Calvin blew it!

He knew and had ridden both horses. Only one had the chance at the triple crown--Mine that Bird, the 50-1 winner of the Derby. The little gelding that sold for $9,000. Now, he and Rachel Alexandra did win the Preakness, and Mine that Bird came from last to place second. With Calvin Borel, who is fearless and can find those holes where none exist, I think he would have been first by a number of lengths. But that's just me. A sucker for a good horse story.

Obama at Notre Dame

Actually, if I were a student or faculty member there, I just wouldn't attend. Marching around seems a bit disrespectful to the Office of the President. And that would be last time they'd see a dollar from me during the annual alumni funds drive. Each time the U. of I. hits me up for money, I write a note on the card, "Not until you get rid of terrorist Bill Ayres," and mail it back in the envelope.

Support an honorary degree? For what? After all, he believes it is OK to stab an unborn baby in the skull and suck out her brain so that she can be technically born dead before the rest of the body emerges. No other President that I know of has ever held such a radical, inhumane view, and very, very few American law makers are feministas to that extreme. Notre Dame is a Roman Catholic institution, a church that has always protected the unborn, the sick and diseased, the aging, the mentally challenged and ill. They've lost their marbles or dropped their rosary on this one.

However, when liberals, Democrats, progressives and anarchists demonstrate on campuses, traditionally nothing happens to them. Instead, the speaker usually goes home, or is shouted down or is removed for his own safety. Perhaps I just haven't found the right source but I'm trying to find links to the pre-emptive arrests for the various Bush protests. Was it Cindy when she was camping out on his private property? Or maybe the Code Pink Chorus line dancing outside the hospital when he was visiting wounded war veterans? There are records of people getting arrested at the actual event because I'm sure that's a real crowd control and safety problem. But the people at Notre Dame are getting arrested and harassed two weeks in advance when the President wasn't even there.

"Former Illinois U.S. Senate candidate Alan Keyes and 21 other protesters were arrested this morning [May 8] when they refused to leave the Notre Dame campus during a protest of President Obama's upcoming commencement address there, authorities said.

"Former Republican presidential candidate Alan Keyes and 17 others have been arrested [May 14] after marching on to the University of Notre Dame campus to protest President Obama's commencement speech Sunday."

“On May 1, anti-abortion activist Randall Terry and another man were arrested on campus while pushing strollers containing dolls covered in fake blood.

On May 8, Keyes and 21 others, many of them pushing strollers containing dolls covered in fake blood, were arrested.”

“[On May 15] About 35 people, many of them carrying anti-abortion signs, were standing on the four corners outside the school's front gate shortly before noon when a group of about 40 people led by Keyes and Terry marched up. . . After speaking, Keyes then led a smaller group onto campus. They made it about 100 yards on campus before they were stopped by campus security. Keyes was taken into custody immediately, and the others were told to leave or they would be arrested.”

Librarians, who are very brave, bold, and politically left, protested Laura Bush, a former librarian, who gave a speech at the American Library Association. I don't remember if anyone called in the cops on them. Laura and George Bush are class acts. So different from that noisy, hyper-belligerent gang of thugs in charge of the country now.

Al Gore, “I waited 2 years.”

That’s rich. He, Carter and Clinton should have kept their mouths shut. We were in a War. It was not in the presidential tradition to try to drive from the back seat (or the trunk). So do the rule breakers now get to set the rules for speaking out for the next time, when Obama didn’t wait 2 days before he started slamming the Bush administration? Get a life, Al. Go back to watching polar bears swim.

Belly fat, shin splints and bumble bees

The clouds in the west are very dark this morning. I know Illinois* had some tough weather, and it is probably our turn. So I changed into my newish athletic shoes and walked briskly for a mile. Boy! I just hate to sweat, and I'm not athletic, but I read that it's easier to get rid of belly fat through brisk walking even if the same amount of calories are burned with a stroll. Belly fat was not in my range of vision until about 7 or 8 years ago, and then suddenly it appeared. If your bottom rib doesn't reside on your pelvis, you have a huge advantage, but when you get broad band and write 11 blogs, that advantage leaves you. (That's my excuse, not aging.) Yesterday our exercise class couldn't get in the room to get out the weights, so we all took a walk (started briskly, slowed to a crawl) over to Thompson Park, then to Rita's house for a bathroom break, then back to UALC Lytham.

But when I walk, I get shin splints, so I stop and do some stretches--and that seems to help. For me, stretching during the walk helps even more than stretching before, although that seems backwards. Still, when walking around the condo grounds I think I must look a little odd in the half crouch--but at 9 a.m., maybe everyone was still in bed.

On my walk I saw a dead bumble bee--a big one in someone's driveway (there are more than 250 species and subspecies in 15 subgenera, so I can't say which one). Not sure what happened. Maybe he had a collision, wasn't looking both ways when a car backed out. Death. Have you read Genesis lately? There was no death before Adam and Eve disobeyed God. They had tried to use vegetation to hide, but God gave them animal skins. Death of animals even before Cain murdered Abel. But the theory of evolution, the original hate speech, teaches us that millions, maybe billions of years of death transpired so that poor dead bumble bee could throw his magnificent body away on May 16 here at the condo.

*The 3 story apartment building reported in this story is the former Kable Inn, built in 1894, but it had several names before the Kable Brothers Co. bought it in 1921. The earliest family story I heard about this place was that my great-grandfather checked in there with his large and growing family when they arrived from TN, and he was told to get a house.

Photo from Bird Perch She has great stuff!

Electronic Health records and GPS Census Records

[Disturbing side-bar: my spell check in Microsoft Works still tries to change Obama to Osama]

Not too many years ago my liberal/progressive colleagues in the library profession (223:1 liberal to conservative--several of whom post here as "anonymous") were screaming about the dangers of RFID on Wal-Mart pallets, which the marketing giant uses to reduce inventory costs and speed delivery from warehouse to outlets. Of course then, it was a right wing, Nazi conspiracy caused by Karl Rove because President Bush was in office. And they were definitely right to worry. Look what Oba-Mart is settling for now. Electronic surveillance of everything in our lives.

When President Obama won approval for his $787 billion stimulus package in February, large sections of the 407-page bill focused on a push for new technology that would not stimulate the economy for years.

The inclusion of as much as $36.5 billion in spending to create a nationwide network of electronic health records fulfilled one of Obama's key campaign promises -- to launch the reform of America's costly health-care system. WaPo

One can only hope that these billions for a “network” of health records doesn’t work any better than what we’re all experiencing locally at our own doctor’s office. If this is any evidence, not one dollar will ever be saved. It's just a coup for the industry.

I stopped by to pick up a prescription at my doctor’s office because the “electronic transfer” of information between that office and the pharmacy I used hadn’t been able to manage the job in 3.5 days, and I was out (old methods of fax and phone aren't used anymore). Normally, I would have just told the receptionist what I needed, and my file (paper) would have been retrieved (human). No. I waited about 10 minutes as she struggled getting the right screens up, then worked from screen to screen, asking me questions I didn’t know, like date of my last appointment and address of the pharmacy. A line was forming behind me. When she finally found it, she said there was no record from the pharmacy requesting permission for a refill, but the doctor would decide.

That night we got a call from the doctor’s office that “it was ready,” i.e. the prescription script. My husband went to pick it up and waited about 15 minutes in line as the receptionist struggled with the screens of 2 or 3 people ahead of him. Fortunately, it was in a paper envelope with my name hand written on the outside. We can only hope and pray that the national “network” that Obama is forcing thousands of small offices to buy into (causing many to close their doors), doesn’t work any better than what you’ve all experienced at the local level as your doctor or clinic transitions.

My first Social Security check

Some of you will be deciding what to do with the $250 "stimulus check." I suspect mine will have to be given back, so I haven't cashed it. Although today I heard that someone who had only been in the country 7 months in the 1930s and had been dead for years had gotten the $250 stimulus (I wonder if he voted in 2008 election). At least I'm alive. But I don't qualify for SS because I have a teacher's pension. It's called an "offset." Now it's possible that they couldn't figure out how not to give it to me, because only teachers and a few others get hit with this "double dipping" pension charge--God knows, it doesn't affect Congress or auto workers' pensions. Technically, I'm on their books as the spousal benefit of my husband's SS, it's just that STRS cancels it out--unless maybe Obama is feeling generous, and he hasn't figured out how to micromanage enough computers to toss me completely out of the system. Sigh. I do know this. That if I cash it, and 3 years later he wants it back because I wasn't supposed to get it, I'll owe $3,967.87 interest on that $250.

It's really unfortunate that in this high tech world you can't just pick up the phone and call some one.

If she would just stop lying

about what she knew when, about how much she understood, about how she was mislead (you know how we women are--just can't keep the facts straight). Our grandfathers were right about suffrage.


It would

eliminate distracting lip lines

Firm, smooth and tighten skin

Add shape and definition to nose

Return a natural fullness to lips

Maybe she could get a flight out of Washington to return to California after she resigns for lying and cheating her constituency by not paying attention at the Jack Murtha Airport stocked and paid for with pork. No one else is using it.

Update: Pelosi's redux of "I support the troops not the war" hit tune of the Bush years.

We all share great respect for the dedicated men and women of the intelligence community who are deeply committed to the safety and security of the American people. My criticism of the manner in which the Bush Administration did not appropriately inform Congress is separate from my respect for those in the intelligence community who work to keep our country safe. What is important now is to be united in our commitment to ensuring the security of our country; that, and how Congress exercises its oversight responsibilities, will continue to be my focus as we move forward. Weekly Standard Blog via Who runs Gov

What happened to the Democrat bean counters?

You remember--the ones who screamed about what that Iraq war money could be doing for the poor if we weren't protecting them from terrorists?

"The director of the Congressional Budget Office today [May 11] updated his projections for the budget and economic outlook and is now anticipating a $1.8 trillion deficit this year, and $1.4 trillion in 2010.

This is up from CBO director Douglas W. Elmendorf's January 2009 projection of a $1.2 trillion deficit this year. In short, the US government is borrowing 50 cents for every dollar it spends.

The new projected deficit is four times the 2008 deficit, which was a record high for its time.Deficit Now Projected at $1.8 Trillion for 2009.

It seems so long ago, but I can remember when I thought Henry Paulson was the most misguided man in the government. Peanuts. 700 billion? What a piker.

Ohio Artists Collection Show at UALC

Upper Arlington Lutheran Church has one of the best galleries in Columbus, Ohio, for individual and group shows at the Mill Run Campus. The current show is the Upper Arlington Art League Spring Show which will run through June 10 (3500 Mill Run Dr., Hilliard, OH 43026, closed Friday and Saturday). At the Lytham Road campus (2300 Lytham Rd., Upper Arlington, OH 43220) we don't have a gallery space per se, but we do have the Arakawa hanging system in the hall near the administrative offices, next to the library, and in the library lounge. So we have space for a small show. In April we hung 20 of our Ohio artists paintings there, plus another 7 smaller items in the display case in the library lounge. Although I've been looking at these paintings many for years, they look very different hanging out with a whole new crowd.

Howard Trump, left; Barbie Bright, right

Robert Moyer, left; Charles Rowland, right

Ned Moore, left; Fritz Hoffman, right

Ken Becker, Jeanie Auseon, Judith Vierow, Sharon Borror

James DeVore, Janet Nicodemus, David Schachne, Don Dodrill

If you or your artists' group are interested in providing a show, you can call the Visual Arts Ministry, 614-451-3736, to meet with the ministry group and receive the guidelines.

Friday family photo--new baby, new house 1968

When I was looking through the album I wondered why someone had sent us a beautiful bouquet. Our daughter is about 2.5 months and needed to be propped up for the camera. Then I looked closer. Sheets at the window? Pictures stacked in the corner? Yes! We'd recently moved from the apartment on Farleigh Rd. to our home on Abington Road, and someone (don't remember who) sent us flowers. We'd made an offer after one walk through during a January snow storm--first people through an open house by owner. The furnace failed in December 1967, so when we moved in we had a brand new furnace. It looks like I dressed her up just for the picture--a pink knit dress with matching booties. We lived there for 34 years.

Shamed into cleaning my car interior

I've cleaned out my car. I was shamed into it. On Wednesday I'd parked at the UAPL Lane Rd. next to a gray Sebring convertible (top up), with a Zanesville dealer plate holder. As I got out of my van, I looked into that car's interior--sits very low. Trash filled the entire interior up to the dash. A Columbus Dispatch unread was on top, sliding onto the dash, disgorging all the glossy adverts. There was just enough room for the driver to slip behind the steering wheel. There was more "stuff" in that 2 door sports car than in our entire garage (not counting our cabinets); more stuff than our basement storeroom; more stuff than my office. Gracious! I thought. Is that what people think when they look at that handy net between the driver and passenger seat of my van? About 4 magazines, various tissues, an umbrella, 3 or 4 pens and pencils, gas receipts, small water bottle, CDs, grocery store flyers, church newsletters from February, a bath towel/floor mat for exercise class, gloves, sun glasses, etc. At my next stop, I grabbed a plastic bag and filled it with everything that was disposable and not needed and put it in a trash can. Hoarding I don't do. Clutter, yes. Hoarders can't dispose because of the fear that something terrible will happen--like a need or desire to use it. Imagine your worst fear, and that's what they experience throwing out their "treasures." Then today I dropped off the package of donated items that had been in the back seat for 4 or 5 months. I was tempted to open the sack because I couldn't remember what that hard thing on the bottom was, but thought better of it. You can get into big trouble asking too many questions. Don't seek, don't spill.

How does this save the auto industry?

Or the unions? 3,000 auto dealerships with Obama as the CEO of the auto industry will close. Thousands and thousands of people put out of work (average of 50 per dealership). Did you Democrats and RINOs and guilt ridden Republicans know what you were voting for--destroy the little guy? Here's how much Obama knows about running the auto industry. He is destroying the local tax base in thousands of communities--city, suburban and rural.

". . . manufacturers do not own dealerships. Independent business people do. These new car dealers have invested their money to purchase real estate, build buildings, and buy inventory, tools and equipment.

The money invested by new car dealers provides customers with the opportunity to shop locally for new and used vehicles. These same new car dealers provide warranty, recall and repair services for the motoring public.

These independent business people pay real estate tax, property tax, sales tax, FICA tax, income tax (state and local), and unemployment insurance. These dealers provide employment. They pay for their employees' training, health insurance and benefits.

The dealer is the auto manufacturer's customer. That being the case, does it make any sense to claim the manufacturer's problem is that they have too many customers?" A Nebraska car dealer

Of course it makes sense to the Obama Administration! They have declared War on the Economy and on the American people.

The Four Great Pillars of Ohio

The Centennial History of Columbus, Chapter 6, reports:

The growth of the common school system of the state of Ohio is one of the marvels of the nineteenth century, not only in the cities but the towns, villages and country districts as well. What may be called the principle on which this system was founded was enunciated in opening of the third article of the ordinance of 1787, a prophetic declaration of coming things, in these far-ringing words: "Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government, and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged." How wonderfully has this prophetic declaration been amplified by the history of the splendid galaxy of states, extending from the Ohio river to the great northern lakes and to the Father of Waters, carved out of the Northwestern Territory. We may well remember that his ordinance antedates the National Constitution "Done by the United States congress, the 13th day of July, 1787," since the constitution was not adopted until the 13th day of November. 1787. and did not become effective until the first Wednesday in March. 1789.

The descendants of the pioneers who settled the states of Ohio. Indiana, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin, comprising the original Northwest Territory, are entitled to be proud of the fact that they are descended from the founders of the first government built upon the four great pillars: Religion, Morality, Knowledge, Liberty. The first commonwealth in history with a rescript as its unalienable birth-right, only to become more potential as it automatically divided into four great soverign states of the five and forty sisters. . .

One hundred years ago in Columbus, Ohio there were 21,675 pupils in all the schools--normal, high and elementary--10,650 were male and 11, 025 were female. The average daily attendance was 18,036, of whom 8,892 were male and 9,144 were female.

The most cherished value of many Christians--doubt

I am reminded that "doubt" and "questioning" are cherished values among many Christians--liberals, evangelicals and fundamentalists. See my thoughts on a well-known Christian author here.

Micromanaging

Have you ever worked for a principal who micromanaged recess, the janitorial supplies, and the phonics workbooks for second graders; or a library director who thought you didn't need 2 copies of a certain title you knew was in great demand and 3 would be better service; or an architect who thought that just by taking up space at the opera he was marketing with his magnetic personality; or a CFO who wanted to select your version of software for tracking funds; or hired a tone deaf pastor who wanted to chose all the hymns; or been married to a spouse who opined you didn't need to buy bay leaf when the jar from 1977 was still half full? Micromanagers. They are everywhere, aren't they? Especially in the White House. But really. We know for a fact that President Obama has never even run a lemonade stand, let alone a new car lot. But here he is making decisions on credit, advertising, model viability, location, and regulations for automobiles. He isn't even the one doing the micromanaging, despite the fact he's wearing that hat. Sort of makes you wonder who is? When a socialist/marxist team makes all the key economic decisions in a capitalist country, what do we have?

The Recession Did Not Create Our Entitlement Crisis

There have been some whoppers fed to us at the Obama buffet table of lies, but this one is almost beyond belief. Our entitlements have been in trouble for as long as I've been paying attention, which is about 25 years. Social Security and Medicare are 1/3 of the federal budget. That didn't just happen in 2008! There is no "trust fund"--and we've killed off the workers who could have paid into that fantasy program before they were born. Our population's birthrate is almost below replacement rate--just the way environmentalists want so they can save poor, tired Mother Earth, the goddess stand-in of their pantheist drivel. If every woman of child bearing age could have a baby tomorrow, we'd still have to wait 20+ years for them to contribute to our health and old age care. Talk about poor planning! Or no planning. The job losses from the Waxman Markey climate bill which will raise energy prices by 55-90 percent will kill whatever hope we had of funding not only alternatives (and their fantasy jobs), but any job growth anywhere, and create more unemployment resulting in even more of a shortfall in entitlement programs.

Here are some reform ideas. I'm sure Obama won't listen--after all, he wants this to be another crisis on Bush's watch so he has an excuse to take over even more of the economy--which so far hasn't done a thing but put us more in debt.

Miss USA 1957

Queen for a day. I couldn’t figure out why my Leona Gage blog was getting so many hits. Then I realized it must be because of Ms. Prejean and her battle with Perez Hilton, who savaged her during and after the current pageant. Gage was Miss USA 1957 for just one day--then her mother-in-law told on her, that Gage was twice-married, had two kids, and had lied about her age. She was 18, not 21.

No boys allowed?

I think single sex education is very beneficial. Kids can really buckle down and study when they don't have to worry about attracting or performing for the opposite sex. But if there were special programs excluding young girls from getting a step up to a good career in the sciences, I can't even imagine the line of lawyers ready to take that case.

Here's a few summer engineering programs just for girls I noticed, beginning with Ohio State. I also noted that "fun" and "social life" were promoted features of these camps. So that's what it takes to attract girls to the sciences?

The Ohio State Women in Engineering Program is still accepting applications to the 2009 CheME & YOU @ OSU Summer Camp, a six-day residential summer program for girls who will be entering ninth grade in the fall of 2009. Participants will live in a university dorm and will explore chemical engineering through fun, hands-on activities. The camp will run from Sunday (8/16)-Friday (8/21). Applications must be postmarked by Friday (5/15).

At Penn State we have the MTM Engineering Camp for girls--An engineering day camp for girls entering grades 9 - 12 in Fall 2009. Hands-on engineering design projects and career experiences featuring 5 engineering disciplines such as: Architectural Engineering, Bioengineering, Chemical Engineering, Product Design & Innovation/Industrial Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering, each offered in one-day modules. Choose to attend one day, or all five! ($30/day or $125/week) A fun way to explore careers and meet friends! Full scholarships are available.

At Purdue they call it EDGE. Session I: July 19 - July 24, 2009, Session II: July 26 - July 31, 2009. EDGE is for students who have just completed 9th or 10th grade. Apply your creativity to hands-on engineering projects with teammates! Meet women engineers who are shaping our world! Discover how your talents can lead to an exciting career in engineering! Have fun working with current Purdue engineering students!

At the University of Cincinnati, the hands-on camp, which ran July 28 to Aug. 1, 2008, allows young women in grades 9 through 12 to explore careers in engineering as they work with University of Cincinnati faculty.

"Kathy Johnson, director of undergraduate student enrollment in the College of Engineering at UC, says that the camp helps motivate high school students. “It’s a chance for students to come see if they are interested in math, science and engineering,” she says. “Through the camp, the girls get a great overview of what’s available. They get to meet our faculty members and receive information on all the disciplines offered here at UC.”

My alma mater, the University of Illinois, calls it Girls Adventures in Mathematics, Engineering, and Science, or G.A.M.E.S. It is an annual week long camp, designed to give academically talented middle school aged girls an opportunity to explore exciting engineering and scientific fields through demonstrations, classroom presentations, hands-on activities, and contacts with women in these technical fields."

Oregon State University has a variety of engineering summer camps for all ages, and when the boys are very young, they are allowed to attend, but by middle school the organizers are only looking for girls. So Mom, don't get his hopes up--send the little duffer to basketball camp--it's probably co-ed.

The Women in Engineering Summer Camp at the University of Dayton is a Sunday-through-Friday experience that gives girls the chance to dabble in engineering through hands-on, learn-by-doing activities they can't get in high school [why not?].

“Guided by UD professors, you'll conduct experiments, innovate, make cool stuff, take things apart — then put them back together again — in engineering classrooms and laboratories on campus. You'll visit a job site. Meet women engineers. And spend time checking out new innovations and more.”

They've been running these special science camps for women at least since I was involved back in the 1980s (through the libraries). When will the public schools be able to pull off attracting girls to the sciences without denying boys the same summer opportunities?

Death at the Camp Liberty Counseling Center

“Monday's shooting also raises new questions about how the U.S. military screens and treats soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and other combat-related psychological maladies.” Wall St. Journal story . WSJ, the most liberal newspaper in the country, provides a nice side bar chart of all the military deaths for the last 7 years--less than the number of teens we lose in a year of auto accidents or soldiers in one battle in WWI.

Yes, and the anti-war, anti-military talking heads will come out of the wood work on this one. Actually, have you ever worked or associated with a mentally ill, depressed or “stressed” person and tried to get help? There is no easy way to do this--I’ve experienced it and you might be safer to transfer or quit rather than try to battle the system that protects everyone except the friend, co-worker or boss who knows there’s a problem. Just yesterday I stopped to visit an OSU friend--we worked together 30+ years ago, and Oh the stories we could tell about our former boss whose mental stability was fragile (she was brilliant, but thought everyone else was dumb and against her). At one incident (physical danger) we just stood in terrified disbelief and one of the calm Christian student employees, who probably didn’t know enough to be scared or felt closer to God than I did, softly and quietly talked her down. She wasn’t fired or transferred--but her contract wasn’t renewed the next year and she went on to become someone else’s problem at another university.

The Virginia Tech Korean immigrant student Cho had a long history of problems and “help” dating back to middle school before he went on a killing rampage, as did the immigrant center killer Wong in Binghamton. And for all the talk about “bullying” in schools after Columbine launched a thousand workshops, that turns out not to be the case in so many situations. We have a local case in Ohio where a teen has committed suicide after sexting her own nude photos, but the parents want to blame the school for not confiscating cell phones and checking them (this is illegal). And like the unfortunates at those other “gun free” zones, “Troops at Camp Liberty are supposed to keep their weapons unloaded, which may have made it harder for soldiers at the clinic to defend themselves when the assailant started shooting.” Obviously, the shooters don’t follow all the rules, do they?

I’m thinking a lot of people who worked with Army Sgt. John M. Russell knew he was in trouble--the trouble he hid from his family and close friends, because if you are stressed or depressed or even paranoid--you aren't that way 24/7. He loved the military and obviously wanted this career--he wanted to stay in, and he hadn’t risen in rank. The investigation hasn't happened yet but we know the military and the war will be blamed--at least in the media. We don’t even know how much combat he’d seen; but someone knew there was a problem and referred him for help. And 5 people died. At least six families are suffering, and our prayers are for them.

Mayo Alanen on Dancing with the Stars

We watched "Dancing with the Stars" Season 1 which was a fun summer replacement and enjoyed it, but lost interest as its popularity and complexity grew. I was flipping through the channels last night bemoaning all the “reality shows” wondering how crazy is it that people watch "reality" with a script and camera crew, believing it is real. Everything from housewives gutter sniping, to brides being bridezilla, to the obese exercising in the desert, to little people going to work, to fashion police trashing wardrobes of sweats and t-shirts, to parents raising 8 children with the papparazzi: all so the fans can thank God for their own lives. Then suddenly I saw this flash on the screen “Mayo Alanen” and a phone number to vote. I nearly fell out of bed! Unfortunately, that's all I saw--he had already performed to be voted on as the professional for next season.

Mayo’s father Erkki, a very talented tall, blond architect and cartoonist, lived with us for a few weeks back in the early 70s when he first came to the United States from Finland. Eventually, he and his wife settled in El Paso and raised three children. I have school photos of the children sent with Erkki’s original Christmas cards, although I can’t tell one boy from the other now that so many years have gone by. Somewhere I think I have a either a bookmark of a website or a disk of him and his dancing partner that his mother sent us.

Anyway, our phones are dead again, or I would have voted for Mayo Alanen. Bio and details here .