I learned from one of those Liberal Media outlets that today is the National Day of Listening. We're all supposed to choose someone, a family member, a friend, an acquaintance, and ask a few probing questions, and listen to the answer. NPR has been playing such interviews for a week or so. I heard... Sign in to see full entry.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
The Life of the Mind
November was declared by some wise and powerful person or persons to be a month in which one should write a novel. I didn't. I began work on a novel a long, long, long time ago, and haven't made much progress on it in over a year, because every time I take it out to work on it, I start reading from... Sign in to see full entry.
Friday, November 21, 2008
A judge has offered an opinion. If voters using provisional ballots don't fill them out properly, according to state (Ohio) and federal law, it is the fault of the poll workers, who are required to ensure that the forms are filled out properly. So those 1,000 disputed privisional ballots in Ohio can... Sign in to see full entry.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Don't Clean Your Plate
That was the advice my baby brother gave me. I haven't followed it yet. And I'm still a bit larger than I keep saying I want to be. I know that I don't lose weight because I eat too much and exercise too little, but knowing the solution to my problem doesn't automatically solve the problem. I have... Sign in to see full entry.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
House Hunting
I'm watching House tonight. It's a new episode. I enjoy the show most of the time, but partly I enjoy pointing out all the ridiculous mistakes. Just now, they decided to start a young girl on beta blockers because they have no idea what is wrong, and she passed out. Now, if her heart echo was... Sign in to see full entry.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Anti-Socialism
I'm not comfortable in most social situations. I freeze up around people, I say awkward things, I pause longer than most people can stand. My wife began ordering dinner for me years ago, because I would take long enough, I made the waiter nervous. The same thing happened in grocery stores, doughnut... Sign in to see full entry.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Politics and Religion
Mormons have a lot of money. Okay, not all Mormons are rich. I don't even know how Mormons compare to the general population in standard of living. But Mormons gave most of the money to the Proposition 8 campaign in California, defending, they claim, 'traditional' marriage. Funny that a church that... Sign in to see full entry.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Continuing Plots
There was a lot of discussion on Blogit and elsewhere before the election about voter fraud, voter registration fraud, and various efforts to get voters to the polls or keep them away. For most of the country, all that ended on 4 November, when the election was held. A few races are still undecided,... Sign in to see full entry.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
The Cost of Cheap Gas
Yesterday, I stopped at the gas station to fill up my tank. It was not a scary moment. First off, gas prices have dropped over the last couple of months, and the price in my neighborhood was below $2 a gallon. And then there are the special perks I have allowed myself to get caught in. I paid 69... Sign in to see full entry.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Bedtime Stories
One of the first things my wife, Liz, and I did on a date was read a Jane Austen novel aloud together. Okay, it took more than one date, and according to her, we weren't actually dating yet. She was using me as an excuse to avoid dates with all the guys who kept asking her out. With me, she could... Sign in to see full entry.