HBO is rerunning “Rome” at 8 p.m., which is frequently my blogging hour, so I sometimes have it on in the background. I’d forgotten how much I liked it when it first aired, what? Ten years ago? Awakening the day of Caesar’s funeral, Mark Antony says, “I’m not getting out of this bed until I’ve fucked someone.” His consort, Atia, says fine, and orders a slave to “fetch that German slut from the kitchen.”
I think that’s going to be today’s catch phrase: Fetch that German slut from the kitchen.
So fetch her! Here’s a story I found intriguing, from Tommy Tomlinson, an ESPN sportswriter who happens to be married to an ex-colleague of mine. He’s a fat guy, and he’s writing about another fat guy, and do so with the insight of one who not only has been there, but is still there:
He is trying to get past the chomp-chomp-chomp phase. He orders a lot of salads. He’s cut back on the steaks in favor of grilled chicken and sushi. The drink he guzzles is Diet Coke (mostly from Steak ‘n Shake, because its cups keep it coldest). But he won’t lie. He loves Jimmy John’s. And sometimes, on the way home, that $5 Little Caesars pizza calls his name.
He has trouble sleeping, and his snoring just about cracks the drywall. Stairs are starting to give him a problem, especially with his leg still healing. We see our futures, and they’re not long ones. I’m 50, and I might feel it more deeply than he does. Nobody who’s 65 looks like we do.
Most people have something in their lives that they can’t beat back with willpower alone. But when you’re fat, your problem is obvious to the world. And here’s one difference between having a problem with food and having one with cigarettes or booze or drugs: You can’t quit cold turkey. You have to eat something.
Tamara remembers times when she and Jared did really well — they ate right, exercised, even grew a little garden together. Then she’d clean the house one day and find a Little Debbie wrapper under the couch.
Changing one’s eating habits, even if they’re relatively normal, is incredibly difficult. It’s taken me nearly two years to wean myself off just the insane amounts of sugar I used to eat. And I still eat too much. So I have a lot of sympathy here.
Finally, I’m going to pimp my gentrification package one more day, in case you missed it yesterday: Main, map, sidebar. Plus guest columns one and two. You journos know the multiple-entry-points thing, right?
And now we’ve gotten to the end of the week. Enjoy your weekend. I hope that German slut from the kitchen is everything you wanted.
Dexter said on August 22, 2014 at 2:37 am
“Then she’d clean the house one day and find a Little Debbie wrapper under the couch.”
Oh…alright, time to come clean. A few days ago I had dropped my tiny Olympus VN-7000 digital voice recorder that I use to record talk shows from XM radio down the side of the recliner and I had to tip the chair and retrieve the recorder, and I also pulled out a large Baby Ruth wrapper that had been there a few hours. Carol accused me of sneaking the candy bar in and sneakily eating it while watching baseball. I told her it must have been there a while, because I ain’t been eating no Baby Ruth, I swear I ain’t been. Uh huh, sure. I’ve been to my dentist seven times or so in 2014, and he said he could tell I eat way too much sugar. Late in life, after years of good check-ups, I began to quickly develop tooth decay and worn teeth and gum connection areas. I quit eating sugar as much as possible…so no way was that Baby Ruth mine, right?
The author Tommy Tomlinson is a fat guy of 50 who believes nobody 65 looks like him and his fat friend. We all know what that means; my work friend Dan was formerly fat and his doctor told him “Dan, you should lose weight. I don’t have any patients your weight who made it to 60.” Dan, whose wife made the best goddamned German chocolate cake in the world, embarked on a diet from a magazine rack and lost 95 pounds in six months. Twenty years ago I cut back my intake and lost 55 pounds but I caved one day and ballooned again.
I have had Type 2 diabetes for 20 years. I control it by two pills a day. I limit carb portions. I don’t keep tubs of ice cream in the freezer. But…once in a while I do sneak a real full-sugared Coca-Cola and a Baby Ruth even more rarely.
There was no sense lying and we both knew it. Yes, the fuckin’ Baby Ruth was mine, eaten while watching the Cincinnati Reds being flushed out of the pennant race , right there from my recliner, drowning my sorrows no longer with Wild Turkey 101, but with caramel, peanuts, and chocolate all rolled up in a Baby Ruth wrapper. Oh well. John Madden the football guy lost 80 pounds one summer at age 65…it can be done, y’know, Fat Man.
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Alan Stamm said on August 22, 2014 at 6:05 am
Poetry, Dexter. Good luck with your shedding.
But keep that Elmore Leonard-style tone.
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brian stouder said on August 22, 2014 at 7:38 am
my fetching german slut from the kitchen has always been icy cold soda pop, but more than 3 months ago I decided to see how long I’d hold out if I dropped it entirely.
Still at zero, and, really, it was easier than I thought it would be. The color of what comes out of me has changed, which I thought was kind of funny; and, I drink pitchers of flavored water. We used to call that stuff Kool-Aid, but this is the sugar-free stuff that comes in pre-portioned packets that make a 64 ounce pitcher.
Come to think of it, that may be where the new colors come from
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alex said on August 22, 2014 at 7:39 am
There’s a five-hundred-pounder in my neighborhood with biblical chapter and verse numbers tattooed all over himself. And he probably looks at me and my partner thinking our lifestyle is a choice and an abomination.
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BigHank53 said on August 22, 2014 at 8:08 am
Ah, food and the ways we simultaneous soothe and torment ourselves with it. It gives me pleasure to present a quick bit from Mallory Ortberg:
http://the-toast.net/2014/08/18/stress-eating-recipes-infinite-pudding/
The other problem with food as a drug is that it’s everywhere, it’s cheap, it’s legal, and by god it motherfucking works.
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Connie said on August 22, 2014 at 9:04 am
If you are going to make infinite pudding may I recommend Trader Joe’s Belgian Chocolate Pudding. It is hidden near the yogurt. My niece makes cream pies from it.
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beb said on August 22, 2014 at 9:20 am
I’m fat and three months from 65. I take the stairs at work whenever I can. Of course it’s only one flight but it’s still stairs. But I can feel age and lack of exercise on me. I get winded more easily. My back hurts from standing too long. But I still think it’s more lack of exercise that my weight. As for dieting. I should but I don’t and I’ve seen too many people lose 50 pounds at the start of a diet and gain it all back a year later.
Ah, here comes that German slut from the kitchen… she’s got the wienerschnitzel and sauerkraut.
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brian stouder said on August 22, 2014 at 9:21 am
Boy – that “Bolting the ‘Burbs for the Thrill of Detroit” makes your run-of-the-mill ‘buy here, pay here’ used car barker commercials seem positively sedate!
Gotta admire the guy’s positive attitude (assuming he’s not a Scientologist or some-such)
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Julie Robinson said on August 22, 2014 at 9:30 am
Word, Hank, although I steadfastly insist that pudding doesn’t count as real chocolate. I’m gonna struggle with this all my life.
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Suzanne said on August 22, 2014 at 9:53 am
I have changed my eating habits the past few years by mostly just trying to cut out the processed food as much as possible. I wish I had discovered veggies roasted in a bit o’ olive oil much earlier in my life. And lentils. And beans.
Amazing thing is that once you move toward more natural food, the idea of eating a Twinkie or HoHo kind of turns your stomach. I never did drink much soda pop, so that wasn’t an issue. Have I lost much weight? No, but I feel much better. Just don’t make me give up my evening night cap because then I might have to get ugly.
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Julie Robinson said on August 22, 2014 at 10:04 am
Suzanne, we’ve made that same journey. We rarely buy processed anything and eating out has lost most of its charms, as we evaluate how much healthier (and cheaper) we could have made the meal at home.
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Peter said on August 22, 2014 at 10:17 am
Thanks a lot Alex. Now I have to gouge my eyeballs out to get rid of the image of the 500 pounder with biblical tattoos.
I apologize in advance if someone has already stated this, but I heard there are three charges against Rick Perry, but he can’t remember what the third charge is. Ba-da-ba! I’m here all week!
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Deborah said on August 22, 2014 at 10:25 am
I don’t mean to be smug but food has never been that much of a problem for me. I may gain 10 lbs, even 15, but if I do I’m really motivated to shed it. I hate it when my clothes get too tight, or heaven forbid having to buy new clothes a size larger. I’m also not huge on sugery foods. I like an occaisional dessert. I rarely snack between meals, I’m just not that hungry. I was extremely skinny as a child and got made fun of for it. My parents were always hounding me to eat my food at dinner time, but my mother was a lousy cook and the food was always half burnt and unappetizing. We never had the money for snacks and soda so they weren’t around when I was growing up
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Judybusy said on August 22, 2014 at 10:28 am
Losing weight is hard–at one point I weighed about 20# more than now, and got it down by training for long-distance bike rides. Spin classes in the winter 4 times a week, then hundreds of miles on the road once spring came. Technically, I’m not overweight, but I’d really like to lose about 10-15 more but it hasn’t happened because I haven’t really decided to do it. All it would take is 3 spin classes a week. I think my diet’s pretty good-very little junk food, lots of homemade food. Oh, but wait, that includes things like corn and tomato pie and we just decided to use leftover chicken for flautas (deep-fried tubes of corn tortillas stuffed with that chicken, cheese, and sour cream, topped with guac) later in the week. Shoot.
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linda said on August 22, 2014 at 11:04 am
I shed 100 lbs. Seven years ago and kept it off, but it’s work–strict food restrictions and hitting the gym 5 days a week. The funny thing is that when I tell skinny people that, they are revolted. Everybody likes the fantasy that all fat people have to do is walk a little more and eat a few salads and live happily ever after. One woman I told that to coud not have looked more disgusted if I told her I drank the blood of infants to keep the weight off.
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Dorothy said on August 22, 2014 at 11:06 am
You’re making my mouth water, Judybusy, thinking about the flautas we used to get at a restaurant on Main Street in Greenville, SC. The shrimp ones were my weakness! Haven’t had one in 7 years or more. I can’t recall the name of the restaurant and a quick visit to visitgreenvillesc.com didn’t provide it. I guess they’re closed. But our favorite places in Greenville? Those would be Sabroso Grill in/near Simpsonville, and Barley’s Taproom. Their pizza is divine.
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Sue said on August 22, 2014 at 11:18 am
It’s taken me more than a year and a half to lose 12 pounds, but I have a big gap in my resolve: all bets are off during the month of December.
Still, you’d think it would be easier. I have a cleaning job that has me busting my butt for 4 hours three times a week. So good exercise is there. I’m a healthy eater outside of a cola addiction. I do know age has something to do with it, it was never this difficult before.
But I’m sorry to say the best way for unforced weight loss in my case is a death in the family. Any death in the family, actually: I dropped seven of those twelve pounds since late February when a much-loved cat died. The weight has inched up a little bit recently, I must be finishing up the grieving.
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Heather said on August 22, 2014 at 11:31 am
I eat quite healthily–lots of beans, quinoa, leafy greens, little meat–but I do have a weakness for sugar, mostly the form of ice cream and, especially in summer, fruity desserts. I am pretty active–I swim and bike a lot–but I really need to lose 10-15 pounds, including a lot of belly fat. (Thanks a lot, perimenopause.) I try to take walks and stuff during the day, but I suspect the big killer is having to drive an hour each way to work and back. That’s two hours I’m sitting on my butt rather than walking to public transportation or whatever. It is really taking a toll on my physical and mental health and at some point I am going to have to make a change. I do get to work from home one day a week, although that privilege is constantly threatened. If they take it away I will quit for sure, even without another job.
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Connie said on August 22, 2014 at 11:59 am
I have been trying to eat healthily, but my weakness is crunchy salty stuff. My big issue is that for the last two years plus I have had this wierd auto immune skin disease on my lower leg, with doctor’s orders to stay off my feet and keep my leg elevated. And while I have recently been declared cured I am supposed to continue to wear compression stockings and keep it elevated.
So my ability to exercise is somewhat limited. I did receive an old Schwinn exercise bike that I have tried to use, but how do you get past the start-up groin pain? Every time I try to use it I limp and wince in pain for a couple of days. Is this just something I have to get over?
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Sherri said on August 22, 2014 at 12:06 pm
Yeah, Heather, I have the menopausal belly problem, too. I eat reasonably, I mix weight lifting and interval work in my workouts, but short of living in the gym, I’m not sure what’s going to do it. I’d like to be able to use my bike for errands, but the size of the hill I live on is kind of daunting.
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Suzanne said on August 22, 2014 at 12:24 pm
I did a fitness class last winter, and I really did feel better, but I hated every minute of it. Sore all the time, and I mean all the time. I still wonder if one ever actually likes exercising or if the people who do are really just wired differently. If I could run a marathon while reading a book, maybe…
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Heather said on August 22, 2014 at 12:42 pm
Connie, you may need to adjust the bike saddle or get a different one. Some of those old saddles can be really uncomfortable. You can also get a type of gel seat thing that fits over the saddle and makes it more comfortable. Or, the bike may not be a good size or fit for you. You can get it professionally fitted to your measurements. I got one of my bikes fitted at a bike store, which is when I found out I have “long femurs.” That’s good, right?
Sherri, I read somewhere that women’s metabolism slows down enough that we’d have to eat calories amounting to one meal a day to make up for it. I am thinking maybe I have to give up my daily glass of wine. But it makes the dinner ritual so much more enjoyable!
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Heather said on August 22, 2014 at 12:43 pm
Connie, I just realized you were talking about an exercise bike, not a regular bicycle. Yeah, try a different seat or something. You shouldn’t be in that much pain, even as a beginner.
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Charlotte said on August 22, 2014 at 1:18 pm
I’ve lost about 10 pounds since getting the puppy — another 15 to go. Which since I’m only 5’1″ — well, I was becoming square, like a little Lego person with a lot of greying curly hair. We eat pretty well — almost no processed food and neither of us is a sweets person although I usually have a couple of squares of dark chocolate after lunch. My downfall is wine. I don’t drink soda, but I really like a couple of glasses of wine in the evening and as Heather noted, at a certain time o’life, one’s whole relationship to one’s metabolism changes. So, a border collie/aussie puppy who needs at least one 2-3 mile walk in the morning, and another in the afternoon is helping a lot. We have a couple of gorgeous trails around here, but when my old dogs got crippled, I got lazy. I hate walking alone. It’s been just lovely being back outside in this gorgeous place I live.
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Judybusy said on August 22, 2014 at 1:38 pm
Agreed about the exercise bike. Yeah, you’ll be sore the first couple times, but if it persists, it’s not a good seat or fit for you. Case in point: I recently got a new bike and have been riding more. However, after a few days of riding I hurt *more* not less and I’m pretty conditioned. It’s the seat, but I just haven’t had the time to bring it back to the shop to change it out.
Linda, I find that reaction bizarre. I for one, am really impressed with your commitment!
Suzanne, I don’t think exercise should hurt all the time as you describe, especially after the first couple weeks. In fact, you should feel better, have more energy. When I do spin classes, my legs might feel tired for the afternoon, but then I’m fine. (And it’s a nice tired, as in “I really worked out!”) I wonder if talking with the instructor would be a good idea. Maybe it’s not a good class for you.
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Deborah said on August 22, 2014 at 1:55 pm
Yeah, if there’s anything I indulge in it’s wine. I’ve mentioned this before, I’m a walking fool, it’s the only exercise I like.
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Sherri said on August 22, 2014 at 3:51 pm
Well, it’s definitely not wine with me, since I quit drinking 12 years ago, and I don’t drink soda, but I do have a weakness for chai tea. On the other hand, what’s the point of life without some rituals and pleasures, and none of us are getting out of it alive. My doctor would probably be happier if I lost some weight, but it’s not an issue for me. My main health priorities are keeping depression at bay, staying sober, and managing my migraines, and so I exercise not because of weight but because I feel better. I don’t do diets because of the risk that they’ll make my migraines worse. I try to eat reasonably healthy.
My new mantra is “I’m doing the best that I can” and I’m not going to beat myself up about my weight (or anything else.)
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Suzanne said on August 22, 2014 at 4:09 pm
Judybusy, I do have more energy when I go to the cardio workout class, but my muscles always ache the next day, although that got better the more I went. My sister-in-law, a former cross country runner,runs almost every day, even a half marathon or two. I asked her when your body should stop aching after a good workout. Her reply was “Never.” 🙁
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on August 22, 2014 at 5:38 pm
Alex, for your new neighbor: Leviticus 19:28.
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beb said on August 22, 2014 at 11:04 pm
Interesting article that argues that the North actually lost the Civil War…
http://weeklysift.com/2014/08/11/not-a-tea-party-a-confederate-party/
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Connie said on August 23, 2014 at 12:23 am
Mary Engelbreit does a print related to Ferguson and takes flack for it from some. http://news.artnet.com/in-brief/beloved-illustrator-blasted-by-fans-over-ferguson-artwork-83486
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Deborah said on August 23, 2014 at 5:55 am
Mary Englebreit went through hell a while ago when her son shot and killed himself. She was a well thought of fixture in St. Louis society. Good for her for using her talent to try to do some good in the face of evil.
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brian stouder said on August 23, 2014 at 9:38 am
Beb, nice article. Indeed, shelves (and shelves and shelves!) of books cover that ground. In my opinion, the whole Nixon/”Southern Strategy” thing has gotten too much “credit” (so to speak), MichaelG/Prospero to the contrary nothwithstanding, for the current American political alignment.
The metaphor I default to is ‘surfing’. Oxy-Rush and shit-for-brains-Sean surf on the roiling American seas of ignorance and intolerance, in order to make obscene amounts of cash, and politicians mimic them to surf those same waves (call ’em grammy’s out of control!) to won office, come what may.
It’s the ignorance and intolerance that needs addressed – as always and forever, amen.
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brian stouder said on August 23, 2014 at 9:45 am
Make that “Gremmie out of control”..!
http://cougartown.com/surf-slang.html
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alex said on August 23, 2014 at 10:34 am
beb, that was a good read and once again makes me appreciate why Fox News and its viewers might as well be speaking in Martian where I’m concerned.
I got into it with my dad recently over whether the Tea Partiers are the John Birch Society reincarnated, which obviously from an ideological standpoint they are. My dad says no because he was there and I wasn’t when the Birchers had their heyday, but more to the point that the Birchers genuinely believed that Ike Eisenhower was a communist, they were that crazy, and that the Tea Partiers don’t really believe any of their own bullshit, it’s “just politics.”
Why he thinks there’s any difference completely escapes me. The only difference I see is that the Birchers didn’t have a media infrastructure to advance their propaganda, turn out voters and take the GOP hostage. My dad voted for Obama, by the way, and finds himself being put on the defensive by his old boys’ club friends who increasingly have to delude themselves in order to maintain their party loyalty. “It’s just politics” is the new “close your eyes and think of England” for those who continue to press their lips to the rump of the elephant.
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Deborah said on August 23, 2014 at 2:47 pm
This weekend in Santa Fe is Indian Market, which basically means half of Texas is here. Old white couples dressed in western outfits with outrageous amounts of silver jewelry and belts on. There are Native Americans from all over the country selling thier wares. It’s a big deal here. My favorite part is the roasted corn, they dip the ear in butter and hand it to you with a napkin wrapped around the base, then you can sprinkle it with salt, cayenne, parm etc. It makes your lips burn so when you’re done a giant fresh squeezed lemonade is the ticket. Gorgeous weather here today as usual.
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brian stouder said on August 23, 2014 at 6:18 pm
Alex – a Fort Wayne/Allen County question for you:
Whaddaya think of the ballot initiative to create a ‘County Executive’ and an enlarged county board of commisioners?
I’m flatly opposed to it; it looks to me like a right-wing/reactionary assault on Fort Wayne and it’s mayor, in favor of someone who will carry out their agenda.
Just a few years ago, I’d not have thought that – but we’ve seen city council veer into the weeds and go for union-busting (except police and fire….for some reason….) and assaulting city utilities(!!).
Anyway – just curious
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alex said on August 23, 2014 at 10:17 pm
Brian–
It strikes me that those who want to institute the change see a strategic benefit to doing so for themselves, not the public. Does anyone give a fuck about the public? Yeah, right. They’ll make it sound like it’s a needed reform when it’s a power grab. Where most of us would say if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, they’re thinking it’s broke if nobody’s figured out yet how to put in a fix.
What’s remarkable to me is how self-identified conservatives who whine about local control being taken away from them are totally willing to concede it to a bunch of snake-oil salesmen who couldn’t give a fuck about their quality of life in this relatively unspoiled hellhole we call our home.
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Dexter said on August 24, 2014 at 4:09 am
We’re mostly transparent mature adults here, but I’m betting this topic will be totally ignored here.
David Sedaris asks his Hugh the big one: “How many men had you slept with before me?”
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/aug/23/the-one-that-got-away-david-sedaris
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Deborah said on August 24, 2014 at 5:32 am
That’s the first time I’ve seen a picture of David Sedaris’s partner Hugh, quite a handsome guy. I’ve slept with 3 people and 2 of those were husbands. The other was a fling between husbands, he was 6 years younger than me and that made me feel weird, he’s a writer living in NYC now.
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ROGirl said on August 24, 2014 at 7:00 am
Alex – The Birchers were anti-communists, that was their raison d’etre. They were considered fringe crazies by everyone, including the Republican party.
The Tea Party leadership seems to be the cynical, it’s just politics crowd, but a) I think they are more anti-Obama than anything else, and b) their “movement” has been heavily funded and whipped up by those anti-Obamaists, the Koch brothers. The Republican party is a different animal today than it was back then, and the fringe crazies are now mainstream.
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Deborah said on August 24, 2014 at 9:39 am
Are you OK Michael G? I read you had a pretty strong earthquake there.
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Connie said on August 24, 2014 at 10:51 am
Dexter: None of your business and none of my business.
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alex said on August 24, 2014 at 12:26 pm
ROGirl, I’m thinking more of their ideological similarities in terms of taxation and regulation being unmitigated evils, their desire to dismantle the New Deal and their fear of black political empowerment. “Creeping socialism” is ostensibly the raison d’être of the Tea Party, who don’t have the Soviets to hold up as a bogeyman but make similar use of the Muslim Brotherhood, who are said by true believers to be infiltrating and subverting our government at the highest levels. That it’s being whipped up and funded by the oligarchs this time around and given the appearance of legitimacy by propaganda mills masquerading as news media is the chief difference. The GOP is a different animal these days in large part because its constituents have fallen for this sucker bait in such large numbers.
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ROGirl said on August 24, 2014 at 12:50 pm
Richard Nixon rode to congress on the anti-pinko bandwagon. Joe McCarthy had the country in his grip until his drinking brought him down. It’s been reworked and updated, but the message is still to beware of the subversive “other” who is out to take away your money and rights and dole them out to those who didn’t earn or deserve it.
It’s true, you CAN fool some of the people all of the time.
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brian stouder said on August 24, 2014 at 12:53 pm
Agree 110% with Alex. Exact same impulse, but with present day oligarchs. Bill Gates and the Koch Brothers may be working different angles, but it’s the same as always.
Back in the day, when I was a carryout boy, I had a crush on a married cashier who once said that her family never, ever bought anything made by Welch’s. (I always loved their grape jelly, not to mention the juice and so on) When I asked her why, she said because the guy who owned the company was a crazy anti-American – and, there being no Uncle Google to turn to, I said something like “oh, uh-huh!”
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Sherri said on August 24, 2014 at 12:58 pm
The Birchers were just as cynical as today’s Tea Partiers, and they weren’t that fringe: how do you think Barry Goldwater became the nominee for President? Rick Perlstein’s book Before the Storm is a pretty interesting tale of that time.
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MichaelG said on August 24, 2014 at 2:05 pm
The earthquake happened about 0320 this AM. I certainly didn’t feel anything being fully occupied sawing logs at the time. Neighbors I’ve spoken with here in Sacto didn’t feel anything either although had I been awake I probably would have felt it. Napa’s less than 50 miles away as the google earth flies. It seems, from the stuff I’ve seen on TV, that things were pretty much confined to the Napa/American Canyon area even though a six is fairly strong. It appears there was a lot of damage in Napa.
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Jolene said on August 24, 2014 at 2:46 pm
Have seen lots of pictures of broken wine bottles. Such a loss!
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Dexter said on August 24, 2014 at 2:59 pm
My friend Bill Blau grows grapes for a major wine maker in Napa.
The grape business isn’t all “gravy” anyway, so they do not need this. Bill is a helluva character, I do know that. Some day I’ll tell yas about him. Here’s what happened to grape growers five years ago:
http://napavalleyregister.com/news/local/a-shaky-grape-market/article_984782e4-d561-5fbe-8eaa-155d5d82ad53.html
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Deborah said on August 24, 2014 at 4:39 pm
Little Bird can’t believe I rose to Dexter’s challenge. Neither can I.
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brian stouder said on August 24, 2014 at 4:46 pm
Deborah, I’m at 5 and holding – presumably forever
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Deborah said on August 24, 2014 at 6:00 pm
A good story about a modern day hermit http://www.gq.com/news-politics/newsmakers/201409/the-last-true-hermit
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Jill said on August 24, 2014 at 10:46 pm
I read the GQ article this morning. I was impressed by the respectful tone of the writer. He didn’t try to make the man seem freakish or try to be overly sentimental. It made the story more powerful to me.
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Dexter said on August 24, 2014 at 10:48 pm
I’ve heard from Bill in wine country: “Dexter.. we’re about 35-40 miles from the epicenter but did feel the shock.for about 10-15 seconds. We’re a bit concerned if it ruptured the seals on the big thermopane windows we have in the front of the house but otherwise no physical damage. We were supposed to harvest grapes for a winery located in Napa and we are now waiting to see if he can take the grapes. Thanks again, Bill”
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Deborah said on August 24, 2014 at 11:14 pm
I just got a breathless email from my right wing sister that there is some suspected terror strike anticipated in the next 18 days in Chicago having something to do with the Old Republic building on Michigan Ave. I googled it and found some obscure mentions but nothing in the Trib etc. Seems like they would be all over it if it were real threat. Sounds like more fear mongering to me.
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