darwin."

What Robertson said:

"I‘d like to say to the good citizens of Dover: if there is a disaster in your area, don‘t turn to God, you just rejected Him from your city. And don‘t wonder why He hasn‘t helped you when problems begin, if they begin. I‘m not saying they will, but if they do, just remember, you just voted God out of your city. And if that‘s the case, don‘t ask for His help because he might not be there."

I notice Robertson is described as a "fundamentalist" by most news people. Are fundamentalists and pentecostal/charismatics interchangeable? Do they worship together under the same roof?

1768 Martha Pullen's TV Show

Someone on a Martha Pullen Forum mentioned my sewing blog as a good place for memories, and I got about 40 hits from that one mention. Since I don't sew much (actually never) anymore, I had no idea who this Martha is. So I looked Martha up and found out she has a TV program on PBS and a very loyal following with lots of interesting stuff on her web site. Take a look even if you don't do victorian embroidery. I've watched people use software to embroider and it looks like a fascinating use of technology.

Another Martha to admire.

1767 Biblical language used by reporters

Dr. Claude Mariottini, a professor of Old Testament, analyzed the language used by reporters during Katrina. There's important information imbedded in words, that when carelessly or intentionally used might convey another message--"this is God's judgement." Check it out here.

1765 Your Dream Library

On September 8, Booking Through Thursday asked this question.

1. What kind of room is your dream library in (one wall of your living room, dedicated room, corner of the kitchen, etc.)?


2. What genre are most of your books?


3. Are the books all hard cover, paperback, leather, or mixed medium?

This would be my dream library if the shelves weren't stationery stationary and 2 ft deep, and if it weren't in the lower level. Right now, we call it my husband's office. But he is retiring and I have plans. I've already taken over most of the far left section.


Most of our books are non-fiction; theology and religion; art and architecture; reference sources; and parts of my grandparents' home library. I really like "collected works." I don't cook much but seem to have an awful lot of recipe collections, the newest of which is from our church.

I'm fond of cheap books--free is best; resale next. But I do like a good hardcover with a decent, artistic cover. I like the bargain shelves at Half-Price Books, and the free box at the church library. My newest find is "Complete Guide to Needlework" (1979) from the clearance shelf for $3. I'm learning to knit--it has pictures. I'm a sucker for books of art exhibitions, like the Columbus Museum of Art gift shop. I'm so enthusiastic about the exhibit, then buy the book, then never look at it.

There is no good way to store a premiere issue collection. They lean, they flop, they don't like their neighbors. Even with their own blog, they are out of control.

1764 Big shoes to fill

If you are pro-choice, you may not actually contribute money for women to have abortions or give to abortion clinics--you don't go THAT far. You try to put out of your mind that "choice" means taking a life. But if you are pro-life, I hope you're putting your money where your heart is. We support the Pregnancy Decision Health Center of Columbus.

This fall's newsletter came yesterday and had an interesting story about the Fall fund raising banquet attended by 600 people at Villa Milano. One testimony was by a woman who 26 years ago rejected the "life" message her doctor gave her and proceeded with plans for an abortion. "She subsequently got up from the abortionist's table and returned to Dr. Raymond who helped her through her pregnancy and delivered her baby boy. The child was placed for adoption and the presentation ends with a still photo of the baby. At that point, John Vorlicky, now 26 came out on stage to announce that he is the baby in the photo." PDHC wasn't in existence then, but he thanked the group for the moms they are helping today.

If you are part of the adoption triangle (adoptee, birth parent, adoptive parent) you are part of an amazing transaction where grief and sorrow are miraculously turned into joy and hope. Not all adoptions create picture perfect families--but then I don't know any families like that made the other way, do you? Abortions, on the other hand, create nothingness forever and ever.

Some women among the 30,000+ who have been helped by PDHC choose to raise their children, and here's a list of items you can donate to help.

1763 Bird Watching

When I retired in 2000, I posted my "Post Employment Plan" on my web-site (no longer available). One of the things I listed was bird watching, something I knew nothing about, but thought it would be interesting. So my colleagues in the Departmental Libraries got me binoculars. We've actually used them quite a bit just sitting on our deck watching the condo wild life, but I haven't gone to any cemeteries at dawn to peek at the birds. Here's an interesting rare birds site, called, well, Rarebirds.com.

For instance, by clicking on the pushpin on the map of Indiana, for Nov. 8: "The Gray Kingbird, first discovered at 1:20PM on November 5, was seen again today. It was reported this morning at 9:20AM CST on the wires on the West side of US 35 and County Road 1100 South. It was observed while actively feeding, catching flying bugs for 20 min before flying about 200 yards south to the first fenceline South of the intersection. It gave close views on weeds and fenceposts on the East side of the road then moved further East along the fenceline where it was last observed today at 9:55AM CST. This bird constitutes a first state record for this species in Indiana.

Photos of the bird were taken by John Cassady on 11-05-05 and may be viewed
at: http://www.jkcassady.com/gallery/gyki.htm "

I saw this listed at Blogdriverswaltz, in an item about Google Maps. Neat, huh?

1762 This is not news

but it bears repeating. A few brave souls tried to get this message out last year during the campaign meme, "worst economy since Adam and Eve," but they were drowned out.

“The enormous US trade deficit has caused many observers to conclude that international trade, particularly a massive flood of imported goods from China and of services from India, is to blame for the loss of US jobs since 2000. In fact, research shows that only 11 percent of the job losses in manufacturing—about 314,000 jobs—can be attributed to trade, and even in this instance the real culprit was falling exports, not rising imports. Offshoring in the services sector destroyed even fewer jobs. The real causes of job losses were weak domestic demand, rapid productivity growth, and the dollar's strength.”
McKinsley Quarterly, Nov. 11, 2005

1761 Another ex-soldier

wants to be a senator from Massey-chews-its. Worked for Kerry.

1760 Harriet is a class act

Maybe so. But I still think she was a decoy.

"It would have been easy for her to skip the event [Federalist Society Dinner], and one might think it would have been more comfortable, given how much opposition her nomination, withdrawn just two weeks earlier, had stirred up among this crowd--especially since one rap against her was a disparaging comment she made about the Federalist Society back in 1989. But she went, and she got a warm reception. We chatted with her briefly after dinner and found her most gracious. We haven't changed our mind about the nomination, but we can say Harriet Miers is a class act."
James Taranto WSJ Nov. 11, 2005

This White House press release referred to her as a staff secretary

1759 Booga Uga Booga Bag

Cathy is making this for a church bazaar. I have no idea what it is, but she "felted" it. She's a very talented lady. I love to check her site. I'm learning to knit.

1758 Just who is politicizing the war?

The Democrats were out with their talking points seconds after Bush's Veteran's Day speech. Shock. Horror. He's politicizing the war!!!! He's finally, finally, pointing out what we all know--they were all convinced and supporting the issues that brought us to Iraq when they thought they'd get some votes. I hope he keeps it up. He's sticking by his words--let them do the same.

"While it's perfectly legitimate to criticize my decision or the conduct of the war, it is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of how that war began.

Some Democrats and anti-war critics are now claiming we manipulated the intelligence and misled the American people about why we went to war.

These critics are fully aware that a bipartisan Senate investigation found no evidence of political pressure to change the intelligence community's judgments related to Iraq's weapons programs.

They also know that intelligence agencies from around the world agreed with our assessment of Saddam Hussein.

They know the United Nations passed more than a dozen resolutions, citing his development and possession of weapons of mass destruction.

Many of these critics supported my opponent during the last election, who explained his position to support the resolution in the Congress this way: When I vote to give the president of the United States the authority to use force, if necessary, to disarm Saddam Hussein, it is because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a threat and a grave threat to our security.

That's why more than 100 Democrats in the House and the Senate, who had access to the same intelligence, voted to support removing Saddam Hussein from power." From Veteran's Day Speech, Nov. 11, 2005, President George W. Bush

1757 Jak sie masz? Na zdrowie! Daj mu buzi!

These are said to be the three phrases non-Polish Americans are most likely to know in Polish. The most familiar single words are thought to be kielbasa, pierogi and the four-letter "D-word."

I read that in the Polish American Journal (Buffalo). No Poles in my family--don't think we've even brought any in via marriage. But if you are Polish within recent generations, you might enjoy this updated offering at the College and Research Libraries C&RL News; it's an update on on-line resources about the Polish Presence in North America.

(I got kielbasa, pierogi and Na zdrowie, but the rest is Greek to me.)

1756 Happy Birthday Marines

Semper Fi, and thank you all veterans and current armed forces members for your service this Veterans' Day.

Dad and his brother Russell, both Marines
"On November 10th, 1775, the Second Continental Congress resolved to raise two battalions of Continental Marines marking the birth of our United States Marine Corps. As Major General Lejeune's message reminds us, the ensuing generations of Marines would come to signify all that is highest in warfighting excellence and military virtue. Each November as Marines the world over celebrate the birth of our Corps, we pay tribute to that long line of "Soldiers of the Sea" and the illustrious legacy they have handed down to us." Message from M. W. Hagee General, U.S. Marine Corps

Dad's brother John was in the Army and took part in the invasion of Normandy and was wounded then and again in Belgium; Russell served in Alaska and then was with the first wave of Marines who stormed Iwo Jima and was wounded; their cousins Andy, Bill and Phil were in the Army serving in Europe, Philippines and Korea; cousin Wayne and brother-in-law Glaydon were in the Navy and served in the Pacific; cousin-in-law Harlan served in the Army in New Guinea and the Philippines; brother-in-law Johnny was in the Coast Guard; brother-in-law Charlie was also in the service, but I don't know the branch. Another brother-in-law, Clare, was in the Army Air Force and died in the China, Burma India Theater.

Dad served on the U.S.S. Mayo and made two trips across the Atlantic and one trip each to Okinawa, the Philippines and Japan. Not bad for a kid who had probably not been further away from home than Chicago and never learned to swim.

All but two of these men were from the same town and all are deceased now. [Service records and photos of over 400 men and women for a town of less than 3,000 appear in "War Record of Mount Morris" edited by Harry G. Kable, 1947.] Even the town band was part of the National Guard and served in the Fiji Islands.

1754 This is a GLOBAL WAR.

Dr. Sanity says she's too busy to blog much right now, but she still gets in a few licks. about Islamic violence in France, Denmark, Australia, Indonesia, Jordan, Iraq and Afghanistan.

"This is a GLOBAL WAR. It is being waged by TERRORISTS who have no particular nation and who seek to unify all nations under an Islamic Caliphate. It is against EVERYONE who does not believe as the terrorists believe, including fellow Muslims who might be inclined to live and let live.

It is not caused by Bush, Cheney, Blair, or Howard's policies. It is not caused by poverty or lack of assimilation. It is not caused by oppression. It is caused by the terrorist's desire to force people through murderous violence and intimidation, to conform to their fanatical religious ideology, and accept a view of the world where Liberty, Justice and Human Dignity play no part.

It is barbarians versus civilization."

1754 A new book blog

New to me anyway. Looks like it could start some interesting discussions.

1753 No more stories about Mitford

Jan Karon, 68, is leaving Mitford with her latest in the series, "Light from Heaven." And I haven't read the first one yet, "At Home in Mitford," although I've borrowed it. After awhile, I suppose, a character, even one like Father Tim, must move on. She's not killing him off, just changing locations. I used to think that about "Murder She Wrote." You sure wouldn't want to be that woman's relative--they were always on trial for something. After awhile, Jessica just ran out of cousins and neighbors in trouble and the series had to have her traveling more.

That's how my newest blog, Memory Patterns, will be. Eventually, I'm going to run out of material (pun), because it is based on various sewing projects and patterns combined with photos from my albums. At the rate I'm writing, I should not have left a spool of thread or a scrap of fabric unturned by Christmas. Then I'll print it out, pass it around to relatives, and eventually shut it down. Print on paper is really the only way to preserve your memories and photos, much as we might like to think digital is the end all, be all, of communication.

1752 Is it something I said?

Today I left a comment at a very nice Christian book site called Buried Treasure. The blogger is an official prairie muffin and has written a nice entry on Agrarian Picture Books. Wow. My kinda site. So I left a comment. Here's the reply.

"Spam Karma: Your comment looks suspiciously like spam and has been moderated. It will be displayed once the admin approves it."

Since when did Christians believe in Karma?

1751 Just about a good idea

Today I was browsing through LIS news feeds and came across About Children's Books. I think all the About.com sites were originally good ideas, but they are extremely aggrevating to read. The page is packed, jammed, smashed with advertising, some of which bounces and moves as you scroll, and you get one paragraph of information--always good, but not worth the struggle. I get queasy reading. I'm often amazed at the writing ability of the specialists who host these pages. Maybe they write a weekly essay and then chop it up into 7 parts? I only subscribe to one About.com feature, and often they build up in my mail box and I eventually delete them just because they are a good idea gone just about bad.

1750 Google Print

Google Print. You won’t find a better wrap up than Charles Bailey’s bibliography. Still no comment by the American Library Association, however. He's good. He'd find it. They are busy with bigger fish, you know--Bush, torture, Patriot Act--all that library stuff.

1749 He's so good to me

Yesterday he went out and bought me tapioca pudding from the Chef-o-Nette and a bag of corn chips. Don't know if it is the pneumonia or the medications, but I've had some food cravings. Then he willingly hid the corn chips after I put some in a small bowl, so I wouldn't eat them all at one sitting. Then this morning he refilled the bowl for me so I wouldn't have to go to his office and take it apart looking for the bag. He is such a blessing.

1748 A frenulectomy

What's that? Check my sewing blog for an explanation why I have nice teeth.

1747 Women who have abortions

are more likely to die within 12 months than women giving birth? And a violent death (suicide, homicide, accident)? I wish I knew more about statistics, ratio and risk after reading this report based on statistical data from Finland. Finland has liberal abortion laws and socialized medicine, but not the privacy laws that the U.S. has which has prevented this study being done here. (But if you want to study equine orthopedics [horse bones] which would cause pain to horses, Finnish vets come here due to their animal welfare laws.) Even non-pregnant women were more likely to die than women who carried to term or miscarried. It's an amazing story. Have to think about that. About how much God wants his little ones to live.

1746 I voted today, did you?

Yes, I drug my self from my sick bed (in the passenger seat) with my husband driving to the local Catholic cathedral, looked for the one 12" American flag, walked down 16 curving steps into an outdoor reception area, and found the upside down "vote here" sign with the arrow going the wrong way.

Vacation Disaster Avoidance

Here's some good advice on vacation and time share planning. I'm not going anywhere soon (except out to vote), but you might be. She also has lovely photos of Hawaii, Ohio and Arkansas--they love to travel.

1744 Three signs your marriage might be in trouble

When I sit down to blog, I have no idea what I'm going to say (except for those entries drafted while I read the paper). Today I was innocently writing about an apron pattern, and ended with 3 ways to know a marriage is in trouble.

1743 WMD in Iraq

This advertisement was attached to the most recent Novak-Evans Report. I have not gone to Iraq to check this out, but I hope someone beside Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame have. Their reporting is a bit dicey.

WMDs Found in Iraq!

1.77 metric tons of enriched uranium

1,500 gallons of chemical weapons agents

17 chemical warheads containing cyclosarin (a nerve agent five times more deadly than sarin gas)

Over 1,000 radioactive materials in powdered form meant for dispersal over populated areas

Roadside bombs loaded with mustard and "conventional" sarin gas, assembled in binary chemical projectiles for maximum potency

This is only a PARTIAL LIST of the horrific weapons verified to have been recovered in Iraq to date. Yet Americans overwhelmingly believe U.S. and coalition forces have found NO weapons of mass destruction. The question is: WHY do they believe this lie?

Richard Miniter explains why these and other popular media factoids and urban legends are not only wrong, but severely damaging to our war effort, in Disinformation: 22 Media Myths That Undermine the War on Terror.

1742 Book Club tonight

We're doing Spin Sisters by Myrna Blyth. But I'm not there. Went to the doctor today for this cold that has lingered longer than usual and I have pneumonia, first time since I was in grade school. So I'll just snuggle up with a good cat instead of a good book. After a breathing treatment and 3 medications, frankly, I feel much, much worse.

1741 Bone tired, always?

There are good, solid medical reasons to be tired all the time. Various sleep disorders, narcolepsy, shift-work disturbances, post polio syndrome, stroke, post-head injury, Parkinson's Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, hypothyroidism, ADD and Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) to name a few. No matter how much you sleep, you're always tired. And if you can't get the right kind of sleep, you're not going to ever have energy.

Go to the library (or to Google) and research Provigil or Modafinil. It works miracles for some, does nothing for others. Check it out. Ask your doctor--always.

I feel their pain

After the Suze Orman show on MSNBC, I didn't change the channel and a feature came on about a couple with a six figure income living in Buffalo who were having a struggle making it financially. They've already borrowed against their home equity. The wife is a SAHM with an MBA who is still paying off her college loans and has three children. The house and cars were very nice--not palatial, but better than anything I've ever owned. They appeared to be in their early 40s.

Then today USAToday featured the Hetmers of Rockwall, TX, another family (blended) with a six figure income, wife has two jobs and the husband has a sales job that has a base of $30,000 and then he works on commission. He'd been making about $130,000, and this is a new job, probably a step up. They can't borrow against their home equity, because they have none, and have an interest only mortgage. She too is paying off her college loans, and now has decided that her college age son should borrow her half of the costs (his father pays the other half), so they'll have two generations of college loans in that family. She is about 41.

What do you want to bet that neither family tithes their income to a church or synagogue? And yet that's about the best way to stay out of debt that I know of. I don't know why it works, but it does. If you start early enough, you won't have any excess cash to fritter away on eating out or shopping as a hobby. Later, when it's a habit and not a hardship, it will help you focus on what's important in life.

Back to Suze Orman (soapbox alert). I enjoy her show and her dramatics. It's well-paced with good advice. But I wish she'd slap some of these "living together" couples up side the head instead of giving them advice on investments. Living together without marriage screams "lack of commitment," so why should they be mingling funds just because they are mixing body fluids? Marriage isn't always a good financial base, but shacking up never is.

1739 Liberals have all the interesting advocacy programs

In government, the conservatives have all the new and innovative ideas, but in organizations, clubs and workshops, the liberals have cornered the market. I was reading the local freebie paper Saturday at the coffee shop and noted these meetings about town.

CURE [Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants] life skills workshops

8 week course on justice/public policy

Bicycle advocacy group for transportation

Green Party monthly meeting

Earth Institute--Simple living, voluntary simplicity and "deep ecology."

Impact Safety program--self defense for women and children

Mercy for animals--rights of all animals

Arts Relief--art supplies for hurricane victims

Surviving the Violence luncheon

Spirit of the 60s Coffee House

Abortion Access Fund

Health, peace of mind, and mental clarity workshop

Choices for victims of domestic violence

Equal justice

Jewish GLBT

1738 Did Bush get instruction before the Latin America trip?

Generally, when you greet friends and relatives in the Latin culture, here's what you do. When a male greets a female or when a female greets a female, they will gently touch both arms while moving their bodies to about 6 inches apart, then they cock their heads, put their cheeks together, and make a light kissing sound. Their lips don't actually make contact with anything. All this will take about 1 or maybe 2 seconds. For men greeting men, in most areas, it is completely customary to give each other a hug. This may seem unnatural for many people outside of the Latin culture, so you may have to practice hugging a few times before you gain any close friends or relatives that live in Latin areas.

Spanish lesson

1737 The poulets have come home to roost

says Dr. Sanity, "and we should not be glad of it, because this could mean the beginning of the end for a free Europe." She's gathered some comments from other blogs here.

1736 Nothing's changed since I was in school

Actually, a lot has, but not this--students don't like to be called on. Usually, because they aren't prepared. In fact, I'm a little surprised anyone had to study this. But 200 introductory psych students were questioned about "being called on."

"The “top five” behaviors that 125 introductory psychology students said they use to avoid being called on (each endorsed by over 50 percent of the sample) included:

• Avoid eye contact.
  
• Look like you are thinking of the answer (but have not come up with it yet).
  
• Act like you are looking for the answer in your notes.
  
• Act like you are writing in your notes.
  
• Pretend to be reading something course-related.

Other responses included dropping a pen or notebook to look busy, hiding behind the person in front of you — and even a write-in response: pretend to be asleep. Constructive, preemptive participatory behaviors — such as raising one's hand to say something related to the topic or to ask a question about the topic — were endorsed by less than 20 percent of students."

This doesn't sound terribly imaginative of either the students or the authors, but the authors do have some suggestions on getting a discussion going.

1735 More negative news about alcohol advertising

"A study slated to appear in the January issue of Psychological Science suggests the mere presence of alcohol-related images -- including those in advertising -- encourages aggression even if people aren’t drinking." That's all I know, because the issue isn't available yet.

1734 Who owns the computer system on which you're reading this?

Ad Age reports something surprising (to me) about blogs--551,000 years of paid work time is being spent on blog reading! Yikes. Turn me off right now and go back to work, you slacker! And if you're listening to AMC on headphones or a tiny TV stuck in your desk drawer, turn that off too.

A report last week by Advertising Age Editor at Large Bradley Johnson noted that about 35 million workers -- or one in four people in the U.S. labor force -- spend an average of 3.5 hours, or 9%, of each work day reading blogs. This blogification of workplace time is no minor concern -- the total losses across the national work force are estimated to be the equivalent of 551,000 years of paid time that is being spent on blogs via the employer's own computer systems.

Another important point was that the time spent reading blogs on the job was in addition to the time already spent surfing the Web in personal pursuits. The debate appears to be one of reasonable limits. At what point, or at what length of time, does the use of company assets for personal activities become unreasonable? And is the problem likely to become an even greater one as more and more TV content goes online, becoming easily accessible from one's office computer? Do employers need to find new ways to police their computer systems?

AdAge.com

1733 Free marketing and promotion advice

for librarians (but would work for various agencies who are clueless) in ten parts is currently running at Ex Libris. I can't say as I think much of the author's example [Tia Dobi] of the DoD as selling a product for "killing," but once she gets off her liberal soap box, she has some good things to say about how and how not to market libraries.

There are some people who by personality and profession are not inclined to use public libraries--my family, for instance. My daughter and I were together Friday evening for dinner. She brought it in because I've been ill and she stayed until about 9:30. She was explaining to me the plot and intricacies of her latest read--The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. Big, big book. She looked at her watch and said, "Oh Barnes and Noble will be closed. I want to buy 1776." "Don't you ever use a library?" I asked. (I'm totaling up in my head not only the pages, but the cost--it's a mom-thing). "Never. I like to own my books."

OK. I can accept that, but what if libraries had a decent advertising campaign at anytime except when they want to pass bond issues? What if their staff smiled and acted like they were happy to see you, the way boutique clerks do? What if they stopped talking to each other, and asked if you needed help? What if they bought more than 5 copies of books on the best seller list for 2 years? Do librarians think people are immune to advertising? Why is it that magazines, TV and newspapers actually support their product with advertising and appealing to their niche market, if it won't work on the homogeneous general public within driving distance of the public library?

Then there's my husband. He always has a beautiful, fancy library card because he uses the library so rarely, he is always issued a new one each time he shows up. Mine is about 30 years old and has a glued bar code on it because I stop by about once a week. But even that is way down from what it used to be before the internet, databases on-line, and Google.

Come on, librarians, toot your horns a bit.

1732 There's this guy in Bucyrus

who sells gasoline about 15 or 20 cents higher than the competition. Friday it was $2.39 for regular and Saturday he had dropped to $2.29, but the Mobile and Shell were $2.17. Around here the Sunoco is selling for $2.15, and the cheap gas places are probably less. So I'm thinking, how does this guy stay in business? It isn't just one week-end, but week after week. He's always way higher than stations two blocks away. Surely he can't be living on the loyalty of his relatives and the naivete of motorists coming in from Columbus and Cincinnati. He also has the dirtiest restrooms this side of the Third World--which I discovered the last time we stopped there. When I complained to the cashier she told me it wasn't her job. Well, maybe not, but did she go across the street when nature called? It was a sewer.

Maybe he sells something else and tries to keep the rest of us away.


Bucyrus has two beautiful murals that look like you could walk right into them

1731 Save a plant and it might return the favor

Plant and animal biodiversity isn't just for tree huggers. We've got Lyme Disease because the white footed mouse doesn't have enough natural enemies, and we need to protect the plants too, because they may be the source of treatments that will prolong our lives. This is not saving a snail species because it has "rights" but because it is the smart, productive and safe thing to do.

"Preserving biodiversity also means preserving a reservoir of as-yet-undiscovered medical treatments and cures. Consider the cancer drug Taxol, made from the Pacific yew tree; morphine, which was initially derived from poppies; and Artemisia, which yielded chloroquinine and other treatments for resistant strains of malaria. In addition, microbes -- the most diverse organisms on the planet -- also hold promise: aminoglycosides, a group of antibiotics used in the treatment of severe infections, were derived from a bacterium found in tropical soil.

Animal species too are treasure troves of medicines: the cone snail yields a toxin (recently FDA-approved under the name "Prialt") that is a thousand times more potent than morphine as a painkiller but does not lead to tolerance or addiction. That same snail also yields a broad-spectrum anti-epileptic used for the treatment of intractable epilepsy. It should go without saying that the destruction of species such as these means that potential cures are lost forever. Even species that may seem inconsequential to human life (like soil microbes or cone snails) actually have the potential to improve human life greatly -- if they are not driven to extinction."
American Council on Science and Health

1730 Creating a piece of art?

I found a neat site called typoGenerator. Type in the words, change the font, or colors or background, or toss two of the three and move on.

Not sure I like these colors, or pink flamingos

This might be better

This is such fun!

1729 Ohio should vote

NO on Tuesday there's a bunch of incomprehensible issues on the ballot--called 2,3,4,and 5. They address absentee voting rules (Issue 2), campaign finance laws (Issue 3), the drawing of legislative boundaries (Issue 4) and replacing the Ohio secretary of state with an appointed board (Issue 5). The liberal organizations are supporting this wholeheartedly. They are still mad that Bush won Ohio by 180,000 votes last November. Still think he stole the election. The voice over ads on TV and radio say absolutely nothing, on both sides. Here's how Richard Finan sees it:

• Issue 2 would allow more people to vote before the election but contains not one provision to assure voters that those votes are protected from fraud. In fact, in combination, Issues 2 and 5 obliterate Supreme Court rulings, Ohio attorneys general opinions and secretary of state policies that have protected the integrity of the vote in Ohio for generations.

• Issue 3 would limit the dollar amount people could give to candidates but would allow special interests never-before-imagined opportunities to stuff secondhand money into campaigns. For example, while it would prohibit Ohio’s employers from making political contributions, it would allow millionaires, such as Jerry Springer, the 2004 Democratic man of the year, to spend his own money unchecked for his promised campaign.

• Issue 4 would snatch the vote out of the hands of Ohioans while replacing that vote with a board of bureaucrats sealed off from the public. Ohioans have in every decade since 1970 thrown the rascals out, when they wearied of a party or its leaders. It is hard to believe that Ohio voters do not relish this power or that, as some reformers have said, are too easily tricked into misusing it.

Then comes Issue 5, which would remove the secretary of state as Ohio’s chief elections officer. That job, performed by dozens of different Democratic and Republican elected officials for generations, would be handed over to another appointed board. The board would mean more full-time state jobs and benefits for bureaucrats. The bureaucrats would set their own salaries, vacations and staffing needs, and taxpayers would get the bill."

1728 Debunking the myths of journalism graphic design

Although I didn't know there were myths about design of newspaper graphics, after reading this article at Poynter, I can see it. Some, I even think I've heard, although I'm no journalist. But I certainly think rag right is easier to read than justified right. Oh, the horrors of justifying paragraphs when we used the typewriter!

"Somewhere along the way, the myth developed that justified type conveys more of a hard news feel -- and that and rag right is more featurey. Readers don't make any differentiation between the two. Some reasearch has shown that rag right is easier to read because justified text can create large spaces and more hyphenation. Either way, the achieve the best reader experience, it's important to have someone with a skilled eye tweaking the size, letter and word spacing, and acceptable hyphenation."

Read the article, Debunking Myths by Ann Van Wagener

1727 And liberals complain about Christmas?

What would they do with these holidays so beautifully described and visually enhanced by Avik (see Oct. 10)?

"With the beating of drums and a surge of humanity flocking marquees since the morning despite warnings of thundershowers, the five-day Durga Puja, the biggest festival of the Bengalis, began in West Bengal on Sunday.

The festivities begin from Mahasashthi (the sixth day from the day after Mahalaya), when the priest unveils the goddess Durga during a puja known as bodhan.

This is followed by the three main days of Mahasaptami, Mahaastami and Mahanavami when the chanting of hymns, arati and anjali (floral offerings with chanting of hymns by men, women and children in new clothes) mark the rituals.

The fifth day of Bijoya Dasami, when the idols are immersed, marks the end of a carnival in West Bengal that goes beyond religions and communities."

1726 The continuing devastation in Alabama

Most teen bloggers write about the opposite sex, clothes and tech-toys. Not Rebelution. These teen brothers who are homeschooled have written about the wake-up call they got when driving through ground-zero of Katrina. It's still a mess, they report. They couldn't find a restaurant open, nor a grocery store to buy food. They needed to have their car repaired, and discovered there was no way to use a credit card. Residents of the area were still driving 50 miles to get gas. People are still living in tents. It's not over 'til it's over folks, and the press has gone home.

"In the past two weeks Alex and I have driven along the Gulf of Mexico from Montgomery, Alabama to San Antonio, Texas and back. We were struck not so much by the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, but by the continued devastation. There have been three major hurricanes since Hurricane Katrina hit in late August: Ophelia, Rita, and Wilma. And while it has been legitimate for the media to switch their attention to these new natural disasters, a perhaps unintended consequence is that most Americans, not directly affected by Katrina, have assumed that unless an area was just "re-hit" by Wilma, everything's "O.K. down there." To most, it's old news."

1725 Google's Sergey Brin

I just love Google. As a librarian, I'm not at all distressed that it is achieving librarianship's goals of access to information for everyone even while threatening to put librarians out of work!*

But I especially love that one of its founders, Sergey Brin, is an immigrant. Is this a great country, or what? And not just any immigrant, but he's from Russia. I was a Russian major in college and most of my classmates were immigrants--Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Poland, etc. I think I only met one or two actual Russians.

Google's new plan to digitize works still under copyright is explained in Lawrence Lessig's November column in Wired. It's short and to the point and easy to understand.

And would you believe, my ancestors were immigrants too?

*The American Library Association has come out against torture and the war in Iraq, but has said nothing officially about Google's digitization project. They're leaving that up to publishers and authors.

1724 Jimmy Carter was my favorite president

until he started acting like he was morally still the president, and that's been for quite a few years now. When he jumped in and helped with Habitat for Humanity, he was doing what an ex-president should do. Finding his own niche. Above the fray. In the 90s he didn't like Bill Clinton, and likes George W. Bush even less. Now he has a new book, "Our Endangered Values." Apparently it is deadly dull, according to reviewer Bret Stephens. I'm not surprised. Like his party, he hasn't had a new idea in 25 years. Here are the key words of the review by Stephens, now you can decide to read the book or not. Me? Not.

tedious
boring
irritating
sanctimonious
self-congratulatory
humorless
factual omissions
passive-aggressive
"everything is wrong beginning with the title"
weird lapses of memory
obsessed
Tito--"believed in human rights"
Ceausescu--"our goals were the same"
Arafat--"misunderstood"
Kim Il Sung--"vigorous and intelligent"

I wonder of Carter thinks starvation is an important endangered value?

Article about Kim Il Sung in New Yorker. "the estimates are that two to three million people starved to death in the course of the past decade. Starving to death doesn’t happen overnight. Starving to death isn’t even a matter of having insufficient food for a couple of months. It’s total starvation over a long period of time, a complete breakdown of bodies."

"[Ceausescu's] secret police (Securitate) maintained rigid controls over free speech and the media, and tolerated no internal opposition. In an effort to pay off the large foreign debt that his government had accumulated in the 1970s, Ceausescu ordered the export of much of the country's agricultural and industrial production. The resulting drastic shortages of food, energy, medicines, and other basic necessities drove Romania from a state of relative economic well-being to near starvation. Ceausescu also instituted an extensive personality cult and appointed his wife, Elena, and some members of his family to high posts in the government. Among his grandiose schemes was a plan to bulldoze thousands of Romania's villages and large areas of the city of Bucharest, and move their residents into new apartment buildings. Over one fifth of the built area of central Bucharest, including churches and historic buildings, was demolished during Ceausescu's rule in the '80s." http://www.rotravel.com/romania/history/app4.php

1723 Fourteen entries

now in my new blog called, Memory Patterns. You're invited to take a look, although it is probably only of interest to my family. I'm using sewing patterns and photographs to reconstruct some memories. It is completely politics free, although still somewhat eclectic, because that's just how my mind works. I've come up with some memories that were pretty well buried, like buying an art print with green stamps, and who got the garter at my daughter's wedding. Don't throw anything away. You never know when you might need it!

1722 Omidyars of e-Bay finance an old idea

Now they are calling it "microfinance," but when I first went to work in the Agriculture Library in 1978 and worked with the Agricultural Credit and Technology files, I think we just called them small loans. We had hundreds and hundreds of papers in that file on third world rural development and what could be done with small loans. Sometimes it was several sewing machines, or a well, or a fish farm.

I think I'd say the same thing today I said in the 70s. Roads. Build them. Then do your miracles with microfinance or small loans. Without them, the farmers and the small business people have no market. With no markets, they move to the city slums. Without roads, aid rots in the ports.

1721 Writes like a girl--Dana Milbank

Well, it could be a girl's name, I guess.

"The Senate is witnessing a real-life revenge of the nerd. Alito, bespectacled, hair askew, suit rumpled and ill-fitting, walked into Sen. Tim Johnson's office this week to pay a courtesy call. . .Alito forgot to unbutton his suit jacket, causing his tie to stick out and his jacket to bunch up. The judge's pant leg hiked up as he sat, revealing an untied shoelace. . . What better place for a supreme square than the Supreme Court?. . . Compared with Roberts, Alito looks as if he were in town for a "Star Trek" convention. . . Alito caught his foot in carpeting and briefly stumbled while getting in the elevator. . .his buttoned suit jacket bunching up, his fingers gripping his knees, his toes pointed inward." WaPo

What passes these days for journalism! More catty than a next of kittens. But it's probably a good sign that the MSM is totally without words.

1720 Victoria Toensig’s article in the WSJ “Investigate the CIA”

As excerpted in Powerline. Read this and then tell me again why they are wasting my tax money investigating Scooter Libby when they need to be investigating Joe Wilson, Valerie Plame and whoever at the CIA is trying to undo the Bush presidency. Seven questions the reporters haven't been asking. They need a blogfire.

• First: The CIA sent her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, to Niger on a sensitive mission regarding WMD. He was to determine whether Iraq had attempted to purchase yellowcake, an essential ingredient for nonconventional weapons. However, it was Ms. Plame, not Mr. Wilson, who was the WMD expert. Moreover, Mr. Wilson had no intelligence background, was never a senior person in Niger when he was in the State Department, and was opposed to the administration's Iraq policy. The assignment was given, according to the Senate Intelligence Committee, at Ms. Plame's suggestion.

[My question 1-a: Is Ms. Plame involved in the misinformation about WMD that lead up to the war? 1-b: Did she need to cover her tracks, throw off the scent? 1-c Does Ms. Plame have more power in the CIA that we have been told? After all, she's making assignments related to WMD.]

• Second: Mr. Wilson was not required to sign a confidentiality agreement, a mandatory act for the rest of us who either carry out any similar CIA assignment or who represent CIA clients.

[My question: 2-a: Does this mean Mr. Wilson was not a CIA employee, but just an ordinary citizen since he didn't sign any agreement normal for an employee? 2-b Was the reason his wife wasn't sent was that she had already botched the WMD investigation?]

• Third: When he returned from Niger, Mr. Wilson was not required to write a report, but rather merely to provide an oral briefing. That information was not sent to the White House. If this mission to Niger were so important, wouldn't a competent intelligence agency want a thoughtful written assessment from the "missionary," if for no other reason than to establish a record to refute any subsequent misrepresentation of that assessment? Because it was the vice president who initially inquired about Niger and the yellowcake (although he had nothing to do with Mr. Wilson being sent), it is curious that neither his office nor the president's were privy to the fruits of Mr. Wilson's oral report.

[My question: 3-a: Does this mean Mr. Wilson was a common tourist to Niger? 3-b: Why did the CIA put so little weight on v.p. Cheney's request. 3-c: Were they already aware of their misinformation about WMD and didn't want to raise the issue?]

• Fourth: Although Mr. Wilson did not have to write even one word for the agency that sent him on the mission at taxpayer's expense, over a year later he was permitted to tell all about this sensitive assignment in the New York Times. For the rest of us, writing about such an assignment would mean we'd have to bring our proposed op-ed before the CIA's Prepublication Review Board and spend countless hours arguing over every word to be published. Congressional oversight committees should want to know who at the CIA permitted the publication of the article, which, it has been reported, did not jibe with the thrust of Mr. Wilson's oral briefing. For starters, if the piece had been properly vetted at the CIA, someone should have known that the agency never briefed the vice president on the trip, as claimed by Mr. Wilson in his op-ed.

[My question: 4-a: Who does Ms. Plame know on that Review Board who would pass on this? Or is she much higher up than we've been led to believe and can just go over their heads? 4-b: Why didn't NYT ask about the CIA clearance? 4-c: Was Wilson so naive that he didn't know he needed permission, and the CIA did act because then their ineptness in sending him would have to come out?]

• Fifth: More important than the inaccuracies is the fact that, if the CIA truly, truly, truly had wanted Ms. Plame's identity to be secret, it never would have permitted her spouse to write the op-ed. Did no one at Langley think that her identity could be compromised if her spouse wrote a piece discussing a foreign mission about a volatile political issue that focused on her expertise? The obvious question a sophisticated journalist such as Mr. Novak asked after "Why did the CIA send Wilson?" was "Who is Wilson?" After being told by a still-unnamed administration source that Mr. Wilson's "wife" suggested him for the assignment, Mr. Novak went to Who's Who, which reveals "Valerie Plame" as Mr. Wilson's spouse.

[My question 5-a: Was Ms. Plame's career and reputation (because of WMD misinformation) in the toilet so they didn't care how she was outed? 5-b: Is Wilson as hungry for publicity as Cindy Sheehan?]

• Sixth: CIA incompetence did not end there. When Mr. Novak called the agency to verify Ms. Plame's employment, it not only did so, but failed to go beyond the perfunctory request not to publish. Every experienced Washington journalist knows that when the CIA really does not want something public, there are serious requests from the top, usually the director. Only the press office talked to Mr. Novak.

[My question 6-a: so is Novak off the hook? 6-b: Did he have no obligation to ask just in case he was talking to a lunch time substitute.]

• Seventh: Although high-ranking Justice Department officials are prohibited from political activity, the CIA had no problem permitting its deep cover or classified employee from making political contributions under the name "Wilson, Valerie E.," information publicly available at the FEC.

[My question 7-a: Why hasn't Plame been fired for this if it's against the rules? 7-b: Has she been fired and no one told us? 7-c: Did she know she was violating the rules?]

1719 9th Circuit Court are sure a scary bunch

A Calfornia blogger, e-Claire, asks what is going on with sex education in California?

Read this Unanimous Decision by the Court: FIELDS v. PALMDALE SCHOOL DIST.

"We… hold that there is no fundamental right of parents to be the exclusive provider of information regarding sexual matters to their children, either independent of their right to direct the upbringing and education of their children or encompassed by it. We also hold that parents have no due process or privacy right to override the determinations of public schools as to the information to which their children will be exposed while enrolled as students. Finally, we hold that the defendants’ actions were rationally related to a legitimate state purpose."

So I guess if the schools want to teach your kid that masturbation causes insanity, or that babies come from the cabbage patch you can't contradict them. . . "parents have no due process or privacy right. . ."

Is this the "mainstream" that the Dems keep talking about for our Supreme Court?

1718 I must have lied somewhere along the way

Or maybe I guessed. This really doesn't sound like the way I cook. I like that funny gal with dark hair who's been on Oprah and the one who starts with all the convenience food and comes up with something terrific. I've never even seen this guy. Tonight we're having pizza from that shop up the street.


Which Food Network chef are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

I saw this at Jenna's blog.

1717 Escaping prison in a garbage truck

When an Ohio Penitentiary resident escaped back in the 70s, we got a phone call from the warden. We were on his visitation list--in fact, he was a few weeks from being paroled and had planned to live with us. But cupid struck, and he escaped with the lady from the casket company in the O.P.'s garbage truck.

So as I was watching the news accounts of Jimmy Causey and Johnny Brewer escaping a South Carolina prison today in the garbage truck, I thought about our experience. Our guy was on the lam a bit longer than those two, who apparently were caught when they got hungry and ordered a pizza. The delivery person recognized them and called the police. Our guy (and his lady friend) drove to central Indiana and he got a job in a bar. He was such a good employee and so trusted by the owner, that he made the night bank deposits (he was doing time for breaking and entering, in the night season, with a gun). I think he wasn't caught for nearly a year, and only because he came back to Ohio to visit his mother, and someone recognized him.

Stolen angel

Sometime after 1986, thieves entered this cemetery in Elwood, Indiana, and stole the family angel. A couple of generations of Bruces are buried near by. If you see a marble angel in someone's garden, be suspicious, very suspicious. We're looking for it.



Casselman Bruce family home, Elwood, Indiana

1715 The Bill Gates Malaria Gift

It was sad to see on ABC News two nights ago the news of the Bill and Melinda Gates gift to develop drugs to fight malaria. Yes, thousands of Africans die of malaria every day, but those deaths are unnecessary. Until Americans were duped by Rachel Carson's misinformation, good progress was being made against this terrible disease. Since 1972 when the EPA banned its use, millions have died needlessly. This "do-gooder" impulse we Americans have has killed more Africans than the infamous slave trade of the 17th and 18th centuries. Even if this experimental vaccine works, it won't be ready for another five years, which means many more years of death for Africans. ABC never even mentioned there is another option. Malaria was well under control from the 1940s-1970s. And now without the spraying of homes, it has emerged again in the last 30 years as a killer. It was completely unnecessary.

DDT for malaria control

1714 Men drivers--what babies!

The white pick up came from behind and roared around me this morning as I turned right on red, after making sure I had a clear distance--it was dark and foggy. I always immediately get in the left lane, because if I don't, it is impossible to turn left at the next light which actually has two left turn lanes, but a lot of traffic. I've seen many accidents at that intersection. So he was passing me on the right. I looked over (you can always tell a mad driver by their juvenile attention-getting tire-screeching and loud rhumphhh rhumphh) and he gave me the finger. So I figured when I got up to the light, I'd pull right up next to him (knowing we'd get there at the same time) and give him one of my best poached egg looks--I'm good at that--although smiling and waving can be good too. The idiot. He was mad because I was in HIS LANE from which he wanted to make an illegal U-turn. So when he did that, he gave me the finger AGAIN, like I was to blame because he was late for work. Even with a time change and gaining an hour's sleep, he can't get it together. Such a baby.

1713 Do you really mean this?

Today I noticed a letter where the writer was describing the wonderful attributes of Janice Rogers Brown, the black judge many of us would have preferred to Alito:

“When you read her speeches, it becomes crystal clear that she is worth fighting for, to go to the mattresses for, to the very end.”

I think he meant “go to the mat” not mattress.

But upon checking, I learned this mangled cliche is not that uncommon.

1712 Where did the WMD Intel come from?

The Anchoress knows.

“In 1998, the US was certain that Saddam Hussein was acquiring and developing WMD, and that he posed a credible threat. The president said it. His party said it. The opposition party agreed. The press said it. England said it. Israel said it. France said it. China and Russia said it. EVERYONE said it. EVERYONE accepted it. These were the intelligence reports, and everyone found them believable.

No one acted on them, but no one declared they were false, either. While some cynics suggested that the American President’s focus on the WMD was some “dog wagging” to distract attention from an uncomfortable scandal, no one seriously entertained a notion that Saddam Hussein did NOT have WMD. Everyone believed it to be true. Or at least said they believed it. Read her entire rundown of the run up to the war and what the Democrats said before Bush became President and acted on their recommendations and beliefs.”

So why are they so huffy and trying to make the Libby case into something? Why are they acting like they've speeded up the Phase 2 report? It was due already.

1711 Please don't feed the birds

Scotts Miracle Gro is expanding into the bird seed business. This is bad for the small niche pet food companies, but it's even worse for the birds. Now, if you Google the topic, backyard feeder + disease you'll find a lot of fence sitting, about the importance of keeping the feeders clean, the water fresh, not trying to treat sick birds. But let's use a little common sense. Feeders attract birds of all species who normally wouldn't get together and spread their viruses or parasites. Feeders discourage birds from eating insects, seeds and berries, their natural diet that helps our environment. They attrack skunks and raccoons and squirrels, just so you can sit in your kitchen and watch them squabble over some feed.

If the avian flu does comes around, I'm betting you'll see a change in the advice columns. People are already discouraged from feeding ducks around here. The Canada geese now never go home. Honk. Honk. Why fly south when Columbusites make it so comfortable to stay, or north in the summer. Signs are posted along the river and ponds instructing people not to do this, but many still do. Generations of mallards and geese have forgotten how to forage, plus they leave their feces everywhere in the park you might want to walk.

Be kind; don't feed the birds.

1710 What to do with your rotting pumpkins

Susie Sunshine is blogging at the Underpaid Kept Woman, and wow, did she have a bunch of pumpkins and some great ideas for composting them to get back at a nasty neighbor.

1709 Peter Eisenmen is back

in town to inspect the renovation of the disaster he designed (opened 1989) a little over 15 years ago. The Wexner Center didn't work from the get-go and the $15.8 million upgrade (on our dime) should be laid at the feet of the review committee that selected this design from a competition that would have served our campus better with a far more practical and beautiful building suited for our climate and geography.

The Wexner Center leaked like a sieve from the beginning; art objects had to be protected from the sharply angled glass that let in way too much sunlight; and the wall and halls could induce nausea in the casual visitor causing disorientation from the angles and slopes and dangerous missteps from oddly spaced stair risers.




Eisenmen says he takes full responsibility for its short comings (but not its ugliness). But sir, you left me the bill for your manic phase.

The article in today's Columbus Dispatch doesn't mention that Eiseman also designed our Convention Center on the site of the glorious Union Station. It resembles a bunch of box cars in a train accident.

1708 Worst economy in 70 years

Remember that slogan from October 2004? I think it was the Kerry Kampaign. And here it keeps improving despite the hurricanes and high oil prices (gasoline is about $2.20 here in Columbus).

"U.S. economic growth sped up in the third quarter despite the impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, with consumer spending remaining strong as inflation pressures appeared to gather some steam.

The Commerce Department said Friday that gross domestic product grew at a seasonally adjusted 3.8% annual rate in July through September. The increase was driven by consumer spending and inventory changes and offset by slower growth in exports, housing investments and local government spending, the report said. GDP grew at a rate of 3.3% in the second quarter." WSJ Oct. 28

The economy will really improve when the current administration starts reining in some spending.

1707 Norma's new blog

It's been awhile since I started a blog. Today I created a new blog called Memory Patterns. I sort of got the idea from looking at scanned sewing patterns on other sites. I decided to try to match the patterns with old photos with old memories floating through my head and see what I came up with. Should be fun. Actually, I think I sold a lot of my patterns at garage sales or traded them, or gave them away. Gosh, wish I hadn't, 'cause this could be fun.

Here's an idea. Match the sewing pattern of a dress I made for my daughter to her school photo. Then tell the story of the fabric which was also used for a king size bedspread I made and my husband's ugly tie contest at the office (I also made the tie). From there I could go into other frugal ideas I had in the 70s. What do you think?


I would have used the fabric requirements for view B size 7, the jeans top, although I made the dress, so would have used 7/8 instead of 3/4 of a yard. Suggested fabrics were lightweight cotton, muslin, seersucker, polished cotton, gingham, challis, surah, and cotton knits. The dress had a back zipper with puffed sleeves with eleastic casings and a front yoke with vent. I think I made several of these, but the bedspread print seems to be the only one that will live in our memories, and albums.

The copyright date on this pattern is 1973, which means I probably made it when my daughter was in second grade. She's probably smiling like that because some teeth are missing.

1706 SCOTUS Blog roundup

SCOTUS blog has a roundup of the blogging going on about Alito. I won't repeat it here. Just go read it.

1705 The world is different now

it's harder. Nonsense! That was a line in a WSJ story today (Nov.1) about the economic woes of a recent college grad who landed his dream job. But he's taken a second job at $9 an hour at the Best Buy so he can save up for a better apartment, pay off some college loans, and add to his DVD collection. I give him credit for paying off loans, and not hitting Dad up for some extra cash, but really, is this the best hard knocks story they can come up with? Try cutting back on your desires and living on your income. That's good advice for the federal government too. The Bush administration has never seen a program it didn't like. They can cut our taxes all they want, and I appreciate that, but the government needs to tighten its belt and stop throwing money at problems the citizens should be solving.

And btw, that $9 an hour job at Best Buy might be someone else's dream job, and if Mr. 60-Hours-a-Week-College-Grad has scarfed it up, he's hurting someone else.

1704 Tiny transactions for your credit card

On my way to the coffee shop this morning I heard an ad by American Express for using its credit card--saline solution (one cheery voice), pack of gum (another voice), groceries (yet another voice). I was shocked. Couldn't imagine asking people to make such poor credit choices. Then I read in today's Wall Street Journal that credit card companies are in fact going after our loose change. Even parking meters and juke boxes will now accept credit cards. I've never paid a credit card fee--never have had a balance to carry over.

1703 Looking for boomer-bloggers

As you can see from my links, I haven't been terribly successful in linking to the over 50 crowd. I know they are out there--after all, the oldest baby boomer is now 60 and there's a whole bunch more coming up that want to look good for their grandchildren. Some of my over-50 are in other linkages, like Homespun Bloggers, and usually I don't link twice. Some, like Murray, are shy, quiet and soft spoken and rarely post (joke alert). Others, like Eric, are just so busy enjoying retirement/consulting that they only occasionally post. Mr. Cloud, a retired Canadian school teacher, stays very busy and his blog is a popular meeting ground to chat and look at photos, and Bonita always has carefully researched things to offer. Now I've added Randy Kirk, who bless him, has three blogs. He's also a writer and an entrepreneur and a Christian, so he fits well in my links.

1702 Do you buy a book to look good?

Me either. Never do that. I buy so many books I never read, but my intentions are good. The books you see me with in public are the ones I'm actually reading. When I was reading "The purpose driven life" I met many new people. Now, we didn't become fast friends--just conversed awhile in the coffee shop. And when I was reading "Amazing Grace, 366 inspiring hymn stories," people did stop and chat about that one too. When I see people reading books in public I sometimes stand on my head trying to read the spine title.

This is only part of the problem

On the left is religion, theology and Bibles; in the center is family, genealogy, yearbooks, and cookbooks too tall for the kitchen, plus magazines up at the top I want to keep guarded by a little figurine I painted when I was 10 years old; on the right are books about books, about magazines, poetry, literature, reference works and finances. Current fiction is all in another room since I don't read in my office. My antique books (parents' and grandparents' and great grandparents' books) are in the upstairs hall shelves, and my don't-fit anywhere books are in my husband's office because a previous owner built humungous shelves in that room. And then behind those cabinet doors below the shelving are paper supplies and file boxes of old stuff I'll probably never read again but can't give up. I've been writing almost all my life, so you can imagine what came before six blogs.

1701 Ohio's heroine, Erma Bombeck

In case you were hoping to attend the Erma Bombeck Humor Workshop in Dayton next year, sorry, it was sold out after 12 days. In addition to Dave Barry and W. Bruce Cameron, instructors include columnists Mary McCarty of the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News, Susan Reinhardt of The Asheville (N.C.) Citizen-Times, Craig Wilson of USA Today, Dave Lieber of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and self-syndicators Gordon Kirkland and Jodie Lynn, among others. Tim Bete, a humor columnist, is the director of the workshop.

"The 2006 Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop sold out in 12 days. Three hundred writers from 43 states and Canadian provinces plan to attend. An additional 60 writers are already on the waiting list. We're investigating the possibility of recording some of the workshop sessions and will let you know if we move ahead with it." Newsletter

I wonder if Jinky signed up. For a dog, he's pretty funny.

1700 The debate about blogs

On Fox News this morning (before 6 a.m. so it may have been from yesterday) they are having a debate about Forbes article on blogs.

Here's the funniest line in the article: " "It's not like journalism, where your reputation is ruined if you get something wrong. In the blogosphere people just move on. It's scurrilous," Grantham says." How often does that happen?

I'm guessing we'll see a full court press from the regular media sources about the pitfalls of reading and writing blogs. Especially if blogs pressure them to be honest and report sources, something that should be learned in journalism school. And especially if they start cutting into profits.

1699 Funnel cakes get fatter as you move westward

Sal took her child to Busch Gardens for the final week-end to ride the roller coasters and on the way out they stopped for funnel cake. Her photo was yummy, so I decided to look it up--just to see how bad fair food can be.

The first site I found said, 250 calories, then the next said 320, then 380, and so forth. Finally, I got to the Iowa State Fair and got this bad news--out there it is 800 calories and 40 grams of fat:

“The numbers were astronomical, high enough to turn the stomach of even the most committed fair diner. Everybody’s traditional Iowa State Fair favorite, the “corn dog” – that delectable treat of a hotdog wrapped in cornbread batter and then deep fat fried and eaten on a stick – 700 calories and 40 grams of fat!

The funnel cake, 800 calories and 70 grams of fat. Candy bar on a stick, 800 calories and 40 grams of fat. Nachos with cheese, 900 calories and 35 grams of fat. And, lest anyone be so foolish as to think he could slide by with a turkey drumstick, oh no! That drumstick was reported to have an entire day’s worth of calories at 1,400, not to mention its 60 grams of fat.” Offenburger.com

1698 Columbus blogger calls for Harry Reid to resign

That would be me. The man is unbalanced. I'm demanding Harry Reid stop making the Democrats look silly, and that he step down. The American people---Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians---need someone else to watchdog the Congress.

"The leader of the Senate Democrats today called for White House chief political strategist Karl Rove to resign, saying it's time for President Bush to "come clean" with the American people about the administration's role in the disclosure of a CIA operative's name."

Reid and everyone else in DC knew who Valerie Plame was, so how do we know he didn't tell reporters? I want the investigation expanded to powerful Democrats. This pronouncement is a CYA move because of his war resolution in October 2002. Either that or Harry's memory is so short about how he believed the intelligence reports and supported the war, he might just need nursing care because here's what he signed:

""Whereas members of al Qaida, an organization bearing responsibility for attacks on the United States, its citizens and interests, including the attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, are known to be in Iraq:

"Whereas Iraq continues to aid and harbor other international terroist organizations, including organizations that threaten the lives and safety of United States citizens;

"Whereas the attacks on the United States of September 11, 2001, underscored the gravity of the threat posed by the acquisition of weapons of mass destruction by international terrorist organizations ..."

I'll bet Harry is very, very frightened that this power-house blog has seen through his little plan.

1697 Happy Halloween

For many years after he left home, our son would come back to pass out candy to the neighborhood kids. Where we live now, no one stops by, and there are no children living in our complex. It's a NORC for DINKS.

So in keeping with the season, here's a photo from about 25 years ago of our beautiful children. Would you look at that wallpaper--it was very healthy and educational--full of fruits and vegetables and words. That table is now in my son's house. From the skill and artisanship, I'm guessing their dad, not me, helped with these beauties.