Evidence of my looming domesticity

Last night I (1)made stock from a chicken carcass...from (2) a meal I cooked on Friday. By myself.

(3)I hemmed a pair of jeans. With blue seam tape. By hand.

(4)I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping, wrapping, and it's creative. (5)Also decorating gift tags. Using glue.

It's gotten downright scary.

5 people to thank today

Ok, so today I went into my former office & boxed my computer to transport home. No, I didn't steal it - I bought it from the organization because it's closing shop permanently & had to do something with the computers. Now, those of you who know me are wondering - how was I going to get these things home since I don't have a car? Did I have some car'd friend willing to give me a lift? Well, I do have lovely friends who would have helped had I asked them...but that would have taken forethought, common sense and planning. And I'll have none of that. Short story long, I "planned" to metro in, pack up, then catch a cab home. Brilliant huh? Well, that's exactly what I did. Fortunately, along the journey, I encountered some very nice souls who helped in various ways & should be thanked here:

1. The office building security lady who watched my boxes while I returned the hand-truck to my office;
2. The young man who volunteered to carry the heavy box to the curb so I could hail a cab;
3. The African cabby (accent, people, it was the accent) who carried the box from the curb and later to my doorstep, & admonished me that lifting heavy boxes was not a woman's job but a man's job. Amen to that;
4. The young woman who held open the apartment building doors for me even though she didn't even live in my building;
5. And last but not least, the concierge who lifted the box onto the cart so I could easily take it up to our apartment.

My computer is now home safely, my back intact, my mood cheery. Thanks guys!

Grapes in Maryland

In the Metro Section of today's WaPo is an article about how some southern Marylanders are trying their hands at viniculture in areas that historically grew tobacco. Challenges abound: weather & climate, expense, predation (deer, beetles, mildew), legislation - not to mention all the time & effort required to produce a viable crop of grapes.

I'm whole-heartedly behind wine-making in general, but certainly its supplanting tobacco. But in a larger sense, it's good to see adaptation in commerce from one industry (or market) to another, seeing that change as an opportunity (instead of becoming a dinosaur in a dying market). Interestingly, some previous tobacco growers used settlement money to start their vineyards. Sounds like progress.

A cool science moment (aren't they all?)

Today in WaPo was a really interesting article about how a bunch of scientists are reconstructing the genome of the woolly mammoth using samples from 20,000-year-old and 65,000-year-old specimens. They are 2/3s done & it seems that this genome varies from modern elephants on by 0.6%, which is approximately half of the genetic difference between humans & chimpanzees. This is a fascinating concept because although mammoths lived in very cold climates, elephants live in very warm climates. So...what were the adaptations to enable this switch? Anyhoo, it's nice to hear of these findings because they raise further inquiry/research & potentially, render profound discoveries that advance our knowledge of life.

A Tiny Little Miracle [Caution: irreverent post]

Well, as the observant and thoughtful God that He is, Jesus miracled my dental floss to become endless (see “loaves & fish”). He knows I’m currently jobless, want to conserve money, yet value healthy gums. And I really appreciate that – I do! – except for one thing: I cannot stand this floss. It’s supposed to make one’s teeth whiter, but I think that’s code for “abrasive,” “not waxed” and “causes gum irritation.” I’ve had this same spool at work for the last year, trying to finish it up (conserving!) at my post-lunch brushing. It just doesn’t decrease - ever. Ah well, off I go to “make my teeth whiter.”

Movie Review: Blood Diamond

The storyline is thus: diamond smuggler (Leo DiCaprio) helps man (Djimon Hounsou) to reunite with family [which were separated during a child soldier raid] with help of activist journalist (Jennifer Connelly). Smuggler has motives other than purely altruistic.

Ok, I couldn't even get through this one (thank goodness for Netflix). The dialog was stupid, DiCaprio's "Africaans" accent was all over the place (sometimes sounding British, sometimes Southern drawl, mostly indeterminate) and performance lame, Connelly's activist journalist was stereotypical and worse, phoned-in. I could go on, but why?


Too bad, because there were themes of the barbary of child soldiery, forced labor/slavery involved in the conflict diamond trade, and generally the savagery of man with the absence of rule of law. Compelling issues in the right hands. Painful in the wrong ones. Now I like all three actors above, but not in this venue. Save your time, energy & money on something else; even the Bond film that involves conflict diamonds (Die Another Day) is a more compelling experience.

A little rant

Well, it would seem that a couple of throw-backs to the Soviet era have moved onto our floor in the last few months. What's my support for that assertion? The ever-present, invasive stench of some foul brand of cigarettes (Victory Cigarettes? Get it - 1984?).

Those of you who know me know that I detest cigarette smoke. Usually smokers in this building keep their detestable habit to themselves, ie, in their apartment, so one doesn't smell it in the halls. Well...I know not if this couple smokes in the halls (a no-no) or not, but one can smell the stench upon exiting the elevator and all through the halls. We can even (bonus!) smell the rank odor INSIDE our apartment, coming beneath the door. We've taken to puting a bath towel and other block to keep the smell out. Doesn't work! Even when the couple is at work, the halls smell of STALE Victory Cigarettes. Oh, the joy!

Now, I've complained to the management about this. They've visited the floor and our apartment. They've brought an engineer. They've promised a solution. Well, I don't think it's the air circulation system that needs fixing. They may end up installing a blocking lip to our door threshold. But that means that the halls will still reek.

Those nasty things can't kill our neighbors fast enough.

Drive-by blogging and coffee bail-outs

Just listening to radio Sean Hannity talking about the massive bail-outs & which point he says something like, "what's next - if Starbucks is in trouble, do we have a massive bail-out for them too?"

I think the answer is an unqualified "YES." Starbucks MUST NOT go under! Can you imagine the catastrophe if everyone started falling asleep? New York? DC? Las Vegas? London? Paris? Arggh! Civilization as we know it could come to an end. I think this bailout would be FAR more necessary than any thus far. In fact, take back the other bail-outs and cushion Starbucks. Please, I'm begging.

On other topics: I took my blood pressure today at 9:33am and it was 128/90 - yoiks! Then I took it at 2:30pm after gym, errands, food (fasting blood drawn this morning) and it was 117/80. Curious. I stopped by Whole Foods & put together a "salad" of broccoli, artichokes, hearts of palm, asparagus & white beans - and immediately felt very joyous. Curiouser.

That is all for now.

Bad year for authors

Just found out via AOL that Michael Crichton died of cancer at age 66. Yikes!

Tony Hillerman, writer of Navajo crime mysteries, died recently (obit, remembrance via WaPo) as well.

Bummer.

The change you deserve

I pretty much knew this would happen. For those of you who chose - for whatever misguided reasons - to vote for Obama and the rest of the Dems: you'll now get the change you deserve...mind you, you may not like what you get. Of course I can envision across-the-board blame of Bush for every disastrous decision the new administration makes. It would be no surprise. So gloat, morons.

As for me, I'm going to try to make as little money as possible while still paying the bills. I don't consider confiscatory taxation "patriotic," I consider it punishment for working hard. Heck, I might just apply for unemployment - I've been paying into the system long enough. Maybe I can be an Honorary Poor person. Or maybe I can get a government job - because you know that government will be expanded greatly under the new administration.

Ah well.

Election Day Observations [long post]

Well, I fought my instinct to vote as early as possible and waited to go with DH Jeff mid-afternoon, around 3pm. Two words: 5 minutes. That's how long it took to go thru the line, vote and meet up w/Jeff outside. Awesome. Especially since the volunteers said that early voting was crammed: lines snaked 3-deep in the little school gym and around the block. At this point, the polls in Arlington have just closed, but have no fear, folks who are still in line - you will be able to vote if you're in line at 7pm.

Now, here are some observations about our little polling place:
-we have had electronic voting for several years now.
-first it was these big boards with the contests outlined and with pressure sensitive choice areas. Seemed to work fine.
-then it was pressure sensitive computer screens with a hard-to-miss, big, final red rectangular place that read, appropriately "VOTE." Again, seemed to work fine.
-today, they asked you if you wanted to go with the screen or paper ballot.
-they're going to devolve and go back to paper ballots in future elections.
-however, instead of the computer print-outs of voters to check against, each volunteer had this cute, little mini-computer to look you up. Cool.

Now, here's an interesting pre-election observation: there were skads of young, Dem volunteers to engage "undecideds" -- in downtown DC & Clarendon. Huh? Both Arlington and DC was Dem strongholds. Ok, so I giggled when they asked if I had a moment for the Democratic party, and declared that I was solidly on the other side. I must say, though, that they folks were all very polite. At least that.

Ok, now, I bought a bottle of Bombay Sapphire today, sure, hopefully for celebration purposes, but, I fear, more likely, for solace.

Here's what I fear if Obama wins:
- socialism - enough said? For some of you out there, clearly not. I don't want to relinquish even more of my "wealth" for bureaucracy, social programs, "re-distribution of wealth," etc. Do you realize that neither Jeff nor I own a car and our apt is just below 1000 sq feet? This isn't wealth - it isn't poverty - but it's not wealth. Not complaining, I just don't think others deserve more of my money just because they chose to make financially irresponsible choices and not stay in school.

- a decrease in First Amendment rights - ie, speaking your mind. Yeh, liberals are all for F/A rights, except when those views contradict theirs. How dare we question anything about Obama (his views, his personal associations, his words about his racist grand mother, etc, etc.). Fairness Doctrine, anyone? Uggh.

- a premature withdrawal from Iraq. Disastrous.

- more class and race baiting...yeh, because Obama is a uniter. 'Cause he's done so bravely during his campaign. Yeh.

- Michelle Obama as First Lady. Angry, without any class (different from "class" above. Remind me again how much she's making per year? Uggh.

- One party, liberal rule. Uggh on so many levels.

- what all this comes to is more govt control over us (bigger govt), and less take-home pay. I don't think I owe anyone a living or should be forced (yes, taxation is force) to support folks just because they make less than I do. I'd love for anyone who thinks that there should be a financial "equalization" process or "economic justice" to personally give up most of his/her salary to support such efforts...but don't force it on me.

Do I think Sen. McCain & Gov. Palin are the answer to all ailments? No, of course not, but they're better than the alternative.

Another gin and tonic? Yep. In the words of the Borg Queen, "Watch your futures end." Looks like it.