2566 The kitchen massacre

Last night I was "inventing" a new dish for supper. It had half a pound of ground sausage, a partial envelope of dry onion soup, some rice, and I was preparing to add a small can of tomato sauce. When I clipped the can opener into the side of the can, the tomato sauce squirted in the air, across the room to the other counter, to the floor and all over the pale cabinetry. I had to get down on my knees so the sunlight could reflect on the marble which is very dark, mottled brown. I got all traces of red mopped up, finished mixing the casserole and then looked at the doorway. Across the room, about 10 ft. was tomato sauce all up and down the louvered doors. I don't know how chain saw murderers ever get the place cleaned up.

Monday Memories

Have I ever told you about the summer we bought our little Lakeside cottage?

The summer of 1988 was ghastly hot--and a drought in Ohio. We'd rented a small cottage north of Fifth Street in Lakeside for our summer vacation. We thought it a blessing that it had recently been renovated and had ceiling fans. Even a walk along the lakefront brought no relief; a night cruise on Lake Erie felt like a door slammed in your face when the boat stopped moving. One day we were walking the perimeter of the town, whether for exercise or from an attempt to get away from the oppressive heat, I don't remember. And there it was. A little cottage with a "for sale" sign that we'd never seen. I climbed up the broken concrete steps to the back door--"Oh my goodness," I shouted, "it has a real kitchen, and a basement!" We walked around to the front and tried the porch door--it was open. We peeked into the living room. "It has a fireplace," I gasped. "This is a house, not a cottage."

Being the practical sort, I figured if you had to pay a mortgage 12 months of the year it would be nice to be able to use it 12 months. So we contacted the realtor, but also looked at two other cottages, one a large "4 square" from the early 20th century and one a small red 19th century farm house style. Both looked very nice on the outside, but were very cottagey on the inside, with either board thin walls or cut up tiny rooms. When we finally got into the "Thompson place" (cottages are always known by the long time owner's name), we were smitten. The widow who had started to renovate after her husband died had been diagnosed with cancer and moved to Florida. But she had already installed a.c., storm windows, new bathroom fixtures, and additional kitchen cabinets, so we knew that as long distance owners, we wouldn't have that worry.

Our mortgage on our home in Columbus had recently been paid off, so we weren't too alarmed by taking on a new one, except that in 1988 mortgages were 10.5%. I had taken a tenure track position in 1986, so we had that cushion. Still, I had a month or two of sleepless nights worry about debt, but it gave me something to think about other than my kids who had recently left home. We love living there in the summer, which we are now able to do, and have always enjoyed the cultural events (Chautauqua circuit) which include a month of symphony, summer theater, opera, ballet, pop music, lectures, Bible studies, vespers and art classes.

A summer home is rarely a good investment when you figure you only use it a few months of the year, but in the early years of owning it, we did go up more frequently off season than we do now. It's paid for now and has appreciated considerably (5 or 6 times more than the purchase price)--in fact, we couldn't afford this house if we were looking today. However, we've replaced the roof, added a deck, replaced the HVAC, landscaped and completely redecorated inside and out.

The one thing we were going to replace the first season, is still there, and that's the funny little porch that doesn't fit the 1940s design of the cottage. You just have to have a porch at Lakeside, and although this one is ugly, it is tight, easy to heat or cool, acts as passive solar in the winter, and protects the main house in the summer. We sure haven't forgotten that first hot summer of 1988, even though it's never been that bad again--and today we wouldn't be able to get a variance to replace it.

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1. Ocean Lady 2. Libragirl, 3. Yellow Rose 4. Mysterious Lady, (bring along a hankie) 5. The Shrone, 6. Carol, 7. Lazy Daisy 8. Melli, 9. Flip Flop Floozie 10. Ma

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Lakeside, Ohio

I remember when

librarians used to do this.

2563 Sticks and stones

will sell more books. David Carr of NYT writes (seen at Editor and Publisher):

"Without the total package, Ms. Coulter would be just one more nut living in Mom's basement. You can accuse her of cynicism all you want, but the fact that she is one of the leading political writers of our age says something about the rest of us."

So referring to someone from your opponent's side as a "nut living in Mom's basement" and a person of "pirate sensibilities" with a "mouth uninterrupted by conscience, rectitude or logic" is OK, but calling someone else a "Harpie" from your team (who said NY's mayor hadn't suffered any loss) is cynical? You gotta love the liberals--they are certainly consistently speaking out of both sides of their collective mouth.

2562 Job Evaluation Comments

Mr. T, who doesn't seem to remember how to post at his own blog, sent me these and I had a good chuckle. He writes:

These are actual quotes taken from Federal Government employee performance evaluations:

1. "Since my last report, this employee has reached rock-bottom and has started to dig."

2. "I would not allow this employee to breed."

3. "This employee is really not so much of a has-been, but more of a definite won't be."

4. "Works well when under constant supervision and cornered like a rat no a trap."

5. "When she opens her mouth, it seems that it is only to change feet."

6. "This young lady has delusions of adequacy."

7. "He sets low personal standards and then consistently fails to achieve them."

8. "This employee is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot."

9. "This employee should go far, and the sooner he starts the better."

10. "Got a full 6-pack, but lacks the plastic thingy to hold it all together."

11. "A gross ignoramus - 144 times worse than an ordinary ignoramus."

12. "He doesn't have ulcers, but he's a carrier."

13. "He's been working with glue too much."

14. "He would argue with a signpost."

15. "He brings a lot of joy whenever he leaves the room."

16. "When his IQ reaches 50, he should sell."

17. "If you see two people talking and one looks bored, he's the other one."

18. "A photographic memory but with the lens cover glued on."

19. "A prime candidate for natural de-selection."

20. "Donated his brain to science before he was done using it."

21. "Gates are down, the lights are flashing, but the train isn't coming."

22. "He's got two brains cells, one is lost and the other is out looking for it."

23. "If he were any more stupid, he'd have to be watered twice a week."

24. "If you give him a penny for his thoughts, you'd get change."

25. "If you stand close enough to him, you can hear the ocean."

26. "It's hard to believe he beat out 1,000,in other sperm."

27. "One neuron short of a synapse."

28. "Some drink from the fountain of knowledge; he only gargled."

29. "Takes him 2 hours to watch '60-minutes'."

30. "The wheel is turning, but the hamster is dead"

2561 Ann Coulter is harsh

But she's not a former President criticizing a sitting President during wartime. She's not a former Vice President shaking a fist and snarling at political realities. She's not a presidential rainbow coalition wannabee flitting off to other countries to act as a foreign minister ad-hoc of the moment. She's not a child of a corrupt Massachusetts political family trying to destroy the reputation of Ohio's gubernatorial candidate. She's not even a Country and Western singer appearing on national TV as a martyr. Nope. She criticized four women promoting the Democratic agenda on the graves of their husbands. Perhaps she's brought a little balance to the table and the Democrats can't take it? She's called their bluff.

Time e-mail interview with Coulter at Sweetness and Light.

"Name calling? The use of language is "name calling." Harpies and witches is what I think they are, which is why I used those words. And I must say, I certainly have spotlighted the issue with my alleged "name-calling." The entire country is now riveted on the left’s device of using victims to advance their half-baked, unsaleable ideas. From now on, every time the left showcases another sobbing, hysterical woman as their spokesperson, people will say — "gosh she looks like she’s having a good time." So I’d say my "name calling" has been a smashing success. And by the way, I’ve got a few more names in my bag." Ann Coulter in Time interview

Comment from AmericanIPA: "Coulter is tough with her language at times, but grow up lefties. Some of the people she mows down have been long getting a free ride from the press, these widows included. They and anyone else who lost someone on 9/11 have the right to know why their loved ones were killed. And here it is, whether they want to hear it or not: Militant islamists hate America, you included, and want you and your way of life wiped from the face of the earth. They don’t just hate George Bush (they burned Clinton in effigy ad nauseum). They don’t just hate FOX News or National Review like you spoiled, dreamworld, greenpeace libs. They hate western culture as a whole and any religion other than their own. They want the Jersey Girls, Michael Moore, and Al Franken dead just as bad as they do George Bush."



Ann Coulter

2560 Zarqawi

He was a human being, created in the image of God. He was evil and not a child of God, but there were moments in his life of joy, love, kindness, beauty and laughter. God could have created a world in which he had no choices between good and evil--but He didn't.

God doesn't grade on a curve--life is pass/fail, and eternal life depends on our position in Christ, not our personal laundry list of good qualities or deeds. And it's a good thing too, because dancing in the streets or on the internet when someone dies in a bombing raid would not put us on the right side of the ledger, would it? It would wipe out all those pro-life marches, all those animal rescues, cleaning up the environment, visits to the nursing home and the making of AIDS quilts if we were judged on our own merits.

Zarqawi

2559 A Prairie Home Companion, the movie

We did it--we paid full price to see a movie, the fictionalized account of the closing down of a 30 year old radio show on WLT (with lettuce and tomato). A few minutes into the show and something started to sound familiar (other than the radio show which we'd listened to years ago). "I think these people were at Lakeside," I whispered to my husband when Robin and Linda Williams were performing. I just had some vague recollection that someone who performed last summer had mentioned they were making a movie with Garrison Keillor. So when I got home I checked my blog, and there they were. I knew this thing would come in handy some day. Never mind that I'd totally forgotten their performance until I saw them in the movie and had forgotten there was going to be a movie until I read the review in a local paper. Their web page with a synopsis of the movie.

My husband thought it was funnier than I did. It takes the usual pot-shots at Christians, but what else is new? I would have felt much better if it were at the dollar theater where we usually go (on the rare event we see a movie), but you never know if a film will turn up there. I just find it hard to believe people will pay $8.50 for a first run movie.

The woman sitting next to my husband was rather large--tall and plump--and brought in a huge bag of food, so she was rattling snack packages, and munching and shaking the whole row when she moved. The adverts are way too loud and ridiculous. It's a lot of money to pay to watch 15 minutes of commercials. Even at the one dollar theaters.

2558 What Gen-Y wants

"For young people, a good job means doing something you love... For youth seeking work, the most important factor, by far, is finding a job they enjoy (60 percent). Others say the most important factors are making a good amount of money (17 percent) and having an opportunity to advance (11 percent). Despite a national discussion on health care and Social Security, youth do not worry about good health benefits (3 percent) or retirement benefits (1 percent) when looking for a job. For youth, a job they enjoy does not include traveling; in fact, a majority calls travel one of the least important factors in a good job (55 percent). This generation, at least for now, seems fairly well sheltered from the economic downturn of the past several years," Read the rest at Greenberg Quinlan Rosner report on MySpace Generation. (four parts so far)

Not to worry. Once they start applying for mortgages, having a family, experiencing a major illness or sensing some emptiness in that "job to love," their priorities will change. They might learn that the only way to move ahead in the "job they love" is to move into management, and telling other people what to do wasn't on their "to do list." Life happens.

2557 Agnes Sanford belongs in a public library

but not in a church library. I was browsing our Mill Run campus library today (I volunteer at and use the church library at our Lytham Road location) and saw her autobiography on the shelf. I don't know why Christians think Sanford is a Christian, but they do (God has the final say, but I don't think she recanted her writings). Even pastors who don't appear to make serious errors about other teachings see no harm. Sure, she was a sweet, dear lady (died in 1982) who said and wrote "spiritual" things, but if you get a paperback of one of her titles and underline the nonbiblical drivel in red, and the Gospel based material in green, you'll see my point. About 25 years ago I actually did that, and hid her books in my laundry room packed inside an old briefcase. And although I don't believe her nonsense about vibrations, and auras and spirits, I could swear I felt a heaviness unrelated to the ironing basket when I entered that room. So I threw them out. Better she should give off her vibes at the dump rather than inside my house or the church building--if you believe that sort of stuff, and she does. What makes her so harmful is that she has so many spiritual descendants who are still speaking and writing on the inner healing circuit. It's snake oil folks. Don't be taken in.

You get the same reaction from church librarians, pastors and staff that you do from public librarians and library boards if you suggest they've made an egregious error in the collection. The Book of Concord, however, was recently withdrawn from our church library (I've given it a home). Perhaps a new edition is available, or people will just check it on-line. "Just as the church has the promise that it will always have the Holy Spirit, so it also has the warning that there will be ungodly teachers and wolves." [Book of Concord]

Agnes Sanford
inner healing
church libraries

2556 This should alarm librarians

Although public library staff consider blocking or filtering certain sites to protect children to be against their ethics, their budget and their technological know-how (see comments at #2542), I'd read in Wired that Gina Trapani had created a simple little hack for her own computer to block MySpace so she wouldn't waste time at work. So while browsing that site, I came across the story taken from New Scientist, that the data on MySpace and other social networking sites might be used for data mining. Government snoops really get librarians' shorts all twisted. So that, and not protecting children, could raise an eyebrow about these sites. Heaven forbid the NSA be lead back to a library computer.

"Pentagon's National Security Agency, which specialises in eavesdropping and code-breaking, is funding research into the mass harvesting of the information that people post about themselves on social networks. And it could harness advances in internet technology - specifically the forthcoming "semantic web" championed by the web standards organisation W3C - to combine data from social networking websites with details such as banking, retail and property records, allowing the NSA to build extensive, all-embracing personal profiles of individuals."

I don't bank or buy on-line, but I think there are way too many public records online--like photos and floor plans of our homes with neighborhood maps at the state auditor's site. How handy is that for burglars? And Ohio State University hasn't been able to figure out how to stop using my social security number for ordinary transactions like checking out a book.

data mining

2555 Will Haditha story go the route of Dan Rather and Mary Mapes?

So it wasn't a "respected" anti-American international human rights group (Time magazine has corrected its error) and there was no photograph by a marine (Time regrets the error) and it wasn't a journalism student who videotaped the incident, but a 43 year old who had created the 2 person "human rights" agency that sprung the story. Hmmmm. Interesting. Story here at Sweetness and Light. And the Time reporter who broke the story has some unusual, anti-American motives, and lobbied for use of the word massacre? More details here.

All we know is that the Haditha problem is being investigated by the appropriate authorities, and that our honorable media have rushed in to assume guilt, destroy reputations and put the lives of all our military in danger. Business as usual.

2554 Territorial rights

My cat as gradually been spending more time in my office today. Now that I have on my black skirt (going out for dinner tonight), she's decided on my lap. The problem was, well, puppy pee. Yes, little Abby had a few bladder issues yesterday. I mean that is a very big incision, and she was unhappy at being left in a strange place (although she knows me, it has been a traumatic week for her). I'm strongly hoping my cat doesn't decide to reclaim her territory by marking it.

Over at Librarian's Guide to Etiquette, there is a suggestion for librarians who have this problem. I think it might have merit.

2553 Watch out for religion

Unfiltered computers at the public library and religion at the movies. Is no child safe to be left behind? I saw this at Considerettes who notes it is from WorldNetDaily.

"A new family film featuring miracles and a pro-God theme has earned a rating of "PG" from the Motion Picture Association of America due to fears it might offend people who have no faith or a different faith.

The decision surprises many who believed the "parental guidance" warning was reserved for the likes of violence, foul language and nudity.

"Facing the Giants," the story of a Christian high-school football coach who uses his undying faith to battle the giants of fear and failure, was given the rating by the Motion Picture Association of America, the group which brands films according to their content." Apparently, they pray in this movie, and you know how dangerous that is.

2552 Ethics and human cloning

Sounds like an oxymoron to me. Harvard announced this week that they are beginning to clone human embryos for making stem cells. I saw the item in the WSJ, but it appeared in many newspapers. WaPo weighed in with the typical left slant using phrases like "culture wars," "vocal conservative movement," and "ethical wrangling."

"The work, aspects of which have already begun, involves creating embryos not by the usual fusing of sperm and egg but by fusing a patient's body cell -- such as a skin cell -- with a human egg whose DNA has been removed. The resulting embryo would be genetically identical to the patient who donated the skin cell, so stem cells derived from it and transplanted into the patient would probably not be rejected by the immune system."

As near as I could tell from reading the article, the "ethics" decisions involved how to pay the women for their eggs, how to advertise for eggs, and how to get left over eggs from failed fertility efforts. Didn't see much about the destroying of human life aspect of it. I'm sure the Nazi doctors of Germany must have debated certain aspects of experimenting with Jews, who were also not considered human.

Friday Family Photos

Today I picked up my husband's paintings at the Upper Arlington Art League Spring Show at the Church at Mill Run. This is the show that got "all" the publicity from the Columbus Dispatch. Which ignored us for years. I forgot to take my camera, so then I tried to get some photos at home. The reflections and the lighting didn't work at all. But this is a painting of our niece Heather in the hayloft of my mother's barn. I think she was about 12 years old.


exterior of the barn, ca. mid 1970s

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen things on my to-do list for Thursday night dinner.
1. First, take care of the hostess, because as the saying goes, "if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy."

2. So, have everything ready by Wednesday evening, and most of the food by Wednesday noon.

3. Plan the menu--keep it simple with limited number of dishes, easy shortcuts.

4. Buy the food on Tuesday and remember to thaw the meat.

5. Boneless pork roast with orange/cranberry sauce (keeps it very moist), potato salad (I buy a tub at Meijer's deli and add more potatoes, eggs and olives), sugar free orange jello with shredded carrots and crushed pineapple with cream topping (instant vanilla pudding mixed with milk, orange juice and sour cream, stuffing (box mix) with corn, onions and celery added. This gives the guests a mix of hot and cold, vegetable and fruit. Dessert at this writing is a bit up in the air. None of us in this group needs Chocolate peanut butter pie, but that might be it--with an alternative of mixed fresh fruit.

6. Assign the "pot luck" portion. This dinner is for our church's visual arts group--total of 6 family units, some couples, some singles total of 10 people.

7. Three get to bring wine, 2 red and 1 white, one a tray of snack crackers with cheese, and one a specialty bread from Great Harvest or Panera's. This will keep everyone out of my small kitchen and is no work for me.

8. Clean up as I go. On Thursday afternoon, everything will disappear from counter tops so I will look like Mrs. Clean (even though I'm not). For some reason, people like to hang out in kitchens, but I'll be on the deck with the snacks.

9. Vacuum and dust, clean bathrooms and mirrors.

10. Check paper goods, serving dishes and utensils.

11. Set the tables--while praying it doesn't rain because 4 people will need to sit on the deck (right next to the dining room window which will be open). Plan B will be to bring in a small table for the living room. Put the roast in.

12. About 6 p.m. Thursday, warm up the stuffing, take out the meat to let it "rest" before slicing. Put out the cold items.

13. 6:30, lock up the cat, open the door, welcome the guests and enjoy their good company.

1. Benjamin Solah 2. pupski 3. Lazy Daisy 4. Friday's Child 5. reverberate58 6. Aileen 7. carmen 8. trish 9. Mary 10. Uisce 11. EmilyRoseJewel 12. Diane 13. Christine 14. Jane 15. heather 16. Jenny 17. Scone 18. laura 19. angie 20. Tey 21. Kendra 22. Empress Juju 23. Susan 24. Pink Chihuahua Princess 25. anneberit 26. Froggie 27. Titanium 28. Lesly 29. ivan girl



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2549 Puppy sitting a Chihuahua

I have no grandchildren, but my daughter has a puppy who has just had surgery. So in addition to getting ready for a dinner party tonight (actually everything's ready), I'm puppy sitting. She dropped off a cage, a gate, a carrier, two kinds of special food, food and water dishes, a place mat for the dishes, a special blanket, puppy pads, plastic bag and papers to put under the pad, a carpet steamer in case the pup has an accident, toys, and two raw green beans, which is apparently a special treat.
Many, many staples in her tiny tummy
She has her own OSU blanket

I got a long list of instructions, and what to expect. She practiced on the puppy pad. She shows no signs of napping, which I was told she would do, but after hearing on the radio that the President of OSU has resigned (or will), she did poop on her OSU blanket. My daughter didn't tell me she knows English.

Chihuahuas
Karen Holbrook

2548 Our Summer Frank Lloyd Wright Tour

We'll be doing another Frank Lloyd Wright tour this summer--this time in Ohio and Indiana. Ohio has some really interesting restorations. This three-day tour includes FLW’s Burton J. Westcott House in Springfield, OH which we've already seen, but is worth going to again. He brought the Westcott Motor Car Company to Springfield (founded by his father in Richmond, IN). The house was completed in 1908 and is in a neighborhood of large Queen Anne, Victorian and Romanesque Revival houses. I'll bet the neighbors weren't thrilled.

We'll also visit the Meyers Medical Center in Dayton, which is now called the Plastic Surgery Pavilion (1956). In Cincinnati we'll see the Cedric G. Boulter house near the Gaslight District, the Gerald B. Tonkens home dating to 1955 in Amberley Village (Usonian) and the William Boswell residence (from 1957, completed in 1961) in Indian Hill, recently renovated. We'll also visit Louis Sullivan’s People’s Federal Savings and Loan Association in Sidney.

Overnight accommodations in Columbus, Indiana, will be at The Columbus Inn, listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and formerly Columbus City Hall. I don't know if you've ever been to Columbus, IN, but it is a small city with amazing architecture. We were last there in 1968. The second night will be spent in Historic Madison, Indiana, at the Hillside Inn, nestled in the rolling hills of Southern Indiana and overlooking the majestic Ohio River.

There will also be architectural/historical walking tours in Springfield and Columbus, Indiana, a trolley tour of historic downtown Madison, Indiana, and a tour of the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati.

2547 Children of Hoarders

There's help for you on the Internet here. Their stories will amaze you, but not if you are the Child of a Hoarder--the photos will look like your home. Children who grow up with hoarders feel that "things" and "stuff" matter more than they do. As adults they live in fear that something terrible will happen to their parent because of the trash.

Excerpts from 5 different stories:

"We've dug her out so many times, but it never made any difference. The last time I dug her out we filled 200 lawn size trash bags. It didn't make any difference."

"I think it is amazing how every hoarders house looks the SAME!!!!!"

"I remember my sister and I confronting her with the parish priest when we were teenagers she sat with a stone turtle in her hands petting it. ALL WE ASKED IS THAT SHE TRY TO HELP US CLEAN UP. The priest suggested making a pile of things to sell or donate. She pet the stone turtle and said "but these are my things, they are important to me, I can't give up my THINGS" Yet she was quite ready to loose my
sister and I. JUST DON"T TAKE MY THINGS."

"[for] Dad it was junk, so-called antiques, motorcycles in the living room (we used to put Xmas lights on them) broken power tools, bottles the list goes on & on & onnnnn. Mom's favorite was clothing. I’m talking mounds and mounds mixed with all that important paper work."

"What scares me more than the past is seeing some of my siblings becoming the same way. I see the stuff creeping into their lives and their inability to part with it. I don't want to nag them, but I do mention our parents... They don't see any resemblance (because the stuff is theirs) I am in the middle. I regularly purge
my home when I see myself getting too much. I guess I have Knee jerk reactions. I have 1 sister that lives like a monk-SPARSELY out of fear ending up like we grew up. It is sad that we have to insulate ourselves."

2546 Wanted: a sense of humor

Do you suppose if the writer of the want ad specifically mentions candidates who are cooperative, warm and have a sense of humor, she's possibly saying something about the person who vacated the position? Hmmm. Or maybe the last director was such a stitch, they want to continue that trend at staff meetings?

I've met many librarians who have a wonderful sense of humor, some of them like Tunia and Annoyed also write blogs, but I'm not sure but what a lot of what we find amusing would be a bit under the radar for the rest of you.

Read the ad for the Director of the Kennebunk Free Library.

2545 More on media mush brains

So, the Globe and Mail got it [see previous entry] but. . .here's a humorous piece by blogger Greg Strange on how this was written up by another Canadian paper.

"As reported in the Toronto Star, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were certainly puzzled. About the terror suspects, it said this: "They represent the broad strata of our community. Some are students, some are employed, some are unemployed." And, said the Star article, "Aside from the fact that virtually all are young men, it's hard to find a common denominator."

Yep, this is a real puzzler alright, but let me see if I can make some kind of breakthrough here. Hmm . . . Now let me think for just a moment . . . Okay, I'm going to look at the suspects' names first and see if I can detect any sort of pattern. I'm seeing names like Mohamed, and Ahmad, and, let's see now-- Oh, there's another Mohammed (with a slightly different spelling), and Abdul, and, well, what a coincidence, another Ahmad.

Okay, I think I'm zeroing in on a clue here. Wait a minute . . .

Okay, I've got it. They're all Muslim! That's the common denominator! Somebody alert the Canadian authorities because this could be really significant!"

2544 The difference between the 2nd paragraph

and the 32nd is the Canadian border. I was listening to Glenn Beck rail against the NYT coverage of the Canadian bomb plot by Islamic terrorists. He couldn't find a word about Islamic anything until the reporter quoted a Canadian Muslim source who said he was relieved they'd been caught. I think it was around paragraph 32--or maybe 28, but it was way down. And then it was a quote. Then a caller to the show from Canada reported that in the Globe and Mail, hardly a conservative paper, it was actually mentioned in the second paragraph. So I looked and here's what I found--although it may not be the same article.

"The ammonium nitrate was delivered. The targets were set. After two years of a stealthily assembled counterterrorism web of surveillance, wiretaps and informants, police were ready to swoop down.

The operation was so complex and tightly shrouded that everyone involved — including all the roughly 400 police officers who scooped up the 17 suspected Islamic extremists Friday and Saturday — had to sign the Official Secrets Act, pledging total discretion."

I guess it all depends on whether Toronto or New York is being bombed. Did NYT get 9/11 and Islamic terrorists in the same story back in 2001?

2542 Will librarians ever think "children first?"

This is so tiresome, it makes me glad my children are 37 and 38, but I sometimes wonder if we're graduating LIS students who are 12.

"There have been multiple stories in the news in the last few months about schools, libraries, and colleges banning MySpace for reasons of bandwidth-hoggery (which in a select few cases could be well-argued) or what's being sold as "safety concerns," "behavior issues," or "user protection." That last one makes me sick when I hear library staff touting it. Physically sick. Why? Because it's censorship. Plain and simple." Librarian in Black

Because it is censorship. You betcha. Bad for bandwidth and she can support that, but not the protection of children. Someone doing cancer research won't get to look up body parts, maybe. No library is required by its mission statement to distribute entertainment free circ newspapers (like my P.L. which has made this a censorship issue) or to promote chat rooms or even e-mail. It defeats their information mission in many cases, if the CRTs near me are any example. Librarians will eventually kill the public library system, I predict, with their leftist gibberish. Not a peep when a librarian is sued for suggesting a conservative book, however.

Have these librarians never strolled through a room full of geezers and geeky kids side by side at computers? Parental control? Who are they kidding? They don't notice the parents who use the library as a free latch key program? Do they go online and check the addresses of the sex offenders? In MySpace they might as well reside IN the library. Do they have such great eyesight they can spot an 11 year old in MySpace pretending to be 20? Or that sweet 75 year old rubbing his privates while pretending to be a teen?

Really. My profession is such an embarrassment.

Monday Memories

Have I ever told you about Aunt Dorothy's Taco Salad?

We're heading into summer so this is a good time to tell you about "Aunt Dorothy's Taco Salad." As a new bride, Aunt Dorothy moved to California near the end of WWII, and never returned to Illinois except for visits. One of my earliest memories is her wedding which was held in our home, and I was allowed to attend. I was probably about 4 years old and was just stunned with the excitement and thrill--I thought she looked like a movie star with red lipstick and nails (although I'd never seen a movie, we had movie star paper dolls.) Later that month my Dad, left for the Marines and our quiet life changed overnight because we soon left for California too, leaving behind our house, friends, relatives, neighbors and pets--my whole universe. She and Uncle Charlie made a home in Long Beach and raised their two boys there. But I saw her from time to time over the years, most recently in 2003, and always enjoyed her lovely personality and cheerful Christian spirit.

High School graduationShe sent me this recipe in 1993 for a family reunion cook-book which I compiled. Of course, I had to try most of them (I didn't do the complicated ones like yeast rolls for Christmas morning) and added my own personal touch for our use. This is her version. I double this for company--doesn't seem to matter much what the proportions are how how many other ingredients you use.

1 lb. hamburger
1 medium head lettuce, shredded (chopped)
1 large tomato chopped
1/4 cup minced onion
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup KRAFT Catalina dressing (this makes it!)
1 1/2 cup mashed taco flavored taco chips
Kidney or garbanzo beans may be added

Saute hamburger as you would for tacos. Drain, set in refrigerator to cool. Mix together shredded lettuce, onions, tomatoes, cooled meat and dressing and mashed chips. Add chips just before serving.

I don't follow these instructions. I arrange all the ingredients in serving bowls and let the guests create their own salad. I don't like the taco flavored chips, so I use the regular yellow or white corn chips, and let the diner decide what to do with them--either put them on the bottom or the top or use as a scoop. I serve the meat hot cooked with the dressing and I use heated Brooks Hot Chili Beans. I put out a cup of sour cream to spred over the top. Shredded cheddar also comes with a taco flavoring. In fact, I've made so many changes, at our house, it is Dorothy and Norma's Taco Salad.

My husband liked this salad so much he used it for some of his week-ends at the Lake with his friends--making about 3 or 4 times the basic recipe. The guys would eat this the entire week-end. That may be why we haven't used it for several years.

Because we hadn't had it for awhile, I made it for our Memorial Day week-end at the Lake with Bill and Joyce two weeks ago. It was good, but not fabulous. Oh well, I thought, I'm probably just disremembering how good it was in the 90s. The following Monday on the drive home, I remembered that I'd left the lunch meat and cheese in the refrigerator at the lakehouse. And then it came to me. I also had neglected to put out the shredded cheese for the taco salad. No wonder it didn't taste, feel or look right.

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1. Wandi has no MM, but good stuff, 2. Ma Tutu Bent 3. Uisce 4. Lazy Daisy, 5. Mysterious Lady, 6. Shrone, 7. If Life were perfect, 8. Yellow Roses Garden, 9. Lifecruiser, 10. Chi, has no MM, but a cute quiz, 11. Purple Kangaroo, 12. Chelle, 13.

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taco salad

2541 The Twenty Fifth Anniversary

Intolerance and social stigma, privacy and discrimination, poverty and access to health care. That's what it's all about if you all you read or hear about the 25th anniversary of AIDS is the American primary media. Not much about how a very powerful lobby in the 1980s of special interest groups who advocated for voluntary testing and patient privacy rather than protecting the general public through the usual epidemiological procedures we've used to conquer other diseases. To read the USAToday story, you’d think it was all about poverty, being a neglected minority, and homophobia.

There's been a lot of craziness in this 25 years. Like doctors and dentists getting sued for refusing to treat AIDS patients and doctors and dentists who have AIDS suing to be able to continue in their practice of medicine. And AIDS patients claiming protection under the ADA which was never the intention of that legislation. And all the while, the men having sex with men play the victim while drumming up activism, advocacy and research grants with fund raisers by movie stars and the arts community so they can continue life as usual. Other non-life style diseases limp along with inadequate funding because there's only so much money to go around.

This disease isn't about poverty and homophobia. It started as wealth and self-loathing. It's about a group that loves to live in danger and on the edge. We have this disease in developed countries because an extremely small number of highly promiscuous men, many well-to-do with good educations, had sex with men in exotic locations. Then many of them passed it along to unsuspecting faithful male and female partners, who then passed it on to the children. Yes, eventually there were dirty needles. Yes, there are some prostitutes. Yes, there is homophobia--but mostly that state of mind is among the men having sex with men who refuse to acknowledge what they are (and they call US homophobic?) and spread the disease to their wives and lovers. Like Governor McGreevey who recently wrote a really disgusting book about all his one night stands and affairs with men which he kept from his wife so he could keep his political career. "I knew I would have to lie for the rest of my life - and I knew I was capable of it. The knowledge gave me a feeling of terrible power," he writes. I lead a pretty quiet life, but even I personally know at least five women who found out after years of marriage that their husbands were unfaithful with men--during the heighth of the epidemic in the 80s. And it is rampant in third world countries where women are sexually mutilated in adolescence by cultural custom compromising their health and their husbands are so homophobic, that they pretend they don’t have sex with men.

Here's some cites that you probably won't find in the NYT or WaPo, unless they are buried in the 25th paragraph.

"To avoid social isolation, discrimination, or verbal or physical abuse, many men who have sex with men (MSM), especially young and minority MSM, do not disclose their sexual orientation." JAMA. 2003;289:975-977. MMWR. 2003;52:81-86

"Twenty years after the first report on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in the United States, studies of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and sexual behaviors suggest a resurgent HIV epidemic among men who have sex with men (MSM)." JAMA. 2001;286:297-299. MMWR. 2001;50:440-444

"After declining steadily for 10 years, the number of reported cases of primary and secondary (P&S) syphilis more than doubled in New York City (NYC) from 117 in 2000 to 282 in 2001.1 The increases have occurred primarily among men who have sex with men (MSM)." JAMA. 2002;288:1840-1842, MMWR. 2002;51:853-856

"Of newly diagnosed HIV infections in the United States during 2003, CDC estimated that approximately 63% were among men who were infected through sexual contact with other men, 50% were among blacks, 32% were among whites, and 16% were among Hispanics." JAMA. 2005;294:674-676. MMWR. 2005;54:597-601

"Of an estimated 1,000 MSM in Chicago who stated that they had engaged in oral sex during the preceding 60 days, more than 75% never used condoms for either oral insertive or oral receptive sex (CDPH, unpublished data, 2003). Oral syphilitic lesions disrupt the protective epithelial barrier and recruit HIV target cells, increasing the risk for HIV transmission. Although oral sex might carry a lower risk for transmitting HIV than other forms of sex, repeated unprotected exposures, especially in the presence of syphilitic lesions, represent a substantial risk for HIV transmission. Syphilis might also increase progression of HIV disease." JAMA. 2004;292:2459-2461. MMWR. 2004;53:966-968

“Recent estimates of HIV diagnoses suggested a leveling of the downward trend in HIV infections nationally and increases in HIV infections among certain populations.2 Reports of syphilis outbreaks and increased unprotected sex raised concerns regarding increases in HIV transmission among men who have sex with men (MSM).” JAMA. 2004;291:417-419. MMWR. 2003;52:1145-1148

"Evidence suggests that since highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) became available, the prevalence of unprotected sex and the incidence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have increased." JAMA. 2004;292:224-236.

Safe sex won't save us; compassion and fund raisers won't either. But sensible epidemiology and public health measures might have.

HIV/AIDS
Men who have sex with men

2540 I know nothing about Haditha

But I know a lynch mob when I hear, read, and see one. I've started changing the channels because each report is based on the same no-information. You've heard one, you've heard it expanded.

"Who. What. When. Where. Why. These are the fundamental questions of good reporting. Apply them to what is being presented by the major media about Haditha, and see how very thin factually is the reporting. Speculation, instead, leads, with comments by those with no special information, surrounding small snippets of leaks from those on the periphery of actual involvement or investigation, any cautions quickly passed over or relegated to the end of the “story.”

Regardless of where the truth ultimately is, at this point the major media’s treatment of Haditha is little more than a literate lynch mob in a rush to judgment."

Continued at Democracy Project here and here.

2539 The CBS Sunday Morning Show

I had intended to give my readers a head's up about the CBS segment this morning, because Marilyn, one of the shopkeepers at Lakeside, stopped by our table Friday evening and told us there would be a rerun (it ran on July 3, 2005). I just check my stats, and I had at least 10 hits in about 2 hours searching the topics Lakeside, or honor system or some combination. Since I'd also written about the yard sales last week-end some of which used the honor system, those also got some hits as well as the item in the July archives. When it first ran last summer, the director got phone calls from all over the nation from people who remembered vacationing there as children and wanting to reconnect.

I didn't see it this morning--the choir sang at 3 services, but it's a neat segment.

Check here for information on Lakeside.

2538 New Wal-Mart Super Store

The Lakeside Coffee 'n Cream wasn't open this week-end (season hasn't started yet), so this morning I drove out to Bassett's for my morning coffee (it's a lovely store with a great coffee shop). As I was parking, I glanced over at the Wal-Mart because I had planned to stop there later. It was gone! Not the building, but the store. I don't know why I didn't notice it last week. So I asked the coffee shop clerk, and she said there was a new Super Store a mile down the road. So I visited there after I made a few purchases.

I walked up and down the aisles finding things I didn't know I needed. Then I saw something in ladies' lingerie that just amazed me, but did answer a few things I'd been wondering about. Low-riding, hip-hugger knee-length girdles. Think about that. If a woman needs a girdle to squeeze into her low slung slacks or hip hugger jeans, and the shirt short, that girdle is going to push her belly up and over, isn't it? I'm just saying, where's a gut going to go? I thought they just had a rollover when I saw that, but now I know they had help.

2537 The Bravest President

Tonight I listened to Richard Land on radio compare George W. Bush and Harry S. Truman. But first he quoted from this article by Michael Novak who said "after Washington and Lincoln, Bush is the bravest of our presidents." Now, he doesn't say greatest, wisest, smartest, or most fluent, but bravest.

"On the number-one issue facing the nation—the war declared upon us by fascists who pretend to be religious—he has not wavered, he has not bent, he has stayed on course and true.

In Iraq, civil society, nearly comatose under Saddam Hussein, is today alive and full of vitality. Newspapers and television and magazines are full of diversity and energy, political parties multiply, private associations are functioning by the thousands, most of the country is more secure than some American cities. Iraqi exiles from around the world, far from fleeing, are coming back in droves."

He will be vilified even more this week for his support of the marriage amendment.

Land say Harry Truman put into place the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, NATO--the machinery needed to fight international Communism. He made the tough, unpopular decisions--like getting us into the Korean War. His approval rating was 26% when he left office in 1953. Fifty years later he is considered one of the greatest Presidents of our country, and Land thinks he is the third most consequential after FDR and Reagan. But when he left office he was vilified. Land thinks Bush was the first to see that we will be in a very long battle with Islamofacism, and in 50 years people will look back and marvel at his foresight. Bush isn't concerned by the polls or popularity, says Land, and neither was Truman.

Land's web page.

2536 What starts with C?

I saw this over at Send Chocolate--write about 10 things that start with the letter C. She didn't tag me, but I'm ready for a nap, so here goes.

C is such an excellent letter and has to work very hard with several different sounds, such as K and S and CH. Imagine a concrete cellar chute. I couldn't decide if I wanted adjectives or nouns, so I used a little of both.

1. Christian faith. And I'll toss in here church family, church attendance, church service--because it's a package deal. I blog about this at Church of the Acronym.
2. Cherished family and friends. Husband, kids, siblings, their families, new friends, old friends.
3. Collection of books. A house full. And libraries too, of course.
4. Condo community. We love our "new" place--moved here 4 years ago, and still seems new.
5. Choices and challenges. Retirement has been much more fun than I thought. I haven't missed working at all, even though I loved my job.
6. Choir practice and concerts. This is totally new for me--we made a CD this week.
7. Church volunteer opportunities. Gets me out and about--keeps me from becoming too self centered.
8. Cat on my lap. She's a sweety. Nothing is more relaxing than watching a cat take a nap.
9. Computer creativity. Love to read and explore. Have 8 blogs.
10. Creek in the back yard that attracts ducks, birds and deer. What a lovely view.
11. Contentment with my life.
12. Constitution of the United States. It's just awesome. Amazing that they could have created something so sound, yet flexible.
13. Comfortable lifestyle.
14. Couch potato. Yes, I do a bit of that. Like to nap with the TV on. With the cat.
15. Convictions. You betcha. They're all here for you to read.
16. Chronicles. I print out my blogs. Don't trust pixels.
17. Capitalism. It has its flaws, but provides the best for the most.
18. Chautauqua. We have a summer home Lakeside, OH, a chautauqua community.
19. Chocolate peanut butter ice cream for dessert tonight on the deck while the
20. Cottonwood trees are blowing their seeds all over our ice cream.

If you want to play, I think the instructions were for 10--I got carried away. Consider yourself tagged.

Friday Family Photos

My parents' wedding day, 1934

Their 65th anniversary celebration, 1999
The oldest of God's institutions (Gen. 1,2) is marriage, and its choicest blessing is children, described in the Bible as God's gift. Children exist not only for their parents; but parents also for them--for physical support and, above all, for careful nurturing for moral, mental, and spiritual imprint. Baker's Dictionary of Christian Ethics.

Now here's a no brainer

"Female genital mutilation, which is practiced in several countries and estimated to affect more than 100 million women worldwide, adversely affects obstetrical outcomes, according to a report in the June 3rd issue of The Lancet." Reported at Medscape.com

2533 Sometimes it's better not to post

your firing on the internet. Could come back to bite you. E-mail announcement here.

2532 The Muirfield Memorial Tournament

is all the talk around here this week. My husband and son were supposed to go today, but something got messed up with the tickets. In honor of all the slicing, hooking, topping, shanking and chunking golf crazed addicts who read this blog, I submit this book that I found for 50 cents this week at the library book sale. . . apparently donated by someone who fell off the wagon golf cart


It is written in the 12-step style--you know the drill, admit you are powerless, believe a power greater than yourself can restore your sanity, (I hope I'm not offending anyone who has to attend a meeting tonight), made a decision to turn your will and your life over to the pursuit of something other than golf. . .

"No one can spam God with pleadings to be granted the gift of length, accuracy, and touch, and expect to wake up one Sunday morning, skip church, and go out and set the course record. Tour professionals can play the game because they are freaks of nature, and they pray every day for God to keep them in this mutated state." p. 191

2531 Yes, your dog will bite

All dogs will bite if they sense a threat or if provoked. Your problem as a pet owner is you aren't a dog and don't see or smell or sense what they do. You do not perceive a small child's behavior and movement the way a dog does--as prey. Most dog bite situations have several things in common: 1) owner is likely to be a male adult or teen, 2) who owns a young, intact, male dog, 3) who bites a young male child, and the dog is most likely a member or a mix of one of these breeds, pit bull, Akita, Rottweiler, Doberman, Chow, German Shepherd, Huskie/Malamute type and Doberman.
Dog bite, eye

Dog bite, lip

Today's WSJ has an article about pet owners putting up a fight about breed specific insurance restrictions and local codes. This isn't new. I remember many articles in the breed magazines (veterinary library) even 15 years ago about this. What is new, I think, is that more people believe pets are "part of the family" with the same rights to freedom and choice that people have. Their dogs are definitely of greater value than your child. Restricting any behavior--even pooping in the neighbor's yard--is now considered "discrimination" by many self-centered, obnoxious, dangerous dog owners. What? Read a book or take a class in dog control and behavior modification? You've got to be kidding--I've got my rights, yadda, yadda.

Love your dog; but give it dog love, and save the people love for people. Keep a leash in your house and when visitors come and the dog goes insane with barking (realizes a stranger is in his territory and a threat to the peace), leash the dog out of sight in another room. Neither your guests nor your pet should be subjected to such upset. And you won't look stupid shouting NO NO BAD DOG at an animal who obviously doesn't understand English.

I've talked about this before.

Thursday Thirteen about cars

Kiplinger's Personal Finance (May 2006) says the average American household will buy a total of 13 vehicles. Seven are purchased after the head of the household turns 50. So that put me to counting. We've had more than 13, but here are what I'll call family cars--and that works out to 13:

1. We started married life in 1960 with a 1951 Oldsmobile 88. This car used to stall at intersections in Indianapolis and I'd get out and open the hood and jiggle something to get it going, occasionally with a push from the next guy in line. Just Married 1960, 1951 Oldsmobile
2. Dad said the tires were worth more than the car, so when the steering went bad we gave it to him (he'd bought the tires) and I think we just had a bicycle for awhile. Then we got a cute little used black Renault. I found a restored 98 Olds on the Internet for $75,000.

3. After the Renault we bought my mother's 1961 or 1962 blue Comet, which up to that time had been a perfect car, but then turned into a lemon. Don't buy automobiles from relatives.

4. Our first new car was a deep blue 1964 Volkswagen. It was on a cool fall morning the first week we owned it we discovered in Wisconsin that the heater wouldn't turn off--and the day became very warm as we returned to Illinois. I was pregnant--not a happy camper.

5. I promised I'd get a license if we got an automatic (hadn't driven since the Renault), so we bought a light blue Plymouth sedan that was about as plain and basic as a car could be. After we moved to Ohio, my brother came from Illinois and drove it back, and eventually it became my aunt and uncle's car for many years.
1965 Plymouth sedan, visiting in Indianapolis
6. It was replaced by our first (and only) luxury car, a 1969 4 dr. Oldsmobile (used) very dark green, almost black, purchased from my husband's employer--it had all the bells and whistles--even an 8 track tape deck, and we put two baby car seats comfortably in the back. The only photo I could find was lifting the Christmas tree out of the trunk.

7. Our little brown 1974 Ford Pinto was our first "second" car--lots of fun to drive.

8. A beige 1977 4 dr. Buick sedan replaced the Olds. When we were shopping, my husband wanted a sportier 2-door. I looked at our little guy and said, "The kids are going to be big some day, I think we should get a 4-door, because it will be hard to stuff them in the back seat." And I was right, because he was over 6' and our daughter was 5'8" by the time we traded it. This is the car in which our kids learned to drive and get into trouble even though it was a really boring sedan. "Our life is so beige," my daughter complained. (Also had a cream colored house and company car.)
Our 1977 Buick after a snow storm
9. In 1986 I replaced the 9 year old Buick with a 1983 (or maybe 1981) maroon Buick 4 dr. Skylark which had all the luxury options, plush unholstery, sound system, etc. Possibly the most comfortable sedan we ever had, but being a used car it had some mechanical problems.

10. Which gave me an excuse to buy my dream car--a 1987 red Mustang, which I had wanted lusted after since my brother bought one in 19631964 1/2. I had a tenure track job at the university and was wallowing in empty-nest grief--so I deserved some happiness, right? However, the night I drove it off the lot it rained buckets, and I discovered that the Mustang model had no gutter around the door frame so if you opened the door after a rain (and it rains a lot in Ohio), you got soaked as the water sheeted off the roof. I hated my dream car, and because it was low to the ground, it also just killed my back. Couldn't wait to unload it.
1987 Mustang in same location as the 1951 Olds photo. See how much the trees grew in 28 years

11. I fell in love with my Plymouth mini-van, white, used 1989, and never looked back. The seats are exactly right for me, and I've tried other vans and SUVs. I sold the Mustang to a lady in Worthington looking for something cute for her teen-agers to drive to school. I think a week or two later they wrecked it.

12. Traded the white van in 1994 for a 1995 green Dodge mini-van, which I drove until the air-conditioning died in the very hot summer of 2002 and we were expecting company. Its age and mileage didn't warrant the repair costs.

13. Traded the green van for my 2002 silver Dodge mini-van, which I still love.

We had several company-owned cars which we drove as a second car--a brown Audi, a cream color Ford Fiesta, a beige Nissan Sentra. A car for personal use is absolutely the best perk you can have because all we did was pay for the gas (tax laws may have changed, but you didn't report it as income). The Fiesta and the Sentra we eventually owned. Then when my husband started his own business in 1994, he leased 2 different Ford Contours (both a shade of beige), then bought a 2000 Ford Explorer which he still has.

During all these years, with the cars we owned, or drove as a company car, or leased, we've had only one accident. My husband rear ended someone in one of the Contours in the mid-90s--minor damage, but the high pitched squeal from the alarm damaged his hearing because he couldn't get out of the car and the air bag smacked him around a little. Still, not a bad record for two boring, beige people.

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

1. Nancy Dowd 2. Don Snodgrass 3. Jerry 4. Lifecruiser 5. Janet 6. mama kelly 7. Titanium 8. Lyndsay 9. EmilyRoseJewel 10. Libragirl 11. catherine 12. PixiePincessMom 13. Friday's Child 14. Tracey 15. Tess 16. Tanya 17. Tanya 18. reverberate58 19. Tricia 20. Chaotic Mom 21. Mandy 22. Andrew 23. Carol 24. Trinity13 25. Melli 26. Cin 27. Sonya 28. Moogie 29. Aileen 30. Great Day 31. Mom Nancy 32. astrocoz 33. Jen 34. LadyBug Crossing 35. Trina 36. Christine 37. nat 38. Dariana 39. colleen 40. anneberit 41. chosha 42. Richard 43. Mustang Mama

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vintage automobiles

2529 Dan Brown's Truthiness

Rodney Clapp in the May 16 Christian Century writes about the errors in Da Code. It's not a journal I regularly read (too liberal most of the time), but I thought he had some good points. Be careful--this may hurt some conservatives' feelings.

1. The book is written like a movie script.
2. The characters have no inner dimension.
3. It's designed for tourists.
4. It is the striptease of truthiness--the seductive solving of obscure and opaque puzzles.
5. Resembles the "Left Behind" series which decodes the Bible through dispensational theology.
6. Plays to a culture that stays close to the surface--a sand castle on the beach that will erode and melt from view.
7. People most drawn to Da Code tend to be ex-Catholics.
8. The anxiety and urgency of the post 9/11 world made it easier to tap into fears of dungeons and theocracy.
9. As a novel, it is a cop out--the hero never locates proof.
10. Brown's claim to doing research--39 books--is nothing in the academic world. [I used that many for just a journal article in library science.]

DaVinci Code
Dan Brown

2528 Let's have pizza tonight!

At the library today I was reading a history of the pizza industry/craze in the United States, so I think we'll have take out tonight. No other foreign food has ever immigrated so successfully. It first really took off about 60 years ago in the midwest--and I was there, reluctantly. The first time I ate pizza was in 1955 or 1956 on a date with a tall, dark and handsome Italian-American whom I met because we both played trombone. I think he wanted to really impress me so we went to an Italian restaurant in Rockford (40 miles from my home, so counting the distance from Oregon to Mt. Morris, then Rockford then back, then to Oregon, he must have driven close to 100 miles round trip for that pizza). I was aware of two condiments--salt and sugar. I'd never tasted oregano, or garlic, and probably had never had any cheese other than Velveeta. I didn't even know how to eat it and asked for a fork--embarrassing him I'm sure. Leonard, where ever you are, forgive me. I love pizza now. I'm sorry I didn't believe you.

The second time I had pizza I was a freshman in college at Manchester in Indiana in 1957, and a carload of us went to a restaurant in the next town (getting out of North Manchester was excitement in those days), and they all ordered pizza. Being weak willed, I went along. It didn't seem to taste too bad that time. And it wasn't the beer--I still have never tasted beer because it smells like rotten grain.

By the time I had my first big date with my husband in 1959 at the University of Illinois, he took me to a restaurant in Urbana after a dance. I thought pizza tasted pretty darn good that night (maybe it was love?). However, in the intervening 4 years, I think the fat calories had increased considerably because I could see my happy reflection in the grease puddles on the pepperoni slices. And I was hooked.



Before (L) and after (R) pizza

2527 Saying good-bye

Today I said good-bye to my medical student. I'm a volunteer, a "senior partner" for a medical student. Because I'm pretty healthy, he didn't have much to do, but I've enjoyed learning about his studies and activities. He's from Cleveland, is bright, personable and capable, the kind of guy any of us would love to have as a son or a doctor. He says he'll see me again even though my part of the program is over, but hey--I'm not so old that I don't remember that great line of handsome young men.

Another good-bye really is permanent. A friend who'd been in a church study group with us about 10 years ago died suddenly on Saturday. She and her family had just arrived at a restaurant and she went in the rest room, apparently not feeling well, and collapsed and died. When we walked into the funeral home this evening we saw a teen in a dark suit who looked so much like his grandfather it almost took my breath away--and it was confirmed by the old black and white photos posted of her and her sweetheart in his navy uniform. They were married 52 years had 5 children and 12 grandchildren. They will miss her laughter, love and wisdom. But as our pastor has often said, although it was a shock for us, God was not surprised.

2526 The U.S. isn't falling behind in stem cell research

as reported in the latest Wired (14:06, June 2006). "Ever since President Bush hobbled domestic stem cell research nearly five years ago, US scientists have been left with just 22 viable embryonic cell lines to use for federally funded projects." says Greta Lorge in "Where the cells are."

However, in the April 2006 issue of Nature Biotechnology there was a review of all scientific publications involving the use or derivation of human embryonic stem cells, starting with the very first paper in 1998 and ending just over a year ago. Librarians love review articles. The authors' intention was to blame Bush for the U.S. falling behind, but instead says The New Atlantis (Number 12, Spring 2006, pp. 112-115) . . .

"The study itself, however, tells a very different story. Owen-Smith and McCormick reviewed the 132 human embryonic stem cell articles published in 55 scientific journals since 1998. Far from showing the United States lagging behind in the field, they found that American scientists had by far the most publications—46 percent of the total, while the other 54 percent were divided among scientists from 17 other countries. They also found that the number of papers in the field published by Americans has increased each year, with a particularly notable growth spurt beginning in 2002. . . 85 percent of all the published embryonic stem cell research in the world has used the lines approved for funding under the Bush policy"

President Bush said, "We should not use public money to support the further destruction of human life," and I agree, but as it turns out both morality and scientific research can go hand in hand.

Thank you, Mr. President. At a time when a lot of us are scratching our heads over some of your other decisions, it is nice to be reminded how standing firm in the face of media criticism and poll numbers pays off.

stem cell research
Wired magazine

2525 Tom Tancredo condemns the Senate bill

The House Immigration Reform Caucus Chair, Tom Tancredo (R-Colorado) said this about last Thursday's fiasco in the Senate:

"The battle is joined," said Tancredo. "Today, the U.S. Senate passed the largest illegal alien amnesty in American history. It is bad for our national security, it is bad for American workers, and it sends a very bad message to those waiting legally for their chance at the American dream. The only good news is that Congressmen are going home next week where they are guaranteed to get hell from their constituents for this amnesty."

"A majority of House Republicans are holding firm as the last line of defense against the Senate’s amnesty plan," continued Tancredo. "The President is well known for arm-twisting, but immigration is in the front of Americans' minds, and I doubt Members will easily flip on this issue. Speaker Hastert has reaffirmed his 'majority of the majority' rule, which makes sure that my party’s leadership doesn’t collude with the Democrats to pass an amnesty bill." Key features from his press release.

Senators DeWine and Voinovich of Ohio, both Republicans, definitely sided with businesses interests rather than the people they represent. If it looks like Republicans are in disarray, indistinguishable from their Democratic colleagues, who are beholden to unions which take illegals into membership, seeing is believing in this case. Follow the money.

In my opinion, to attempt any sort of "comprehensive" bill before securing the border will endanger the lives of millions of Mexican illegals and decimate their villages as they rush north to take advantage of amnesty and all the social benefits their relatives will receive. Amnesty did not stop illegal immigration in 1986 with IRCA, in fact, it increased because our borders are porous. All the same points were made in the 1970s during the Carter years, the 80s during the Reagan years, and the 90s during the Clinton years. Remember? They thought NAFTA would keep more Mexicans working at home.

We didn't secure the borders in Iraq, so we'd better do it at home.

2524 Blogger burping

Blogger seems to be rebelling about uploading my photos for my Thursday Thirteen (in draft). I'm guessing bunches of you are posting your holiday picnic and memorial observance photos. My TT this week will be on automobiles, so I really had to do a hunt through the photo albums. But my, what fun. Hope I can get the photos to work--it will be much more interesting. It also occurred to me that I almost never took photos of cars, and if I did, they didn't get into the family albums.

As I was explaining to my husband what I was doing he began to tell me about our Packard. We never had one. However, my sister Carol and I shared a Packard (about 1950 model I think) for driving back and forth to college--she was at Goshen and I was at Manchester (both in Indiana about 50 miles apart). Talk about a tank! It was even the color of one. We could get 4 other co-eds in it with all their luggage. The trip was 250 miles on 2-lane roads, and I think Dad figured it was cheaper to buy us a car to drive back and forth than to take time off work to drive us to college.

2523 The trophy wife

At dinner last night I was browsing through the latest GSLIS Annual Report (University of Illinois Graduate School of Library and Information Science)--the campus wide bioinformatics master's program, the certificate of advanced study in language and speech processing, advanced study certificate in digital libraries, and its LEEP (online education) program. I said to my husband, "If I were 20 years younger, I might just try one of these." Without missing a beat he said, "If you were 20 years younger, I'd have a trophy wife."

Monday Memories Honoring our Veterans

For all who have served, thank you for our freedoms. May we honor you by not abandoning them.
Dad and his brother in 1944

"From the Halls of Montezuma
To the shores of Tripoli
We fight our country's battles
In the air on land and sea.
First to fight for right and freedom
And to keep our honor clean;
We are proud to bear the title
Of United States Marines."
The Marine Hymn

"After the Marines participated in the capture and occupation of Mexico City and the Castle of Chapultepec, otherwise known as the "Halls of Montezuma," the words on the Colors were changed to read: "From the Shores of Tripoli to the Halls of Montezuma." Following the close of the Mexican War came the first verse of the Marines' Hymn, written, according to tradition, by a Marine on duty in Mexico. For the sake of euphony, the unknown author transposed the phrases in the motto on the Colors so that the first two lines of the Hymn would read: "From the Halls of Montezuma, to the Shores of Tripoli." "

Victory in Tripoli, our first war with Islamic terrorists in the 18th century.

Who would have thought when Dad and Uncle Russell had this candid shot fighting in the Pacific, that members of our Senate 62 years later would be trying to gut our history, honor and country?

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Memorial Day
Marines
Marine Hymn

2521 The ultimatum

After seeing this fashion trend several times this week at Lakeside, I told my husband that if he starts wearing suspenders with plaid shirts, I'm outta here.

men's fashions

2520 Charlie Gibson's Amazing Escape

Can you imagine how happy Charlie must be to escape all those ladies on Good Morning America? I'm a woman and I'm often embarrassed by the chatter and talking over each other they do on that show attempting to be bright and cheerful. It seemed to me they often passed to him some stories that were definitely less than a guy-thing.

I don't know when he starts his evening duties anchoring the news, but I just watched for what seems the umpteenth time an overview--just in time for Memorial Day--of the latest Iraq scandal. If ever the mainstream media deserved the moniker "lamestream," it has been this story. Our troops perform with honor and courage 99.99% of the time, and this is what gets airplay on one of our most solemn holidays to honor our war dead. It is being investigated, as it should be--our system works. I hope it will turn out to be as phony as the Jesse MacBeth story.

Charlie, I'm going to give you a break here and assume someone else wrote the words and you were told to read them. Good luck in the new assignment.

Charles Gibson
ABC News

2519 Is the Kerry story going to be flipped again?

Let it go. Viet Nam would never have been an issue in the last presidential campaign if Kerry hadn't trotted out his make-over. (His behavior after his service, yes--that would have been an issue.) Now Captain reports that Kerry might be trying to bring the Swift Boat Vets up again. Story here. Captain says he hasn't posted on this topic in 18 months, but has a list of unanswered questions ready.

John Kerry, who by the way, served in Viet Nam.

2518 Who would lie about Spudnuts

My entries on how to fix a broken zipper (can't be done) and memories of Spudnuts in Urbana, IL (University of Illinois) in the 1950s and 60s get a lot of hits. This week I heard from Mark, who left this comment:

"My grandfather, Herman Trapp and my dad, Fred Steffens; owned and ran the Spudnut stores in Urbana, IL until my grandfather’s stroke in the middle ‘60s. I love spudnuts and Krispy Kremes don’t come close. I remember as a kid, crawling on bags of potato flour and helping Grandpa stock the stores on the weekends. Glad to see you have fond memories of the Spudnut and the Spudnut coffee house.

Mark Steffens
CPS - Sales and Technical Service"

Now, I haven't checked out the veracity of this memory, but I want to believe it, so I asked for his permission to post it. Roadfood.com has a forum about Spudnuts, the various shops, and people like me still yearning for them.

Here's a recipe for spudnuts, using mashed potatoes, not potato flour, but this lady says they taste really good.

Spudnuts
potato flour

2517 Saling at the Lake

Yard Saling, that is.

The right image is important--I wore two shades of denim and sensible librarian shoes

Lots of variety in this one--chairs, toys, mattresses, floral wreaths, picture frames, pots and pans

Lakesiders use the honor system--just drop the money in the jar and make your own change. This jar was full and I didn't see anyone around to take it in the house.

Every house on this corner had a sale. I think some people are just trading.

Yard sales
Lakeside, Ohio

2516 Bloggers, too

Columnist Kathleen Parker wrote "People such as [Howard] Stern and [George] Carlin have built careers out of making obscenity funny, that is, if you're emotionally trapped in a 7-year-old boy's psyche." . . .[who] find great hilarity in body functions and are prone to uncontrollable giggles upon hearing vocabulary that refers to human anatomy."

I've noticed that about female bloggers--only they seem to be trapped in a tipsy ditsy babe-at-the-bar persona. Twice this month on Thursday Thirteen I've come across women who tried to use the F-word the maximum number of times in 13 sentences. If there is anything uglier in our language than the Stern and Carlin dog and pony excrement show, it's ladies' night out at the potty mouth party. It's their blog and they can write what they want, but they shouldn't get indignant and hostile when I comment on their juvenile behavior. If they aren't craving attention, turn off the comment feature.

Thursday Thirteen