How Hillary met Hillary

Was she named (with a double L) for Sir Edmund Hillary or not? Snopes reviews all the evidence. Sometimes the stories your parents tell you are just that. My mother told me my dad chose my name for a popular movie star of the 1930s, and No it wasn't Norma Jean, since she was just an unknown then. Norma Talmadge, of silent films, was already a star when my dad was born, so I suspect it must have been Norma Shearer, if you can believe the stories mothers tell little girls when they're passing the time doing the dishes. But if any film buffs have another suggestion, I'll take a look, because I don't remember.

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Eating Out, Cheap and Trim

In yesterday's WSJ Suzanne Barlyn rated five restaurants for their calorie and fat accuracy so you might have an idea how to reduce a 2,000-3,000 calorie meal in a restaurant to a more reasonable 600-700 calorie one. Here's the article on-line, but Barlyn has also written some excellent stuff about budgeting and eating healthy which you can find here.

We have had a "Friday night date" for about 40 years, and when our children were young we used to go out to eat with them about twice a month, usually for breakfast after church either at Paul's Pantry or Friendly's in Grandview, or a week-night at Tommy's Pizza on Lane Ave. (We'd call ahead even for table service because our little guy was pretty active). Social engagements or business appointments might send us to restaurants another 2-3 times a month. I think we're below the six times a week eating out that I heard on the radio the other day. One thing the women's movement of the 1970s did was create the modern family's dependency on the restaurant culture--and our growing obesity problem.

My suggestions, which were not included in Barlyn's article since she was evaluating specific menus at Applebee's and Friday's, are:

1) Choose friends or a group you enjoy so that the conversation and socializing are more important than the food.

2) Begin at noon/lunch. If you're going out for dinner, don't go out for lunch, but if you have to because of invitations or business, scale it way back.

3) Eat a small, crisp sliced apple or drink a glass of water before you leave the house, especially if you expect a wait.

4) Park further away from the restaurant than you need to--don't take the place right in front. The extra exercise will do you good, and someone else will love you for doing that.

5) Order your favorite--if you are dieting or even just maintaining/watching--don't use a restaurant menu to punish yourself. You'll soon fall off the wagon if you try to drastically change your diet.

6) Order a to-go or take-out box WHEN YOU ORDER your meal.

7) When the meal is served, put 1/2 or 1/3 in the box and set the box out of view. I've only seen one restaurant meal in my adult life that didn't include a full day's allowance for calories, fat and sodium, and that didn't include dessert or drinks.

8) If you've ordered a salad, always ask for dressing on the side, but DO NOT pour it on your salad.

9) Dip your fork in the dressing, then stab the lettuce. You'll never notice the difference, and you might just be pleased to taste the greens and veggies (at least if they aren't fresh you'll know it!).

10) Pass on the drinks if you're watching calories or pennies, whether a diet soda or wine. You'll not only cut the calories, but it will make a huge difference in the bill and tip. Diet soda, I'm convinced, has contributed to our obesity problem.

11) Slow down, think about what you're chewing and tasting. Pause to reflect, enjoy the company, your friends, spouse, etc. You can probably burn a few calories just by discussing the Buckeyes, or the election, or your latest surgery.

12) Skip the items labeled low-fat, or low-carb--especially cheese or ice cream. They often don't taste good and can just create a hunger for real sugar, or real fat. Eat less and enjoy real food. Want Death-by-Chocolate? Split the real thing with 2 other diners. The first ingredient in a low-fat dressing is water. If you can't resist gobs of dressing on your salad, order the real stuff and mix in some water.

13) I personally like the "senior" option (although my favorite restaurant doesn't have it). The portions are smaller, although I don't think it is as thrifty or as low-cal as halving the regular portion and your husband eating it for lunch the next day.

My all time favorite meal at a favorite restaurant, Schmidt's in German Village

Bahama Mama Sandwich $6.95
A grilled link of their original Bahama Mama (very hot sausage) on a toasted New England Split Top bun.

If you order with a side of chunky applesauce, you can justify not taking 1/2 of it home

Now if you have some suggestions, maybe we can bump this up to 20?

Pronounceable Acronyms

Acronyms have fascinated me since my early librarian days when we used primarily paper resources. I think Gale published a thick 3 volume set (also the reverse list) even back in the 80s. I'm always finding new ones that are completely understood in certain professions, but sound funny to outsiders.

TrOOP = true out-of-pocket, not to be confused with OOP, out-of-pocket: This is a government insurance acronym, and you can read a 30 page book on it here. While there, you'll notice all the unpronounceable ones like OIG, OAS, OEI, OI, OCIG, CoBC, PDE, MA-PD, MMA, ECRS, and CMS (whenever you see this last one it's a clue that it's about Medicare).

MOLDI = Mid-Ohio Library Digital Initiative. Wow. Leave it to librarians to find a pronouceable acronym that leaves a bad taste in your ears! Instead of reading a book, you can download it 24/7. Ever a baby step behind, it is not compatible with the Apple I-Pod right now.

DISCOVER = Disease Investigation Through Specialized Clinically-Oriented Ventures in Environmental Research. "The DISCOVER centers will help to define the role of environmental agents in the initiation and progression of human disease and develop new ways to both prevent and treat disease,"

Thursday Thirteen--13 Things to do when Microsoft updates in the middle of your blogging, and then reboots your extremely slow computer

1) Stare at the frozen screen in disbelief as your entry disappears.
2) Warm your coffee.
3) Unload the dishwasher.
4) Load the dishwasher.
5) Gather the magazines due at the public library for later.
6) Put away the remote and close the TV cabinet doors in the living room.
7) Write a card and address it for a friend who has been ill.
8) Find a stamp because there are none in your desk.
9) Check the laundry and dryer cycle.
10) Put away the straggler Christmas cards that arrived after you'd put everything away.
11) Throw out the trash that's been accumulating on your desk.
12) Use the restroom.
13) Brush teeth.

New Year's Resolutions

If I'd made a New Year's Resolution to update all eleven of my blogs, it would never have happened. But yesterday I noticed all but three had been updated in 2008, so I decided to go for it. I want you to know I'm doing my part to maintain the English language. A year ago, the Japanese language blogs slightly outnumbered the English language blogs. I'm not sure how social sites like MyFaceSpace are counted, but many young'ns like those self-absorbed thingies instead of blogs. Is it your patriotic duty to start another blog (regardless of your language or country)?

Hugging and Chalking--looked like a no brainer to me.

In the Beginning--usually I don't feature losers, but. . .

Coffee Spills--An embarrassing moment, now corrected

Church of the Acronym--Rahab's thread.

On my bookshelves--cross posted here with some revisions.

Memory Patterns--updated the statistics (final entry was over 2 years ago, but it keeps plugging along)

Growth Industry--5 tips for women

Class Reunion Blog--Lynne's letter to the Rockford paper

Exercising through the church year--group blog, but many have fallen away!

Illegals Today--new I-9 rules and new handbook

And my new computer still isn't unpacked! Do you think I'm avoiding something?

The Hillary Memories

Although I have a number of female friends who are Democrats, I don't know any who support Mrs. Clinton. I'm sure they'll be loyal Democrats and vote for her if she is the party's nominee, but there is zip, nada, zilch passion about her in the primaries. I think it's women's memories. They pre-date Hillary for a lot of us.

She reminds us of "the older woman" in the office or organization when we were 30-something--witchy, bitchy, menopausal, sneaky, know-it-all, humorless--you remember her don't you? Or if you're a lot younger than me, maybe you remember the boomer feminist who gave both of those terms a bad name. Always agitating, playing the victim. Or maybe your favorite was the gossip who stirred the pot every now and then.

Dear reader, I'm older than you, but my earliest memories of my three grandmothers begin when I was about four years old--they were 71, 68 and 49! And Hillary is 60. Now, we don't necessarily think "grandfather" when McCain or Kerry run, but as women, we just didn't hang out with a lot of adult men when we were growing up. Men were at work--doing big guy tough stuff. And the feminists made that even more lopsided by making sure women were put in positions of authority, so maybe you knew even fewer adult men than I did! Surely I'm not the only woman who sees this in Hillary. Now, all my grandmothers were terrific women--they ran their families just fine and they were powerful in their own right--but they just weren't presidential material.

Tomorrow we'll know after New Hampshire pulls the levers whether women have Hillary memories.

Jan. 9 update: So much for the accuracy of polls! "Obama Widens Lead Over Clinton in New Hampshire MANCHESTER, New Hampshire- Democrat Barack Obama expanded his lead over Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire to 13 points as voting began in the . . ." (Jan. 8 Zogby Poll)

I'd know those legs anywhere

When my husband was a teenager, he ran cross country and lettered (block T) at Arsenal Technical High School, a huge school in Indianapolis larger than the town where I grew up. Today we were looking for a classmate in the 1956 Cannon (no index) and I came across this photograph, with an incorrect caption. The book says it is the football eleven, but I noticed these guys weren't the football team and there sure were more than eleven. Then my eye fell on the guy in the foreground (#2), and I just knew it was my husband. You just never forget legs like that! Nowadays he's just a skinny guy who leads a bunch of ladies in an exercise class, but back then. . .

I can get a bit envious when I leaf through his yearbooks. I had fine teachers and a new high school building (the town no longer has a high school), but then I look at the opportunities Tech kids had (in addition to a wide range of sports): service clubs, Future Nurses Club, Chemistry Club, Music Club, Nature Study Club, Drama Club, Future Teachers of America Club, Radio Club, Square Dance Club, German Club, Art Club, Home Economics Club, XYZ Club (no idea what this was, but it was very large), ROTC, all sorts of musical groups which included a string quintet, concert band, dance band, brass ensemble, madrigal singers, boys octette, concert orchestra, woodwind ensemble and to top it all off, they even got to play Christmas music! Tech had 48 people on its cafeteria staff, a staffed bookstore, and 47 people on the custodial staff including 7 engineers! A display of "The American Way of Life" in October 1956 in one of Tech's main buildings drew 9,000 visitors. Would teenagers today even be allowed to host such a patriotic display? They had 140 different courses in Shop and a class in Stagecraft that built the downtown Christmas display on Monument Circle. Tech had classes in intelligent voting (although voting age then was 21), posture, recognizing marijuana and other drugs, and keeping their campus and property clean. I don't think I ever thought about that in high school.

One of my favorite things to read in my husband's yearbook is the full page note from his girlfriend. She too knew a good man, but she lost.

Keep a Quiet Heart by Elisabeth Elliot

Liberated from the freebie box at the church library, Keep a Quiet Heart by Elisabeth Elliot may be one of the best devotional titles I've ever read. I try to spend about 30 minutes in the morning reading either scripture, or a short meditative selection, or both. This title is a collection of her essays from her newsletter (The Elisabeth Elliot Newsletter, published 6 times a year, Ann Arbor, MI, 1982-2003). My paperback was published in 1995 by Vine Books, an imprint of Servant Publications. There are 104 selections, arranged by 5 topics, but including small excerpts from other authors (verses from poetry or hymns usually) there may be a total of 120-130.

The most amazing entry in my opinion is pp. 118-120, "Lost and found," which is about an answer to prayer. I've told this story to anyone who will listen, and photocopied it to give away. I love it. I've enjoyed this title so much, I'm rereading it. The newer editions of this book have a different cover.

Elizabeth Elliot, widowed twice, is 81 and has been married 30 years to Lars Gren. Her webpage is here. Lars and Elizabeth keep an update going called Ramblings from the Cove, and here's December 2007, quite lively and filled with humor. For those of you who fret over the health and risks of older relatives or friends, you'll enjoy:

There is no distinct age when operations—ailments—aches—replacements—3rd generation descendants creep into end of the year greetings but we may as well begin by saying that I did break a leg bone on my first day of trying down hill skiing—but I am fine since that occurred 60 plus years ago and nothing broken since.

Fashion models of distinguished merit

The things you learn by reading government gobble-de-gook for 2008.

"Established by the Immigration Act of 1990 (IMMACT 90), the H-1B nonimmigrant visa category allows U.S. employers to augment the existing labor force with highly skilled temporary workers. H-1B workers are admitted to the United States for an initial period of three years, which may be extended for an additional three years and, in some cases, beyond, if an a/s application is pending.

An H-1B nonimmigrant (with the exception of certain fashion models) must have a bachelor’s degree or higher (or equivalent) in the specific specialty. The H-1B visa program is used by some U.S. employers to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in a specialized field and a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent. Typical H-1B occupations include architects, engineers, computer programmers, accountants, doctors and college professors. The H-1B visa program also includes certain fashion models of distinguished merit and ability and up to 100 persons who will performing services of an exceptional nature in connection with Department of Defense (DOD) research and development projects or coproduction projects. The current annual cap on the H-1B category is 65,000. Not all H-1B nonimmigrants are subject to this annual cap."

Monday Memories

Did I ever tell you about my retirement party?Somewhere, I'm sure I did. I think I had five of them. Librarians love to party--it's a well-known secret. I found my thank you to the committee in the OSU Knowledge Bank here on p. 5. My thank you works itself around some photos of people I don't know who were at the party. Tom Heck, the music librarian, and I had a joint party, so the cake had animals (for veterinary medicine) and musical instruments on it. I received a beautiful glass vase as a gift, and still use it regularly. I think I had the best job in the world, and I haven't missed it a minute.

I wish I could explain Knowledge Bank to you--it's called a "digital repository." There is no explanation on the website, and the arrangement looks like the game of 52 pick-up, even though it is a cooperative effort between the Libraries and the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Just type something into the search window--you'll be surprised. You might get an undergraduate honors thesis in biology from the 1970s, or an entire book published by the OSU Press, or even a blank screen. Or my retirement party.

Balmy breezes

Much of the midwest has a respite from the cold for a few days while storms blow out west. It's 65 degrees in Columbus today, and I think Cincinnati was expecting 70. I've actually had two walks today, so my little pedometer is clicking right along. Yesterday, my first day of aiming for 6000 steps I came close--5600, and I'll go well over today.

The biggest hypocrite

It's a tough one--who's the bigger hypocrite, John Edwards who claims to be looking out for the little guy, or Hillary Clinton who thinks 30 years "behind the throne" supporting Bill and supporting highly suspect candidates when she was a youngster qualifies as "experience" because she's been thoroughly vetted by the press. But, I choose John.

John Edwards, Democratic candidate for President 2008, and Vice Presidential candidate in 2004, has assets of nearly $30 million. Normally, I don’t begrudge anyone his wealth--if he’s earned it honestly. Before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 1998, Edwards had a very successful career as a personal-injury lawyer in North Carolina. He ran for President in 2003 and was selected as Kerry's V.P. running mate, resigning from the Senate to do so. If you want to talk about experience, he probably falls behind Obama who at least was in the Illinois legislature. What I don’t like about him is his dishonesty. Readers in today’s WSJ (and I can’t find the article to which they are referring) suggest that the 25-33% contingency fee trial lawyers get in law suits is much more excessive than the greed of which he accuses corporations‘ officers. Since he wants to limit the income of CEOs (who actually are contributing something to the economy), a reader suggests that he help stop “legal abuse” and limit lawyers to $300/hour, with an income not to exceed $750,000 a year. This would help reduce the inequity he sees among the high income earners. Others suggest why stop at corporate CEOs? Why not limit entertainers, sports figures, writers, etc.? This, of course, is a straw man--people who suggest this don’t really believe in limiting anyone’s income, but they do it to point out his hypocrisy. But just tort reform would reduce our health care costs without jeopardizing our health (the way dumbing down with universal health care would). Step up to the plate, John Boy. Put on those blue jeans and come out for the little guy and the pensioner like me.

Irish immigration

When we were in Ireland in September we noticed 1) the booming economy, and 2) the booming immigration. We visited a Catholic church and the newsletter was in Polish and Portuguese. William over at Atlantic Blog is an American living in Ireland, and he comments that they are undercounted in the Census (although obviously, it's a lot harder to sneak into Ireland than Texas or Arizona).

The other night, my wife and I went out to dinner with another couple we know. Here is how the nationalities stacked up. We, an American born couple, got a French born babysitter for our Vietnamese born daughter to go out with a Polish born couple who left their two Polish born children with their Polish born au pair. We went to a Spanish restaurant, where the waitress was Polish and the only other group in the restaurant were English. We did not encounter one Irish born person that evening.

More anti-Evangelical than anti-Mormon votes in Iowa

Read what Michael Medved has to say about Huckabee and Romney in Iowahere.

Huckabee did very well among women, those under 30 and the poor. 75% of Iowa Republicans voted against Romney, not just Evangelicals.

"The preferences of Evangelicals mirrored those of Iowans in general. But the preferences of the "non Evangelical" group were distorted by their religious beliefs (or non-beliefs) and led them (as the same prejudices leads angry members of the conservative establishment) to blast, resent and dismiss the Huck."

Sort of "non-Christian identity politics."

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Quilt Show at Mill Run

Yesterday we hung a new quilt show at The Church at Mill Run (Upper Arlington Lutheran Church), which will run through Thursday, February 7 (comes down on Friday). These ladies work very hard and have great fellowship and workshops, too. The OSU Buckeyes play LSU this week, so here's to them:

Charisma

If there's a buzz word going around these days (since Iowa), it is charisma. I've been told I'm smart, tenacious, dogged, resilient, funny, flirtatious, critical, boring, opinionated, analytic, practical and prophetic, but not charismatic. It's one of those qualities which you know when you see or hear it--you can't learn it, buy it, or bottle it. These folks walk in a room and it just lights up. You either have it or you don't. You have charismatic people in your organization or work place, don't you? They are quite visible--sometimes because they have been promoted beyond their ability level. They pep-talk the people around them do the work, which they willingly do. Hey! Even the entry level is often beyond their ability level, but they've just got that something special that attracts people.

So last night I was watching some talking heads--think it was Fox. They were all just gushing about Obama and his charisma. One fellow compared his to the appeal of Bill Clinton. Then he observed that when Bill was on stage with Hillary, while he was talking the room was just charged. And then she took over, and the room went flat. He said you could feel it. I believe.

Cool clips

Being a print person myself, I claim no fascination with podcasts of important events. Even less for unimportant. The NARA Presidential Libraries archivists are providing an opportunity for you to listen to "cool clips"-- podcasts of events, trivial and policy, in our Presidents' lives. Here's the description as it appeared in the Society of American Archivists October newsletter:

"Presidential Libraries Launch Podcast
Using technology to bring its unique holdings to the public, the Presidential Libraries of the National Archives and Records Administration announced August 2 its podcast series, “Presidential Archives Uncovered.” It features audio clips from the libraries' collection, ranging from serious policy discussions between the President and his advisors to conversations among Presidential family members. In one of the audio clips President and Mrs. Nixon discuss the pandas' arrival at the National Zoo in 1972, following the President's historic trip to the People's Republic of China earlier that year. A new clip will be added each month. Audio is free and available on the Presidential Libraries' podcast website and at iTunes: Presidential Library Podcasts."

I'm not sure why we need the panda discussion or the one where Lady Bird calls Lyndon on August 4, 1964 (Gulf of Tonkin crisis and discovery of the bodies of civil rights workers). And I could do without little synthesizer ta-da at the beginning. Also, voice overs by women need to be selected more carefully for tone, volume and diction. I had to increase the sound for her introduction, then set it back for the content. I didn't expect a Barbara Jordon (who spoke with the voice of God), but . . . she sounds as timid and tentative as the gal who let Sandy Berger steal documents from the NARA. New information on the Berger thefts here.

A few steps shy

Yesterday was the final day for my 5,000 steps a day on my pedometer. This would be duck soup for my friend Lynne, who is already up to 2 miles a day, outside in the snow, just 6 weeks after major abdominal surgery. She's amazing; I'm a wimp. Anyway, it's not really that tough, and with only an additional 1,000 steps a day, I would have made it to 150,000 (fell short by 32,807). The pedometer fell off so many times I finally started clipping it to my bra. That seems to work better.




So now I'm going to set it for 6,000 steps a day or 180,000 by Feb. 5.

Do you have clutter?

I was going to download this scale of clutter, but when I saw that it was 9 pages long and included newspapers stored in the oven, rodent dirt, snakes in the house, and rotting food, I decided it might be intended for someone with more than the usual daily build up of library books and print-offs from the internet. But interesting. I got to it from Tara Parker Pope's article in the NYT.

Too what?

Sister Told Jah always has an interesting take. Here she is on Obama's Iowa victory. Don't necessarily agree, but conservatives can disagree and stay friends.

As with everything else related to liberalism, it’s more about looking and feeling good about something or someone, rather than digging deeper to examine that person or issue’s complexities - or lack thereof. Obama’s lack of experience and possession of a solidly liberal record is going to get heavily scrutinized in the days, weeks, and months to come, especially if he makes it beyond the primaries. I think Rudy or Fred would be a good general election opponent against Obama because, considering how the media will/would be falling all over Obama like a lovesick puppy, a “new and improved” McCain or Romney would be too busy trying to paint himself as the Republican version of Obama rather than trying to distinguish themselves and emphasize their differences with Obama, tout their accomplishments, and discuss their ideas. I think Fred and Rudy, on the other hand, have shown, that they have no problems differentiating themselves from the pack.

Last night I had to explain to a young'n who was worried that she might have to choose between a Muslim and a Mormon, that Barack Obama is not a Muslim. He's a member of a UCC congregation in Chicago, the same branch of Christianity which baptized her. I met his pastor this summer at Lakeside--fine young man with just enough call and response and politicizing to keep things lively. There are lots of reasons not to vote for him--but being a Muslim isn't one of them. And as for Romney being a Mormon? You couldn't get a piece of dental floss between the theological beliefs of Bill Clinton and George Bush, but you can drive a truck between the borders of their ethics and values. I will see them both in heaven. Go with the politician who lines up with what you believe is best for the country--that may not be a Baptist or Methodist or UCCist.