Connie.
- My Dad paid for college and grad school. I was a princess, what can I say? Though I always worked and provided my own spending money. I really just wanted to post to see if my gravatar thingie works.
- Hmmm, wonder what happened to that post.
- Just looking for my gravatar, my posts must be piling up somewhere.
- Thank you for lovely compliment Brian.
- It probably would have got on my nerves on day one. I have no desire to visit to LV, but if I did it would be to see Bette Midler's show and a Cirque show. I remember as a teenager walking around Reno with my family and being astonished that there were all these places you could pay to leave your kids while you went gambling. Had a lovely day at Butler U on Saturday, attending an awards ceremony for the College of Lit, Sci, Arts. My kid not only won an award, she was selected to introduce the professor who spoke. She ended her intro by saying "the dude abides, may I present Professor...." Maybe a quarter of the audience chuckled and the rest were clearly clueless. Would you have chuckled? Also did a family pic with the big concrete bulldog, and bought a few final four t-shirts. Go Butler! I guess next year I'll be having to say, Go IU, which is going to be really really hard for us.
- I was in the other room as my husband was watching Treme, and I clearly heard those classic Ashley words, FYYFF.
- My daughter's summer job includes identifying invasive species in various Indy parks. I was dismayed to learned that all that honeysuckle that lines the freeways in central Indiana is considered seriously invasive. But I am really just posting to see what my new gravatar looks like when it is tiny.
- Yo Paddyo, as soon as I read the word Sominex that jingle was jingling in my brain, nice to know I'm not the only one. I have said before, I know all the words to all the songs. Or at least old pop, anything MItch Miller sang along with, and hymns. This is not always a good thing. My husband set up a facebook account three years ago when our kid spent a semester in Europe and was posting her photos. I've been logging in as him, but have finally been convinced to set up my own. One of these days. Ever since then we've said the reason for parents to be on facebook is to stalk their own children.
- Despite my liberalism, I will claim a couple of past Repub reps with whom I was happy. Jerry Ford was my rep all through my childhood, he regularly came to visit all the small towns in his district in a trailer office which he parked next to my dad's office. We all felt that we actually knew him. I was also happy to have Lee Hamilton as my rep for many years, and somewhere I have a photo of the two of us standing at a podium together. The Democrat who replaced him long after I moved away was a friend, and our girls played on the soccer team, so here's for Baron Hill. He had been a great state rep who was always willing to listen. These days I have Joe Donelly, wish he weren't so blue doggy, but I'm mostly OK with him. I am less than half a mile from the line between Donnelly and Souder's district, so am glad to be on the Donelly side. Chris Chocola (R) was in that position prior to Donnelly, and in the last redistricting the line was purposely redrawn so that Chocola lived half a mile outside his district. Didn't seem to bother him or those who continued to vote for him.
- My MSU days (two years before our hostess's college days) were pretty hippie-ish, and greek just wasn't in. Although as a freshman I was contacted by several slightly older sorority girls from my home town to invite me over. One of my most drunken memories involves a date to a party at Beta Phi Mu, which at MSU was all business majors. We were dressed in 50s outfits, and drinking orange punch. I found out later they had overspent their budget on the vodka, so instead of buying mixers they mixed in a large bottle of Tang. Actually for the getting back to the dorm part there is no memory at all. Just waking up in the morning and seeing my date, still in his 50s outfit, passed out on my roommate's bed. I had a friend from home at Delta Tau Delta, just down the street from my dorm. Now that was Animal House in a fun way. The drinking age was 18 during my MSU days, so we were all legal. My newly graduated kid tells me Butler is totally Greek, and then there is her gang.
- The recent Butler graduation I attended was more than three hours long, and it was shivering cold in Hinkle Fieldhouse. My kid tells me that all the capped and gowned grads spent the whole time texting, unless of course they were in line and headed across the stage. My HS class was 176.
- Dexter, I too paused a moment on learning of John Wooden's death. Spring Break 2001 we took our daughter back to Minnesota to visit her friends, after having moved to Indiana the year before. My husband and I had a weekend to ourselves and headed north to the Mall of America. Not knowing it was the Saturday of the NCAA Final Fours being held in Minneapolis. Mountain Dew had taken over the mall and we got lots of goodies, including the very first release of their new product Code Red. We came around a corner and realized we were seeing the end of a very very long line. Curious, we walked all the way to the next corner to find the head of the line, where John Wooden was autographing his new book. Had to be a thousand or more in that line. Hoosiers will remember that for many years the state basketball championships were held in Hinkle Fieldhouse. The very first state championship game to be held there was in 1928. John Wooden was the captain of the losing team. (Martinsville.) I have now managed to mention Hinkle twice in this thread, each for entirely unrelated reasons.
- Our Glen Lake cottage has an artesian well, a pipe that sticks up a couple of feet right at the shoreline. Clear, cold spring water, and very handy during the occasional power outage. I believe the whole lake is filled by underwater springs.
- Holly, I have been going to Glen Lake since I was a kid, and was a young teenager when my father bought the first place there. Our place is like 6 houses east of the Dairy Bar, look for the Land of Oz sign. House is across the street from the Lake frontage, it's just a little old place, part of which is log cabin under the siding. My oldest memories are pre-National Park, when the scenic drive was a privately owned business, and the dune climb and campground were part of a state park. I remember the old red dune buggies with the big tires, and my grandmother tying her hair up just right in a scarf before we rode them. The Dairy Bar had a gas pump, and the same teenagers that scooped the ice cream pumped the gas. As to the Totem Pole, everyone's kid needs a rubber spear. My husband bought our kid so many inappropriate things there in years past. My least favorite was the bell for the three year old, and there is actually a whip down the basement too. In recent years my thing about the Totem is that they sell Seafoam, my favorite hard to find candy. Sue and I have had this conversation several times, I take it she is your sister. And in my gravatar photo I am watching the sunset from the top of the dune by the scenic drive Overlook. Empire Beach is my other favorite place for watching sunsets.
- We know LAMary is the champion when it comes to celebrity sightings, but I did once ride an elevator with Helen Thomas. And with Maya Angelou too. In both cases I was on the way to a banquet for which each was the speaker. Doesn't beat being held back by security while trying to get to a meeting at the Indianapolis Marriott on Shadeland. I was forced to wait until Frank Zappa exited the hotel and got in his limo and left.
- basset, love the Michigan highway page. There are my favorite highways, M22 and M109. I have an M22 sticker on my car, and I believe Sue has referred to her M22 t-shirt. I fondly remember M209, decommissioned in 1997, but at .37 miles, once known as the shortest designated highway in the state. (Sue and Holly, this is the road to Glen Haven Beach.) I have fond memories of all the small towns on US 31 we used to go through on our trips up north. We were heading south of Manistee once, and got stuck behind a long slow funeral procession. We thought it was so funny when the procession turned at the sign pointing to Freesoil. My hometown highway was M21, which lost its highway designation when it become the 196 business route. The last stretch of 196 was built during my high school years, and several of my high school friends lost their homes and farms to it. The summer after my senior year a large group of us took a bike trip on the soon to be opened freeway.
- Brian, I have lived and voted in Michigan, Ohio, and Minnesota, and while things may have changed, Indiana is the only place I have been required to declare a party.
- Brian, you may be remembering what I think of as the great Indianapolis earthquake of 1987. In some prev. thread Jeff tmmo and I discovered we had each experienced that earthquake at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. We took shelter earlier this evening from what I believe were the same storms Deb was worrying about in Chicago in an earlier comment. Tornadoes to the south of us, tornadoes to the north of us, just thunderstorms through the center. I enjoyed the part where the weather guy wondered why his 55 mph storm had quit moving across his screen, checked a few other radar sources, and then was informed that lightning had taken out the National Weather Service radar tower in Kosciusko County.
- Julie, from our house when the wind is right we can hear the Concord Band practicing. We moved here just in time for jr high, and the whole marching band competition thing was a completely new concept. We enjoyed our four years as marching band parents and were glad when it was over and we could have our Fall Saturdays back. The Concord Band made the state final competion all four of those years and in Class B took second, first, second and first. Made it even more fun to having a winning band. I was surprised to see Hermine on the hurricane list. Might I be the only person who has actually known someone named Hermine? I've know two, one of them my aunt. Though now that I think about it the other was actually Hermina. LAMary, do you think it is a Dutch name?
- All of our dogs have found us. Our current miniature schnauzer and our late Shih Tzu both came to our home because we had put out the word to friends and family that we were looking for a dog. Both were free with owners thankful to have found us. I have not been to a Wal-Mart in 8 yrs. An hour or so of rain this a.m. seems to not have had an effect on temp or humidity. Pool is almost too warm, and has not had the solar cover on it yet this year.
- Basset, I have a 1947 Singer Featherweight, given to me by my Mother in Law, who tells me she bought it at Uncler Merle's Singer shop in Cadillac when she was pregnant with my husband. I also have all the attachments including the buttonhole maker. But not the table, upon which she keeps her current machine. She says I can have it when she dies. She's 88, healthy and feisty so I am not holding my breath. Speaking of Cadillac, hordes of us will descend on the old family farm outside Cadillac on Pleasant Lake next weekend for a reunion. Many are camping, but I, being a princess, have a motel room booked. This is the farm where my late father in law grew up. The only thing grown there in recent years is Christmas trees.
- Sue, I remember that as well, and that the potheads got the porch. Basset, the Cadillac farm has frequent deer sightings and recently had its first bear sighting. My husband's cousins own The Pines for what it is worth.
- I think keeping the languages you studied has a lot to do with how much you really get to use and experience the language. Four HS and two college years of German were seriously reinforced by a summer exchange program in Germany. My grammar may not be very good, but I can still hold a conversation. Unlike my 3 semesters of college Russian which left me with little more than Dosvidanya tovarits. And since no one says comrade anymore any true Russian speaker will laugh at you if you say it. All those weeks of studying the cyrillic alphabet, and it is just gone. I did have a nightmare in German once. I was falling down an elevator shaft and couldn't figure out whether to scream "Hilfen Sie mich" or "Hilfen Sie mir." Ah, grammatik.
- Many many years ago my dad, then in his late 30s, had the first quadruple bypass performed in Grand Rapids. They kept him in the hospital for six weeks, and in a hospital bed at home for another six weeks. Now he is a grumpy 78 year old who received stents two years ago, and has a continuous and not pleasant anemic response to the Plavix all stent receivers must take.
- Ah, diversity. At the family reunion this weekend my 88 year old mother in law talked about how she felt compelled to call out her church group and senior center friends on their expressed bigotry. She says, It makes me sad that I didn't hardly notice it before I gained a wonderful African-American grandson in law, and a mixed race great grandchild. I just tell them that I have a mixed race family and their comments are out of line. Good for her. I love northern Michigan and fresh fruit season makes it even better. We pigged out on blueberries, raspberries and black sweet cherries. Peach season any day.
- If you go to the Middlebury Public Library you are likely to see Amish men using the computers. It's the only way to get Indiana unemployment benefits. Around here Meijer's and Walmart have buggy hitches in their parking lots.
- Yo, Alex, when I saw Tony and Tina's Wedding in San Fran, all I got was Grandma asking me to show her baby pictures. Although the very big and busty bridesmaid did try to pick up my husband. Just back from a lovely week in Leelanau County. You newspaper folks might be interested in the job ad I saw: Editor for the Leelanau Enterprise, supervises two reporters, copy editing experience preferred. I have been reading the Enterprise for years and have always thought they do an excellent job of covering local government (townships!), politics, business, and news. And you know what they say: "Live by the Bay on half the pay."
- Just found this great sounding tomato recipe on Salon: Summer tomato pasta with greens and onion. http://www.salon.com/food/eyewitness_cook/index.html?story=/food/francis_lam/2010/07/30/summer_tomato_pasta
- Mitch Miller is one of the reasons I can claim I know all the words to all the old songs. As a kid the records at our house were limited to Mitch and musical sound tracks. Jeff, tmmo, I know where that BSA camp is. My daughter had several friends that worked there, and she and her girl friends often went to the Friday night camp fire.
- Land grant here too, MSU to be specific. Not all state schools are land grant colleges, I believe each state has only one. You can figure it out by looking for the big ag school, which means, OSU, MSU and Purdue in these regions. I was always amazed by the existence of the big MSU rodeo. And always bought the Dairy Club's cheese packages at Xmas.
- At last I can beat - or at least tie - LAMary. I have been quoted by name in Rolling Stone. Right under "Kurt Cobain recovers from suicide attempt" which tells you how long ago it was. I was quoted in a story about efforts to ban Rolling Stone from the library in John Mellencamp's hometown.
- I've put 130,000 on my Dodge Grand Caravan, and yesterday it took part in the kid's move to Bloomington for grad school, though roomie's rented Penske truck took most of it. Always amazing how much it can carry with the seats out.
- Saw the face first and thought it was Frankenstein.
- fave bronze sculpture of my childhood: http://www.city-data.com/picfilesc/picc25326.php . Great part was that a real kid could climb up and sit in his lap too.
- I love runny eggs. I've noticed in the last year or so that if you order Eggs Benedict in a restaurant the egg will be poached "well", with no runniness. Kind of defeats the whole point as far as I am concerned. My mother's famous chocolate frosting recipe contains a raw egg. My cousins and I continue to make it any way, so there. Though cousin Katie's husband refuses to eat it.
- Many moons ago my husband and I were travelling from our home in southern Indiana to San Francisco. We began the trip with the long drive to Flint in order to leave our then five year old with her aunt for the week. We got to Bishop airport to learn our quick flight to Detroit Metro was cancelled, and the airline's new plan was to fly us to Indianapolis - which we had driven past the day before - from which we were in first class to San Francisco, very nice. Unfortunately the return flight was a nightmare. We were delayed for hours in the SF airport and finally arrived at Detroit Metro at 2 a.m., one of the two times I have been there when it was virtually empty. At one point in the craziness in the SF airport I turned to the mother of several small children seated near us and said "Give me that baby, you're overwhelmed." She did. And I remember that Dad was a clarinet player for the SF Orchestra.
- Dorothy, my husband's bday is the day of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Kind of a bummer to see bad events reviewed on the news on your bday every year. Mine is Friday.
- My birthday is also militarily significant, let's see, 1939, I think the invasion of Poland. But the best thing about my birthday is it has its very own rock and roll song: It was the third of September, a day I'll always remember, cause that was the day that my daddy died. Papa was a rolling stone...."
- None for me thanks.
- I swore off roller coasters etc after cracking my tailbone on the log ride at the Mall of America.
- My weekend plan: enjoy my daughter's visit, hear about her first week of grad school, make something from those peaches, con someone else into cleaning the kitchen floor.
- I just finished The Looming Tower and found it not only authoritative and impressive but also absorbing, as if the story it told were a compelling novel. I read it through in two days without a single fiction break. Read Laura's new book last week and enjoyed it as well.
- Joe, where to eat in Cadillac: we like the Timbers, on 115 a mile or two north of the state park, the Pines on M55 just off 115 is owned by my husband's cousins and has great pizza. Enter in the back. Lakeside Charlies sort of across the street from the Pines has good steak. Avoid Da Dawghouse. And the Waterfron -115 south of the state park, across from the Sands, has a good breakfast buffet and a nice patio. Basset is steering you downtown, I am steering you out west to tourist/state park country.
- Yes, Basset, softball diamonds are out back of the Pines. Building and half of softball diamonds are in the county, other half of softball diamonds and the parking lot are in the city limits. Makes for strange confusion when police are called for fights, drunks, car thefts, etc. Picture city cops and county cops figuring it out in a huddle in the parking lot.
- I've just finished, and will recomment "Zoo Story: Life in the Garden of Captives" by Thomas French. It is the story of the triumphs and tribulations of Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo, and demonstrates on a kind of personal level that issues currently under discussion in the zoo, animal conservation, and animal rights worlds. I bring this up however, because as I browsed the bibliography there was The Looming Tower. Hmm, Al Quada and the Tampa Zoo. Then I realized he had told the story of the last two living animals in the Kabul Zoo. Connections.
- If you believe in free expression is it hypocritical to oppose "Burn a Quran Day" Great discussion at http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2010/09/am_i_a_hypocrite.php#more .
- I heard the interview between the Waco tea party leader and the guy from the American Family Association. He essentially was trying to co-opt the tea party meeting for their social issues - right to life, sanctity of marriage, etc., and she was having none of it.
- In other news I have accepted a job in my home state of Michigan. We will be living in the Lakes area of southwest Oakland County, I will be about 40 miles north/northwest of Nancy Nall headquarters. As I posted on my facebook page, Moving home to Michigan! Go Green! Go Blue! Go Lions! And still and probably always, Go Butler!
- MichaelG, Exactly one week after my wedding I gave myself a black eye with a broom, while vigorously sweeping dirt off the sidewalk after planting tulip bulbs. Quite the thing for a newlywed to show up to work with. I still remember laying on the sidewalk seeing stars. My big fall this summer was off the edge of my friend's patio, where I failed to get my arms up and landed on my nose in the grass. Bent my glasses all to bits and my nose throbbed for days. Plus 3 witnesses.
- Indiana Republican Pence wins Value Voters 2012 Poll: http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/09/18/5135006-pence-wins-values-voter-2012-straw-poll-?ocid=twitter Palin came in a distant fifth.
- Michigan State beats Notre Dame! Last week Michigan did the same! Sometimes having two alma maters is good.
- We've visited the Lincoln Birthplace several times, in conjunction with Mammoth Cave visits when we lived in southern Indiana and could do it in one long day. We found it very odd. This massive marble building with columns and grand steps. Then you step inside and the only thing in there is this tiny little log cabin that may not actually be authentic. Brian, we did a family trip to that southwestern part of Indiana some years ago, and I would add Angel Mounds State Park and the old riverfront in Newburg. We crossed the river at Evansville and had a lovely day heading east on the Kentucky riverfront roads. Cross back over at Tell City to eat at the amazing Overlook Restaurant. http://www.theoverlook.com/ Update: Corrected Mounds to Angel Mounds.
- Brian, I have to agree with you about seeing your own country before Europe. I was lucky to see much of the west on a month long RV trip with my family at 14. Conferences have brought me to the wonderful cities of Seattle, Portland, Or, New York twice, San Francisco thrice, New Orleans twice, and finally and at last to Boston (you must take the tour of the USS Constitution) and to the not so great cities of Dallas and Atlanta. Except for Boston I've never been to New England, and except for a teenaged flight to Daytona and those trips to New Orleans and a former Cajun sister in law in Lafayette La, I've never seen New England or the south. And someday I will go back to the west, where I want to visit Custer Battlefield. And I am hoping to visit Philadelphia for the first time for a 2011 conference. Yes, and then London, Paris, and Amsterdam, where my brother and his wife are currently vacationing, staying on a houseboat instead of in a hotel.
- She's still Cajun, but a former SIL.
- Hey Nancy, did you hear about the bad behavior of your alma mater's mascot? Ohio University apologized this morning for the shocking incident of mascot-on-mascot crime which occurred on Saturday, as Rufus the Bobcat viciously tackled and molested the Ohio State mascot, Brutus Buckeye, just prior to the meeting between the two teams at the Horseshoe. http://outofbounds.nbcsports.com/2010/09/post-781.html.php Somehow the phrase mascot-on-mascot crime cracks me up.
- Hey Brian, museum lady claims the odd tool - a froe?- my husband is holding in his hand once belonged to Abraham Lincoln. http://aroundgoshen.blogspot.com/2010/09/froe.html
- I always wondered why in the world Alton Brown's pizza dough recipe called for a chewable vitamin c tab. Sorry to have missed yesterday's wonderful word discussion while on my third and certainly not final trip to greater Detroit. All right, like 50 miles west. Where I have leased a house. And must add to the already posted sites and cites, you forgot, it is sites, cites and sights! Then there is wallah! Tell me you haven't run into this version of voila on the web. The discussion about gays and churches spurs me to share the story that is the lastest of the many last straws in my long gone relationship with the Dutch Reformed Church. The President of one of the two seminaries, (the husband of one of my long ago HS teachers) was fired and defrocked after quietly going to Massachusetts to conduct a lesbian wedding ceremony. For his own daughter in a state where it is legal.
- Basset, neither do they go to the license branch in Michigan but rather to the Secretary of State's office. Of which there many.
- I'm not much for zombie movies, but will heartily recommend the book "World War Z, an Oral History of the Zombie Wars," by Max Brooks, son of Mel. Done in the most straightforward manner and seriously entertaining.
- I also find baseball boring, but still love it. I grew up going to Tiger games in the Al Kaline/Micky Lolich years, and as a tween had Denny McLaine's (sp?) Sports Illustrated cover on my bedroom wall. My uncle was a GM bigwig, and most of my Tiger Stadium memories are seen from GM's great seats on the 3rd base line. I also enjoyed living in a city with a Northwoods League team, a summer collegiate league. The Rochester Honkers had huge community support and filled up Mayo Field night after night. Private efforts are underway to build a field and bring a Northwoods League team to Elkhart. And hey, badmouth AMerican Idol all you want, but Dancing With the Stars is so ludicrously strange and wierd I can't stay away. It's the only reality show I've ever watched. Week one just ended. David Hasselhoff was sooo bad, he cha cha'd like a man wearing a back brace, and has joined the infamous ranks of "stars" sent home week one. Which includes Tucker Carlson and Kenny Maine. Kenny Maine has been far better doing deadpan Dancing commentary while wearing sparkling eye shadow, than he was during his one week as a dancer. So there, baseball and Dancing, all together now. And with all the NFL and NBA players that have done Dancing, where is MLB?
- The I.M. Pei designed library building in Columbus, IN was a disaster. Probably still is. After it opened the lower level flooded every time it rained. They finally build an expensive I.M. Pei designed addition to stop the flooding. The lights on the Main floor do not provide enough light for me to read by. And can not be changed or upgraded because they are committed to the architectural integrity of their building. On the other hand the huge Henry Moore sculpture on the library plaza is a joy. I love the story of its trip to Columbus. Barge to Jeffersonville, then a special truck for which I 65 was closed - I think overnight on a Sunday, because it was beyond wide load and the truck could only go about ten miles an hour. I've been involved in the architect interview process for years. My number one goal is that the architect design my building, not his building. Some years ago I was involved in interviews for which the Michael Graves firm made a proposal in partnership with an Indianapolis firm. Most of the arch. firms we interviewed talked about communication and partnership. The Graves firm talked about how famous we would be if we built a Michael Graves building. We selected a different firm, and designed a lovely building that was never, will never be built, mostly due to acquisition problems with the river front brownfield property we planned to build on. The property was foreclosed upon by a last resort financer in Chicago, and while our agreement to purchase was still valid, the environmentals turned out to be so much worse than we had expected (after seeing a year old Level 1 report) that we walked away from the property. In fact just now six years later the City has purchased the property and torn down the asbestos laden foundry building, but done nothing yet about the lead and arsenic contamination on the land.
- John Scalzi did a great piece on the whining professor to whom Jeff Borden refers. See it at http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/09/21/why-not-feeling-rich-is-not-being-poor-and-other-things-financial/ . Today he links to a story about a young New York lawyer who hates her job but isn't sure she wants to take up a great job offer at only $120,000 because she doesn't want to feel poor. http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/09/24/new-rule-for-the-internets-six-figure-income-division/
- Michigan's high school sport is football, Indiana's is basketball. My old high school is now a middle school. Only one of the two buildings I remember remains, and it was completely wrapped in new construction when my youngest brother was there. My other younger brother (referred to as my big brother as he is 6'3")goes to homecoming every year, as he sings in the Alumni madrigal choir for the event. He's the only one of us that still lives there. I am 4th generation, all of whom lived in that small town. My generation is the first without a business on Main St. I wouldn't live there for anything. I consider myself an escaped Dutch girl.
- Yeah, LSSI has been around for a long time, and is not well thought of in the general library community. And highly paid professional employees with years of seniority get laid off and then rehire offers at lower pay scales. Here in Indiana -which I am about to leave- Our Man Mitch has had the goal for sometime of forcibly merging all of Indiana's public libraries into county systems. Word is he has been talking to LSSI about managing that process when it happens. OMM claims he will have control of both houses come fall and will be able to forcibly make this happen. His talk is all about reducing overhead by sharing it. This past year LSSI lobbied against a state rule in some other state, I believe Florida, which required any public library receiving state aid to have an MLS holding Director. LSSi claimed the sole reason for the rule was to keep them out of the state. They lost. Indiana's relatively new property tax reform process is having a large negative impact on public library revenue in the state. Indianapolis-Marion County PL is having a tough time, and lost much of its community support as a result of the construction screw ups and total cost of the new Main that opened a few years ago. When they are covered in the Indy Star the comments are ferocious. My new library as of Oct. 11, was founded from scratch five years ago after years of the municipal govt paying three nearby communities for library access. It has a generous millage, part of it permanent. Indiana folks and others, a millage is a tax rate voted on by the citizen/residents. The municipal board is looking for fast growth and total remodeling/renovation of a building that is currently only partly used. People love their libraries. Except for the Chamber types who hate taxes. Many communities have demonstrated successfully against LSSI to keep their libraries public
- When I lived in Jackson County in southern Indiana it was standard practice to pay an annual fire fee to the local volunteer fire department. I remember it as $10. Homeowners received one letter, then a follow up visit from a fire fighter. We always paid, never needed the fire department, but did have the experience of a water truck wrecking part of our yard while going to a pasture fire next door. We just fixed it. Better put out the pasture fire next door then see where it might go.
- This morning there was a sandhill crane standing outside the window of my new office.
- When it comes to leaves etc. we are fans of our mulching mower. Whips those leaves into invisibility.
- I've just moved to Oakland County Michigan, the next county north of Detroit's Wayne County. (I am in the western edge, known as the lakes district.) And just got cable installed. The network shows are filled with nasty ads, from unidentifiable organizations. My library is distributing the Oakland County LWV election guide, which appears to cover every election coming up, including tax millages, library boards, township boards, and more more. Having been here not quite two weeks I feel I know a heck of a lot about an election that I will not be able to vote in. Our facebook page has a link to the online version of the LWV voter guide, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Commerce-Township-Community-Library/170243933848
- It's a little early for those "gales of November", Edmund Fitzgerald sunk on November 10. I know this because, as I have told you before, it is my husband's birthday.
- True about Indiana. The State Historical Society magazine (Traces?) recently did an article on that shameful chapter in the state's history. And Parke County oddly enough was where most of those considered unfit were living.
- Well, we all learned that Jon Stewart can't sing.
- Bought no candy, kept the lights off. Have done so ever since my kid left for college, and wasn't there to help with the door.
- News blast! Keith Olbermann suspended by NBC for not reporting political donations as required.
- I think I am the only person who has actually seen the movie Man in the Moon, starring Jim Carrey as comedian Andy Kaufman. Courtney Love played Kaufman's wife in an uncredited appearance, and I thought she was beautiful and luminous. According to imdb.com Courtney Love was in Sid and Nancy, playing a character named Gretchen.
- As a child I could hear the Holland Lighthouse fog horn on foggy nights, and always found it very comforting.
- Also my Dad's 79th, must remember to call. And Cute Overload just makes me crabby.
- I thought it was Red Bull and Jaegermeister. (sp?) My kid's last roommate's boyfriend was a marketing rep for Red Bull and he was even handing out small sample bottles of Jaegermeister. We ended up with one, and laughed as neither of us has ever had a Red Bull.
- The previous occupant of my desk left behind a Henry the Hatter business card. You can check them out at http://www.henrythehatterdetroit.com .
- If you have a septic tank you shouldn't put anything down the disposal. My new house has septic and NO disposal so I don't have to worry. And I have the coolest kitchen faucet of all time. I love Dancing With the Stars, though there is no one to root for this season. And I always tivo it, just to be able to skip the commercials, and the really bad guest artists on results night. Plan for Saturday is an early trip to Eastern Market. Will I see you there Nancy?
- Perfect timing cooz, there's Broder at number 4.
- The wilderness of Fishers? And here I thought it was the fastest growing suburban community in the state.
- My aren't we a quiet bunch. Still recovering from your turkey OD? Anyone willing to admit to shopping today? I made a mid day visit to Dick's Sporting Goods and Trader Joe's at my visiting daughter's request. Counting lunch at PEI WEI spent just under $100. Tomorrow is Ikea with visiting friends. I have been wondering how to pronounce that restaurant's name.
- Wow. Exactly 24 hours between comments, to the minute.
- We headed there early this a.m. Missed a free way interchange and ended up on Grand River for most of the trip, then lost in downtown Detroit. Took us two hours to make what should have been a 40 minute trip. Just as we pulled in to the market our anticipated guests called to say they were going to be earlier than expected. They got to our house about 15 minutes before we got home. Looks like a cool market, I am looking forward to going again when I can stay a while.
- Dexter, if you want to know how cold it really is look here: http://thefuckingweather.com/
- Our house looked a little like that as well. Our daughter connected our WII to her Netflix account which has been kind of fun. Went to Ikea as well, after all those multi hour trips to Chicago area Ikea stores it is kind of amazing to have one 20 minutes down the freeway.
- Hallelujah Chorus flash mobs: http://www.etiquettehell.com/?p=1699 I liked the second one best.
- Just read “The Warmth of Other Suns” by Isabel Wilkerson about the great migration of black Americans out of the South into the North, Midwest and West. I heard the author interviewed by Terry Gross on Fresh Air and also read the book. That southern migration of blacks and of white southerners is a big part of the history of Michigan cities like Detroit, Flint, and Saginaw. For a fictional view of the white migration I recommend the wonderful novel "The Doll Maker" by Harriet Arnow.
- LAMary, noting on your calendar is so yesterday. Schedule a recording on your DVR/TIVO instead.
- The "Storage Wars" review makes it sound like everything is junk. Remember though, that someone once bought most of Martin Luther King's papers in one of those storage auctions.
- I took Valtrex for a while some years ago in an effort to put a stop to recurring attacks of shingles. It worked. So Valtrex doesn't always mean genital herpes. Although in Paris' case......
- Well Deborah I must still be in the boring part. Although the Stones are just getting started.
- Spectator's Bar and Restaurant in Saugatuck has the butt washer/dryer toilet in the women's handicapped stall, and we stand in line to use it even though the other stalls are vacant. Among your options are front wash, rear wash, and blow dry. There is a big ad about how you can get your own on the inside of the door.
- Google has addressed the issue of bad publicity leading to higher rankings: http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/12/02/5567082-google-sucker-punches-online-retail-bully .
- On the subject of contacting your representatives: my daughter recently contacted her state rep to ask him to support the Sunday liquor sales bill. She says she received a canned reply that made it clear that Sunday liquor sales were immoral and so was anyone who supported it. This is a kid with lots of lobbying experience from her two year internship with the Indiana Wildlife Federation. She was quite horrified by the response.
- I hear gunfire here quite regularly as I drive by the Detroit Gun Club regularly and on weekends the gun blasts are constant. The pic of the google house is side on so it's hard to judge the size. But probably not as large as the total garage space.
- Rana, I once had a car that farted. Worse than a dog fart for sure.
- OK Sue, snow, the quiet lake, Christmas glimmers, be happy the Christ child comes. My Christmas songs in German are, the familiar, Oh Tannenbaum, Oh Tannenbaum, wie treu sind deine Blätter, Du grünst nicht nur zur Sommerzeit,Nein auch im Winter, wenn es schneit.O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,etc. Und this one: Oh Ihr Kinderlein, kommet, o kommet doch all, zum Bethlehem komm zu den manger and the stall. Whoops ran out of German.
- Salt person here. I can tell if you didn't put enough salt in your potato boiling water. My best friend is a pepper person. I find it hard to eat her soup.
- Peter, my understanding is that the under 30 degrees thing applies only to the concession areas, and they have already brought in heaters. The real question is: Will there be beer? I enjoyed the story of hundreds of volunteers coming out to help shovel the field.
- In 1996 I spent $90 for a sixth row seat to see Julie Andrews in Victor/Victoria on Broadway. In 2003 I spent $90 for a front row seat at Lion King in Toronto. In both cases the most I ever spent on a ticket to anything. And in both cases well worth it. Not sure I would spend the same amount for Spider Man. I see Mary Poppins is currently in Detroit, wonder how much those tickets are? EDIT: Main floor tickets are $345 and $408. Cheapest back row balcony tickets are $100. Majority of tickets seem to be in the $118 and $135 levels.
- Peter, I found those prices by searching "mary poppins" and detroit on google.
- Sue, one of my best high school experiences was being in "Fiddler on the Roof". We did one musical, one drama and one comedy a year.
- My brother has a deep bass voice, which he says means he can only be the bad guy in community theater musicals. Most recently Caiaphas in Jesus Christ Superstar and Bill Sykes in Oliver, and multiple times as Jud in Oklahoma. He enjoyed playing Eddie in Pump Boys and Dinettes as Eddie never says a word onstage but is still a great character.
- When my daughter was in London a couple of years ago they went to the theatre a lot. They had learned that if you showed up at the last minute with a student ID you could get really cheap tickets. I know that they saw Wicked, Billy Elliott and Les Miz, each multiple times. In looking up ticket prices in Detroit for Mary Poppins I did learn that Les Miz will be passing through town in the new year.
- My husband and daughter are so anxious to see True Grit that I expect them to be standing in the drive with their coats on ready to go when I get home from work. I am looking forward to The King's Speech.
- Merry Christmas to all. Gifts are opened, showers have started, and we will soon be off to the inlaws. Across the state to see my side tomorrow. My dear husband got me a gift certificate to the restaurant he's been wanting to try. Among other fine things. A new lap top and a new netbook were discovered under the tree.
- The only real fabric store I have found since moving to west metro Detroit is in downtown Royal Oak. The only quilt shop I have found is in Milford. Yes, there is a Joanne's. Yes there is a hobby lobby, but I no longer patronize them after visiting their web page. Let's just say the prolife message scattered among the hobby crap seemed so so out of place that I went away and didn't come back.
- We've talked about Indianapolis earthquakes before. As I recall Jefftmmo and I were both in Methodist Hospital in Indy for the 1987 earthquake. He was a chaplain. I was a pregnant woman held prisoner for 11 weeks. Sorry about your loss Scout, two years ago I held my old man Shih Tzu as he took his last breath. So tough.
- Took advantage of yesterday's decent temperature and scattered sunshine and took an exploring ride in our new neighborhood where we discovered the Detroit Finn Cooperative Summer Camp Association on the shores of Loon Lake. It snuck up on us. Suddenly the woods on either side of the gravel road were filled with tiny ancient looking cabins, with shutters in lieu of windows. A little further down we found several larger buildings, and a nice beach and picnic area. We still had no clue, and then we saw the historical marker - which was not in English! A little more exploring brought us to the other side of the marker - the English side - where we discovered what it was. Founded in 1925, the dance hall was built in 1927. And the most amazing thing: nothing about the Association in Wikipedia! I knew there had been Lithuanian family camps in the Three Rivers area. We are looking forward to checking it out during the summer, when they celebrate the Finnish midsummer festival. Or so the marker told us.
- LAMary, only bad guacamole has mayonaisse in it.
- Eggs aren't dairy? We learned long ago not to order anything listed on the menu as guacamole dip.
- I knew that. It's just that in the grocery store they're dairy. Sort of. And along with dairy not eaten by vegans.
- Is it a tmi day or is it just me?
- Having been the first person I knew who didn't change her name upon marriage, lo these 30some years ago, I call it my life name. And if you had a unique ethnic name with a Z in it you probably would have kept yours too!
- Mini skirts for me too LAMary, with fishnets.
- Prospero, I'm sorry I looked. The Santa creeped me out. Myst be that Calvinist Dutch Reformed childhood.
- We were younger then, Del.
- Bad news here. Mitch Albom got the big above the fold cover story on the front page of today's Free Press. It's about Michigan football of course.
- I too have the house dream. I recently read "Life would be perfect if I lived in that house" and she too had the dream. Until I read her comments and the stuff about her house dream research, I thought I was alone. My favorite dream house turned out to have a canoe rental business operating out of the other side with a long porch on a river.
- I was writing this comment on yesterday's post when today's post appeared so I put it here even though it is irrelevant. During the Haley Barbour news uproar last week one of the news articles I read mentioned a book by Willie Morris called "Yazoo" which looked at the 1970 integration of the Yazoo MS schools. I just finished it and it was a very different story than the one Barbour told. Morris was then the editor of Harper's and himself a graduate of Yazoo schools. N word appeared regulary, when quoting casual conversation. One of the things Morris said was it isn't the kids, it's the parents. When this generation grows up I am hopeful things will be different. Well all these years later it is and it isn't. This depressed me because I have been saying the same thing about my daughter's generation. My library is part of a large catalog cooperative that includes many if not most of two county's worth of metro Detroit. This 1971 publication was owned by only one of the libraries in the group, and an early computer produced catalog card was pasted inside the cover to be used as a pocket. This was as interesting to me as the book itself. Which I do recommend.
- I've done the bra fit thing, only to find that bras are not made in my size. Once you know your size try Just my Size at JMS.com which carries a huge assortment of hard to find sizes. And let's just say there are few As and Bs available after 38.
- Deborah, I feel the same way about being around these wonderful writers. And Prospero, my daughter had a terrible fear of clowns. Once in downtown Indy we took her, then aged two, to the once thriving Union Station. On the way in we walked past clowns doing balloons. We sat down in the restaurant and she grabbed her nose and wouldn't let go until we got back to the car. We finally got her to tell us "clowns going to get my nose."
- Jeff tmmo, a small wicked grin? Mine was a little bigger and included a whoop.
- Jeff(tmmo) the current issue of National Geographic has an article on the mounds in Missouri, and some horrifying pictures of the destruction of a mound located in St. Louis.
- This week's Entertainment Weekly review of Chua's books essentially says the reviewer is looking forward to reading the daughter's memoir some day.
- I slice my fingernails regularly. Then there was the wooden spoon that got pulverized in the blender when making guacamole for a Super Bowl party. Can you say strainer? You guys make me feel like a bad unsophisticated eater. I love green bean casserole. I love kool whip. Oh well.
- Hell week? In the college bookstore world, in which I was long ago employed, it's called Rush Week.
- But in Indiana you are required to publicly declare your party when voting in the primaries. You can be informally questioned if you request the primary ballot for a party other then that for which you previously voted. When I first moved to Indiana I was horrified to learn they kept track.
- Sue, back in 08 the South Bend polls turned away a large group of retired nuns because they didn't have ID.
- Some years ago Time magazine did an issue that looked at all the gun deaths in this country on a certain day. In my vague memory there were suicides, there were murders, there were accidents. They told the story with photo of each person.
- I remember the bottle of locally pressed olive oil you saw at Eastern Market. Wasn't that worth $75??
- I quit reading the comments at Pioneer Woman some time ago. They all say, "sounds great, I can't wait to make it." Actually I quit reading the blog as well. But did buy the first book.
- Wow. Good bye Keith O. I would like to know the behind the scenes story.
- If you seek a pleasant peninsula look about you. Through the fog and snow. During my Indiana years I always appreciated that Indiana had a song, and people actually sang it. I don't think "Back Home Again" is an official state song, but many times it seemed as though it was.
- The big storms I remember are the Blizzard of 78 when I was snowed in in Ann Arbor, and the famous Minneapolis Halloween Blizzard of 91, which I spent in the downtown Hyatt Regency. Seems odd that grocery madness would occur in the Detroit metro area today when the storm isn't actually going to hit us until tomorrow evening.
- Jeff(tmmo) my training session scheduled for Thursday, to be held a few miles down the road, has already been cancelled. No snow yet.
- I've got a snow day tomorrow, everything is starting to shut down, even though the snow isn't quite here yet. Kid tells me Indiana University has shut down due to ice.
- Deborah, according to The Weather Channel there is a spun out bus in that lane on Lake Shore and all traffic is now in the northbound lane. They also just pointed out the thunder and lightning in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin which seems to mean this is really a serious storm. The worst is yet to get to us.
- Duke Energy is updating their outage numbers in Indiana on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.duke-energy.com%2Findiana%2Foutages%2Fcurrent.asp&h=a948f Starting yesterday here and continuing on today these are the new words for snow storm I have learned: Snowmageddon! Snowpocalypse! Snowtorious BIG! Snowicane! Blizzaster! Got any more. I mean if all we're going to talk about is the weather....
- Catherine, when there is a snow day there is bread baking at our house. Wheat came already ground.
- Disappointment here too, a few inches, light snow now. About to do some bread dough in my continuing experiments with the recipe from the book "Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a Day." I can hear the snow blower running in my driveway. Thanks honey.
- I had ice on the inside of my windshield this morning. Oh, I miss my attached garage.
- Had to share. I have just discovered http://regretsy.com , where really bad stuff available on etsy is highlighted. Have been giggling for some time, so is you need a giggle...
- We had catalytic converter issues with a Pontiac 6000 which we still refer to as "the farting car." Of course it was also probably the only Pontiac 6000 in the world with Pirelli tires. (My brother is in the high end tire business. Here's hoping that Alan's car problems are fixed and that it's not farting.
- Didn't see them all last night, but watched the Chrysler commercial on the Freep page and loved it. I also got a big kick out of the Bridgestone ad in which the beaver returns the favor.
- Sick here too, shaking with fever. Just ate my first meal since Monday evening and it was only toast and a tangerine. I just don't get vegan. Vegetarian yes, but vegan? If you read the labels on those frozen not meat products they appear to be made from mystery chemicals. Chemicals good, meat bad? On yesterday's subject of creationism in biology class I would refer you to http://parentingbeyondbelief.com/blog/ . If you click back a month or two you can read about the writer's own experience with creationism in his kid's biology class and how he dealt with it in an appropriate and civil manner.
- Nancy, are these the French ruin porn photographers you hosted around town a while back? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kisa-lala/detroit-the-ruins-of-an-e_b_810688.html
- I see millions of typos all the time. Although the wierdest one, recently I read one where the author kept referring to girls wearing berets. And I thought he meant, well, berets. Realized half way through he meant barrettes. Which in southern Indiana are brets. I have access to a lot of ARCs, advance reading copies, and they have big notices in them that this is not a final proofread copy and only the final copy should be used for quotes.
- Great story in the Freep today about the making of that Chrysler ad: http://www.freep.com/article/20110208/BUSINESS01/102080380/Chrysler-Super-Bowl-ad-How-all-came-together
- I remember seeing Broadcast News in an East Lansing theater with my boyfriend, now husband. At some point he stood up and said very loudly "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to watch this movie any more. I'll wait for you in the lobby." I have no idea why. The only other movie I remember walking out on is Barry Lyndon in the same theater. We thought it had ended and we heaved a huge sigh of relief. As we stood up to leave up flashed the words "End of Part One." We didn't stay for part two.
- For Brian, from boing-boing: If you are not already reading Disunion—the New York Times' amazing blog about the American Civil War and everything that led up to it—then I pity you. Both because you've been missing out on a fascinating look at American history and cultural analysis that goes far beyond anything you learned in school, and because you're about to waste your entire Thursday reading through the archives. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/disunion/
- I found a link to the Enquirer's Boehner story on Americablog: http://www.nationalenquirer.com/john_boehner_house_speaker_sex_scandal_two_women/celebrity/70110
- I will say the same thing Deborah said: "I’m still home from work sick, that’s why I’m commenting so much today." But I bet you didn't get a shot like mine today. The not in the arm kind. Weird headlines of the day, both from MSNBC: Viagra demand surges before Valentine's Day and Trump will decide by June on presidential bid. Trump? Trump? Are you kidding? Brian, my daughter talks about going to visit Oxford with her genetics professor and he had tears in his eyes seeing Darwin's journals up close. For each one, something.
- What happened to this morning's expectations re Egypt? Now there will be an explosion of anger. I've always hated TVs in the doctor's waiting room, but not today.
- Didn't the Tin Caps used to be the Mad Ants? I was sorry they changed it, but I guess you had to be sort of local history cognizant to get it. And Dorothy, I've seen several Johnny Appleseeds. I like the Mark Twains better. I went several times to an Indiana Humanities Council thing where they showcased performer programs available for educational programs via grants. And I absolutely hate all those James Whitcomb Rileys. After I sat through my sixth or seventh Riley after dinner speech, not all the same James, and I swore I'd NEVER NEVER NEVER put myself through that again. And whose the cartoonist from Nashville IN? No, I will stop right there.
- Deborah, my daughter saw Les Miz three times in her semester in London and loved it. And I have bought a few of those Ball U shirts over the years. Usually for my brothers, who thought they were so cool. And Jen, thanks for the correction on the Mad Ants and it is such a great Fort Wayne name.
- In college I worked with a student named Karla Hunsucker. Last I saw her she was excited to be marrying a Smith.
- Jeff(tmmo) answer is nope. I found it: For twenty-five years, from 1905-1930, "Abe Martin" was the mouthpiece for Kin Hubbard's daily quips in The Indianapolis News, which, accompanied by sketches of Abe and his friends in action, were syndicated across the nation. I think the imitator I saw was doing the character, not the cartoonist. The Brown County State Park has the Abe Martin lodge. Know any more buildings named after a cartoon character?
- Harry Baals made Boing-Boing. Comments are fun. http://www.boingboing.net/2011/02/11/fort-wyane-is-about.html
- FWIW, "I am Number Four" is an excellent YA novel.
- As to the ebook reader - Public libraries are adding downloadable ebooks to their downloadable audio programs, all in the standard epub format used by every device except, you guessed it, the Kindle. Will you want to be able to use your library's free ebook checkouts?
- You're OK Jolene. I will admit to a pack of cheese and crackers from the machine. Otherwise it's toast with cheese or bagel with cream cheese at home, with whatever fruit I've got. One last clementine.
- McDonald's "oatmeal" has 11 weird ingredients, more sugar than a Snickers. http://www.boingboing.net/2011/02/25/mcdonalds-oatmeal-ha.html
- I was very aware when I posted the boingboing link that yes, we had already discussed Bittman's rant on McD's oatmeal. My point, which I obviously failed to make, was Hey Nance, you're ahead of boingboing on this one. Cool.
- Keith Olbermann is back: http://foknewschannel.com/
- I skipped the Oscars as usual as well, though did go online to check out the red carpet and see who won. I only went to one movie last year. And it won best picture!
- Our daughter brought us a bottle of Sriracha sauce over the holidays, and it quickly became a staple. Sriracha and brown sugar mixed is a great stir fry sauce.
- My parent's wedding pictures from 1953 including one of those tiny spouse pictures - groom standing on hand of bride while she shook her finger at him - so it's not just a photoshop thing.
- My husband and I did a Sheen or Quaddafi quiz last night and got two right out of eight. That's worse than hit or miss!
- Major Pettigrew was wonderful. And got my vote for best cover of the year. And Moe99 if Amazon has enabled library lending for the Kindle they haven't got around to telling libraries about it. And right now libraries are signing on for every e-book service they can find. Harper Collins has just announced that all library e-book versions of their titles will now cease to exist after 26 checkouts.
- Library e-book programs are controlled by a license. We don't actually buy and own the e-book, we license the right to it. In the largest program, Overdrive, the one shared by a large consortium of libraries in the Detroit Metro area, and available to Fort Wayne/Allen County library users as well, only as many copies as you have purchased of the e-book can be out at one time, so you may find yourself on a waiting list for the digital version. And yes it will disappear after two weeks or whatever is the designated check-out. Other programs such as NetLibrary have more generous licensing regulations, at least with their audio books, and will allow multiple simultaneous downloads. It was hard to miss last week's announcement by publisher Harper Collins that as of this week new titles licensed through Overdrive would be limited to 26 checkouts and would either be no longer available after 26 or would need to be repurchased. I understand their point in terms of revenue and author's rights, but it still seems, well stupid to me to not allow multiple simultaneous uses of a digital product. These products provide e-books in the "standard" epub format which can be read on any reader except for the Kindle. And for your ipad you will need an app. Overdrive also has a resident user restriction which makes sense to me. If you want to come to my library's web page to download epubs you must enter the appropriate library card number which is verified against our user database. No reciprocal privileges for electronic resources. Our pricing is based on population served. I have just signed the contract to add music downloads to our e-book and audio-book download selection. This is a product called Freegal and makes available mostly Sony music product. And yes all Overdrive e-book products are protected by DRM.
- I loved "Major Pettigrew" and it also wins my personal award for best cover of 2010.
- Suzanne, I also have that despairing feeling that my lifetime profession is dying off. I discouraged my own daughter from considering a library/information science master's program. Though whether that IU SPEA Master's in Public Policy/Environmental Policy she is currently half way through will serve her better? I have no idea. It is getting her to Oxford for the summer though, which is cool, even though I have to babysit her very hairy dog.
- Did the best I could for Mardi Gras. I am wearing my Mardi Gras beads in the office. Purple ones.
- Dorothy, I've used a binder with plastic sleeves for my personal cookbook for many years. It has old recipe cards taped in it, and photocopies with holes punched. If I see a recipe I like in a book I just photocopy it. Every couple of years I have to switch a bigger binder, and I think I've reached my max!
- Reductions in Michigan state aid will have a huge negative impact on the regional library cooperatives, which already took a 40% hit a couple of years ago. In my region it will hurt if not destroy the delivery system that allows libraries in two metro counties to share books, as well the delivery component of melcat, the statewide shared catalog. OTOH We are thankful that the budget includes a specific line for the MEL's shared databases. Probably due to the power of the college/university lobby is what I hear.
- The circuit breaker tax reform in Indiana had a huge negative impact on all local government in Indiana including public libraries. And as libraries were dealing with the impact the State implemented new, more difficult to meet, rules regarding staff certification and library standards.
- Pictures of post-earthquake libraries in Japan. http://togetter.com/li/110567 I did hit the let Google translate button and enjoyed the oddness of the translations.
- I'm not the least bit Irish either. As one of Dutch heritage I am wearing my touch of Orange. Go William of Orange! Oh, and Go Butler!
- Oh man, another buzzer beater. Go Butler. Good thing I'm the boss, though the rest of you can watch your team's game online at work too as long as you keep the volume down and read something work related.
- Yes to Butler. They got all my money and they got my heart. The two games so far this year and every game in the NCAAs last year are what I call heart attack games. Last second every time. Last night's game was unbelievable. My Butler grad may be an IU student but we both will root for Butler, probably for the rest of our lives.
- Happy Birthday Brian! I can claim to have met this fine gentleman, for a quick lunch at a Taco Bell in downtown Fort Wayne. He was fine company, and I love your writing voice.
- I still have my Russian textbook from MSU as well, wonder if it is the same. (It's red. Librarians hate it when you say that.) Since all my books are still in boxes I can't even check. I do find these days that if you say to a Russian Speaker, dosvadanya tovaritch, they will laught. Because no one says comrade anymore. Except perhaps those of us who learned our Russian (what little I remember) during the Cold War. And as to yesterday's comments, I think of Chicago as the sound track to my senior year. Homecoming theme: Color My World. Prom theme: Saturday in the Park.
- Good student discounts work all the way through college, just keep sending your agent those report cards. These days that means printouts thereof. State Farm has a safe teen driver discount program which involves a driving log, a dvd, and a brief test by the agent. Only good until your kid gets her first speeding ticket.
- I for one am quite pleased to be full of whit.
- I have recently seen in the news the same no taxes paid for Bank of America and BP. Go Butler!
- Go Butler! (Sorry Dorothy)
- MarkH, Butler lost last year's top player, Gordon Hayward, to the NBA draft. He would have been a junior, plays for Utah. Today there was a freshman whose name escaped me, (Hopkins?) who played several times and made a great showing including a 3 pointer. Only two seniors in the starting line-up, so a chunk of the team will return next year. Brian, my daughter sent me a picture of the Bulldog captioned (in the LOLcats way) I haz broke your bracket. Ha!
- Dexter, there's a facebook event on Friday: Wear glasses to show your support for Brad Stevens and Butler.
- I am very happy with the low flow toilet in my rental house. The water softener however isn't working and there's a lot of mineral in the well water. The dishwasher is a mineral mess, as is my Oneida stainless.
- Basset's parents used to drive to Illinois to load up on phosphated detergent. Mine used to go to Illinois to stock up on liquor, as Michigan did not allow sales. And no, my parents weren't serious drinkers, they were serious party givers. The suits and serious dresses kind of party.
- Turns out the so-called birth certificate Trump showed wasn't one. It was the commemorative certificate the hospital issues to the family. Love this snarky bit from Ben Smith at Politico: "Trump's mother, it should be noted, was born in Scotland, which is not part of the United States. His plane is registered in the Bahamas, also a foreign country. This fact pattern -- along with the wave of new questions surrounding what he claims is a birth certificate -- raises serious doubts about his eligibility to serve as President of the United States."
- I just read nn.c on the taxpayer's time. When I saw the DutchDay headline I thought it would be something special for your resident "Dutch girls" LAMary and I. Oh well. Elmore Leonard will do.
- Dorothy, if you go to SF, ask me about fabric shops before you go.
- You won't need a car. There is a phenomenal high end fabric store just off Union Square in the central city, and the BART train will take you right under the bay to within a block of Stone Mountain and Daughters in Berkeley. And Chez Panisse is almost across the street but make your reservation as soon as you can.
- I saw the Dr. Doolittle circus scenes being filmed in San Francisco. Circus was next to Fisherman's Wharf. For great seafood I recommend Scoma's, http://www.scomas.com/?, several piers down from Fisherman's Wharf. Actually all of my SF seafood experiences have been excellent. And the best late night bar view in town is the restaurant at the top of the Grand Hyatt near Union Square.
- I will add my vote to Muir Woods. We did it on a Grey Line bus tour. Also don't miss Alcatraz. Partly for the sight of the silent touring crowd in their audio headphones following the audio directionr, in a most amusing kind of "wave." Britex is the fabric store of which I could not remember the name. I remember an ALA conference in SF in June at which everyone I knew went out to buy a coat.
- Stephen Colbert Sings "Friday" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU1v_XKgEPc EDIT: Just saw your link to this facebook Nancy. After I posted, just so you know. Go Butler.
- Hydroponic supplies about to open up near us as well.
- Yes, Butler. And by more than 2 points this time.
- Love this story. It's all about the bulldog. http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/14893284/with-discipline-butler-has-done-the-impossible
- My ultra straight grad student daughter told me several of her friends smoked pot and in her opinion the only thing it did was make them stupid. My husband and I did note once that she would not have hung out with us in high school. (It was the late 60s for him and the early 70s for me.) I've been told that at the Grand Rapids marijuana clinic the doctor visit costs $200 and you are guaranteed your medical marijuana card. Go Butler!
- Oddly enough there always assorted hemostats for sale in the vendor mall at big quilt shows. Can be used as a quilting or sewing tool.
- The Mennonite thrift shop we frequented in Goshen had men's undies nicely displayed -- on hangers. No women's though.
- Thanks MarkH. It was a good run, but it was a truly ugly game. Butler is my team.
- I got that Epsilon breach email from Citibank. Who I do not believe actually has my email address. No personal financial data was included in the breach. According to them. And one last time, Go Butler. It was an ugly game, but hey, they're my team. I have two degrees from two Big Ten schools, but it will always be Butler for me, win or lose.
- My brother in law works at the GM Proving Grounds and gets a car for a weekend once a month. Says the next one will be a Volt, perhaps we'll get him to cruise over for a visit.
- Correction to earlier post. I received a letter from Citibank, not an email. They really don't have my email address.
- Have never seen Sex in the City in any form, have no desire to. Did buy a Kobo e-reader the other day. Haven't bought anything for it, I've been downloading e-books from my library.
- We are having a Tiger's Home opening day hot dog lunch today at the township hall. We are supposed to wear Tiger shirts. I am wearing the only team shirt I actually own. Go Butler!
- Brian that would be Lake Macatawa, generally referred to as Lake Mac. I once got to do a fireworks cruise there courtesy of my bff who worked at Squirt before it was sold to Dr. Pepper and moved to Texas.
- Do check out today's Goodle logo which honors today's anniversary of "first man in space" Yuri Gugarin, sp?
- Well Alex down there in Fort Wayne, it has always been my understanding that Hot Browns can be ordered only in the greater Louisville area. So where were you going to order that Hot Brown? Just wondered.
- I lived just north of Louisville for years, and they certainly claim the Hot Brown as theirs, invented at the Brown Hotel in Louisville. I've only walked through but did attend a wonderful performance of Zap Mama at the renovated Brown Theater.
- LAMary, my daughter will be in Oxford this summer. I already told her to bring me the tackiest royal wedding souvenir she could find. Want me to tell her to get you a tea towel?
- My only complaint is that the previous and next post are no longer shown at top and bottom of page. I liked the one at the bottom because I could refresh the comments and could tell if there had been a new post. Up early this morning for a 7 a.m. meeting with a service club for which I was the speaker. I am feeling like a person who got up in the middle of the night. I was in the office last night till after 9 p.m. due to another meeting, so it seems like I just got out of here a few minutes ago.
- I've seen Jesus Christ Superstar on stage twice, once as a high school kid when it was new, and more recently a fully staged version that included my big voiced brother as the High Priest Caiphus. That was done in a sort of hippy punk style, the Roman soldiers were dressed in black and wearing gas masks, and the various crowds around Jesus included skate boarders and BMX bikes. And the death scene went on forever and was way overdone. Judas' suicide was by overdose. As kids we all took organ lessons and bought the sheet music for JCS. I could probably still sit down and play Herod's Song. EDIT: Like the change in the no longer scrolling scroll on the side.
- ROGirl, I'm a library director in Oakland County. The update I received from the Troy Director stated only that they would remain open until the May date on which the City Council will once again consider the library budget. If that meeting does not result in further funding the library will still close in May with the time until the current budget year ends at the end of June to be used for an orderly shutdown as originally planned. That city council is allowed by law to levy a one mill library tax at any time but has chosen not to do so. Even if they do so now I do not believe they will collect any of the new tax until 2012.
- I will join Scout in saying "Sparrow" is one of my best reads of all time. For those who care, Hugo nominees were just announced.
- Senator Caswell gets worst person of the day: http://foknewschannel.com/worst-persons-for-april-25/#more-337 . Brian that Meijer's story gave me the creeps.
- Sounds a lot like those porn names. If I am Lady Agnes Hans-Winterhalder I must be one of those German relatives.
- I scrolled through the White House easter egg hunt pictures and was delighted to see President Obama reading one of my very favorite children's books of all time "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom." "A called b, and b called c, I'll meet you at the top of the coconut tree. Chicka chicka boom boom, will there be enough room?" It is probably stuck in my brain forever.
- Jack Lessenbury, Michigan Radio's political commentator, was just talking about Americans aren't getting important news from Canada. He noted that yesterday's Canadian elections greatly changed the political landscape and what the impact might be on Michigan. He noted that the Detroit Free Press' front page did not address the Canadian news, but did feature "a sports columnists blog about what he thinks about Obama bin Laden." You go, Jack.
- According to the Indy Star earlier today Trump has chosen to step out of the Pace Car thing. It was not revoked. He cited the time commitment for practice and his burgeoning political involvement, thus driving the Pace car perhaps not appropriate.
- Just checked Russell's Doc out myself. But nothing she has done since comes anywhere near The Sparrow. My grad student daughter got home late Tuesday night and left this a.m. for Detroit Metro. Sometime early tomorrow she will arrive in Frankfort for 6 weeks of classes, two weeks free to bum around, and then six weeks at Oxford. I am a dog foster parent for the summer. I even have a power of attorney that says so. Not sure why I needed the POA.
- As to prohibition: we visited Holly Michigan the other day. It is the home of Battle Alley, to which Carrie Nation once took her ax. Another story from the past.
- So Dexter, you got a problem with honoring the great author of "Mr. Tickle?"
- Albom's sappy column does a good deed. I ran into a blog post today that is thankful for Albom's column about a homeless veteran that died recently. His column helped a group of longtime online friends figure out what happened to one of their group. I followed the various links and comments and was saddened by the story. http://feralgenius.blogspot.com/2011/05/lifes-joy-that-has-to-end-john-hannah.html
- Note that comments are turned off in the later post.
- Jeff Borden, Erik Prince is not only from Michigan, He's from my home town and our fathers lived together at Dutch House while grad students at U of M. My half carat was $400 in 1978 at an odd custom jewelry place in Ann Arbor. Yup, soon to be 33 years. Pros, of course I've read Riddley Walker. I spent much of my day at the Metro Detroit Book and Author Society Luncheon. The speakers were Sebastian Junger, you know him best for The Perfect Storm, though he thinks of himself as a war reporter, Diane Ackerman, best known for the Zookeeper's Wife, Erik Larson, author of Devil in the White City and his new "In the Garden of Beasts," Karl Marlantes, author of last year's bestselling VietNam novel "Matterhorn", John Gallagher, author of "Reimagining Detroit." I spent $40 on two books and stood in long lines for autographs from Larson and Marlantes. Food was crappy banquet chicken, speeches were great.
- Basset, I recommend the unwraps and the pub chips. Actually I would recommend anything I've ever tried at Mad Anthony's.
- Joe, why bother to shop? You can't take it with you.
- I agree with Alex. Saturday nights? The Muppet Show.
- I had a brief conversation earlier this week with Erik Larson, author of "Devil in the White City" and newly released "Beasts in the Garden." I told him I had heard him on Fresh Air the previous week. He told me that 1) His Fresh Air appearance had an immediate and amazing impact on sales, and 2) Terry Gross never ever has her guests in her own studio. Which, having heard the raunchy provocative interview with Gene Simmons a few years ago I was relieved to hear.
- As Nancy noted here it is rain, rain, and more rain. So what is it with Oprah? Am I the only person in the world who has never watched her show and just doesn't care?
- Great story on "All Things Considered" about Detroit techno and Movement.
- I got hard lenses at the age of 9 and my optometrist said I was the only kid with them he knew of. Switched to gas perms as an adult, added readers, and finally gave up about ten years ago as I just couldn't keep them clean. My claim to contact lense fame is being the kid for whom they had to turn on the lights in the coal mine at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Found the lens once they did.
- Heather, my glasses scrip is -10. That means coke bottles, one of the reasons I wore contacts for like 40 years. Vanity, vanity.
- Local news: Dr. Kevorkian died this a.m.
- Me neither.
- Well Jeff, you missed the reward that makes you forget all the pain.
- Well in my case it was the shot of synthetic morphine directly into my IV tube that made me say wheee! when I was in labor. Actually what I said was ""whee, give everyone some of this and we'll have a party!" Had my lovely baby girl an hour or two later. And in reality you know I meant the baby. Now 23.
- Guys, I just have no interest in a picture of your boehner or your weiner. Cute buns, maybe but I got my own cute guy at home.
- Part of the ongoing bridge shenanigans. The Ambassador Bridge from Detroit to Windsor is privately owned. The governor and Canadian officials want to build another bridge. The owner doesn't want the governments to do it, and is spending his millions lobbying against it. He wants to build and own the second bridge. In addition to the eviction notices to which Jeff referred,he has somehow fenced off a Detroit city park that butts up against the base of his bridge and covered the fence with fake homeland security signs. An activist group broke the park open recently. http://michiganmessenger.com/49648/people-tear-down-fence-in-detroit%E2%80%99s-riverside-park EDIT: Here's a blog post with more info. http://joelontheroad.com/?p=6948
- Turns out Weiner's wife is pregnant.
- I was never a Kiss fan, but I did enjoy halloween in the MSU dorms the year all the guys dressed up in Kiss make up. Hundreds, thousands, or so it seemed. That dates me right there.
- Try again Dexter, Pontiac no longer has its own police force. They are one of the three cities and 1 school district being "ruled" by emergency financial managers. They have disbanded their police force and all city law enforcement is now handled by the sheriff's office. In the last few days the state gave them permission to cancel the dispatcher's union contract. There were no police left to dispatch after all.
- Kaline, Stanley, Northrup, the Tidgers I grew up with. Sorry Dexter, I'm like 20 miles west southwest of Pontiac, been here less than a year. Good thing someone else knew how to answer your question.
- On the subject of male waxing, did we not discuss Andrew Sullivan's video of his man parts wax experience? I once asked my salon why there was one private waxing room with a recliner type thing in it. It was for man waxing. I looked at all those lovely young women that worked in the salon and thought "no way."
- Nancy said: The only people qualified to judge a marriage are the people in it. I say every marriage has its own dynamic and who are we to think we understand it.
- Had the same uproar in Elkhart a few years ago regarding wearing marine uniforms to graduation. My town's exchange student scandal: I was in middle school when a Swedish high school exchange student was sent home pregnant. No boys were punished because she couldn't name names, she could only name the football team. Typical of the times back then.
- Well Brian, I guess you could say I'm a public official, and have been for most of my adult working life, though employed, not elected. Sometimes it's a struggle, and sometimes it's mostly pleasant like now. One of the worst parts is reading the nasty comments in newspaper forums, where I learned over and over again that I have wasted millions of your tax dollars. Not an issue here where the local news is weekly and the daily news is the Detroit Free Press who could care less about western Oakland County. And while I've never been an Apple person, tonight the township board decided the township would replace their 7 year old laptops with ipads, and that the seven top level managers - including me - would get ipads as well. So cool. And it's not even coming out of my budget.
- Nancy's comment about the school pool reminds of a millage election when I was in high school. It was to include a pool. A letter to the editor opposing the pool stated "I learned to swim in a ditch and so can they." After several failed millages the school expansion with pool opened in time for my 8 years younger brother to attend. And for Indiana folks, I mentioned working for a township earlier. Townships in Michigan are real governments similar to cities, unlike the almost useless townships in Indiana (assessments and poor relief.) Also in Michigan local municipalities handle their own assessing, tax bills, etc., whereas in Indiana all that is handled by the county.
- I would buy something like that if it were Eliot's Prufrock. Or more correctly "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." I took a college poetry class in which most of our time was spent on Prufrock. And now I notice and recognize the many references to and quotes from Prufrock in news, modern fiction, and other places, attributed or not. So next time you are listening to NPR and someone says "the evening is spread against the sky like a patient etherized upon a table" think Prufrock. My NPR count for that one line is up to five. Or "in the room the women come and go talking of Michelangelo", "do I dare to eat a peach", "I grow old … I grow old … I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled." I will close with this, for the entire thing see: http://www.bartleby.com/198/1.html Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach? I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each. I do not think that they will sing to me. I have seen them riding seaward on the waves Combing the white hair of the waves blown back When the wind blows the water white and black. We have lingered in the chambers of the sea By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown Till human voices wake us, and we drown.
- As a former college book store employee responsible for the used book end of things here is the deal. The college bookstore will pay you 50% of retail if the book is going to be used for a class next semester. They will sell it to you for 75% of retail. If it is not going to be used for a class the bookstore will give you whatever they can sell it to a wholesale distributor for. It can be worth your while to wait to sell, if for example, a book is only used in fall semester.
- John C, love the Bedrock version of Prufrock.
- Prufrock got mentioned on Fresh Air today, in discussion of the Woody Allen movie. Headline right now on msnbc.com: Gingrich wife at center of campaign woes, sources say
- moe99: yup, ick.
- LAMary, I looked at the picture at your link and my reaction was "that's a big bunch of old white men."
- Enjoyed the hats. I'll take the green one with colored feathers. Note how many wearers are clutching their hats. And what's with the one that looks like Marie Antoinette's hair? That's just wierd. My husband walks the community trails daily and has an ever growing collection of found hats. This one is my favorite, though it doesn't really show the deer hunter orange color. Tell me where you would wear this hat, cause I haven't a clue. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CG-UyfVDOzs/TfffgPOhFSI/AAAAAAAAAxA/hQW6A_qULlI/s1600/foundhat061311-739298.jpg
- I'm not sure I'd call it tasty linkage. My daughter's commentary on traveling in Europe and finding new ways to tell time without a cellphone in her pocket. http://iwannabeelmoresnet.blogspot.com/2011/06/my-woes-keeping-time.html#comments
- Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp? My brother went there for voice long ago, though he is a bassist in all ways: voice, upright and guitar.
- The big news about that airplane crash here is that the injured surviving son is an incoming UM basketball recruit. http://www.detnews.com/article/20110627/METRO/106270350/U-M-recruit-Hatch-in-a-drug-induced-coma-after-surviving-2nd-plane-crash
- Made my first visit ever to a Whole Foods just the other day. Only because it was right there across the street from Trader Joe's. Never saw so much gluten free food in one place. Bought blueberries and salted caramels, and a bottle of shiracha. Probably won't go again. Can buy shiracha/shiraga at Trader Joes.
- We're neighbors, I am still in the 11th. My rep is Thaddeus McKotter, who appears to be campaigning in Iowa this week. I find it interesting that the "lost" congressional district comes out of the Detroit metro area.
- I hit the Mall of America during what turned out to be NCAA Final Four weekend in Minneapolis (who knew?) and the autograph line for John Wooden went all the way around the mall. We had to track to the beginning just to find out why. And Butler Fans? The first Indiana high school championship basketball game to be played in Hinkle Fieldhouse in 1927 or 28 - captain of the losing team was John Wooden.
- Brian, we are having our second summer with no child at home at all, and it still seems weird. Even though we moved away and this is not really her home, and she's a grown up grad student. Kid news is good, she seems to be enjoying her summer, first in Germany, has moved on to Oxford for the rest of the summer, and ran into Hugh Grant in a pub the other night.
- From what I've heard it was a busy crowded Oxford pub and he was there in the crowd and she even brushed up against him. So I got an "I touched Hugh Grant" message, but she wasn't near as excited as the 2008 "I shook Obama's hand" message. My daughter just spent 3 weeks wandering Europe on her own after her six weeks at Speyer University, (Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Leipzig,) and I wasn't too worried. She is self possessed and in charge, a one time athlete and weightlifter, an experienced lifeguard, and could handle Hugh Grant if necessary. We do feel like we are stalking her on Facebook.
- Had my own couple of nasty hours on I75 yesterday, I had forgotten the once familiar going north on Friday or Saturday in Michigan traffic. Worst traffic was the last ten miles on 115 into Cadillac, bumper to bumper at 10 mph. Aah, the things we do to get up north. Greetings from Pleasant Lake in Cadillac.
- Pharyngula trashes Mitch Albom. Comments dislike Mitch even more than NNc commenters do. http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/07/look_to_the_skies_america.php
- Thanks for the picture link, I enjoyed seeing Prince Willem of the Netherlands, for whose Queenly mother I once got to do the receiving line thing. My daughter is named after his grand mother, and when I was a kid I thought she was our queen as my grandmother talked about the queen in the old country.
- I agree with Sue, while I had issues living in a southern Indiana small town, we loved living just under an hour from both Louisville and Indianapolis. Currently we are in the far west end of metro Detroit, 45 minutes from downtown, and it's like living in the country out here, with lakes and public land all around us. My husband's favorite trail is at Haven Hill State Rec Area which used to be Edsel Ford's summer home.
- I for one will be glad to have Casey Anthony off the news, and could care less what the verdict is. What made this one case worth multiple years of national news? Hear me Nancy Grace?
- The Troy Public Library will make one more attempt to pass a tax millage to fund the library on August 2. A very active group is opposing them and is scheduling a book burning party for after the election. It's creepy. Here is their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BookBurningParty?sk=info
- Thanks Sue, fixed. My face is red.
- Bob(notgreene), the spirited discussion among the area Library Directors today includes your point of view, perhaps this is a bizarre campaign to support the millage vote.
- My daughter has never been able to read my cursive, she is 23. And can barely write it as well. She learned what was then called keyboarding in 4th grade though so we thought it was a fair exchange. They teach math differently these days as well, we were surprised when she needed a scientific calculator for high school math. The world changes. I try not to be an old fuddy duddy about this stuff, but it's hard. Speaking of old fuddy duddy's you should hear my dad whenever he sees her pierced lip. Actually just below the lower lip. I finally had to tell him to quit making his grownup granddaughter cry at family get togethers.
- Kids that age don't tell time the way us old folks do either. We say quarter after five. They say five seventeen.
- Brian, you are now an Indiana band dad! Having been an Indiana band mom (Yup that's what we call it) I hope you find as interesting, strange, and fun as we did. I can point out the nearest BBQ ribs place to most of the major competition venues when you get going this fall, that was a tradition for our gang of band parents in places like Carmel, Chesterton, etc. I would say hope you make it to the Dome like we did (4 times, Class B, 2nd, 1st, 2nd, 1st) but the dome is gone. Will Indiana marching ever be the same. And do link up with IndianaMarching.com to keep track of results, standings etc. Have fun!
- The Amway thing is ubiquituous if you live in west Michigan. My best friend in Holland lives near the Amways folks various Lake Macatawa summer homes. Many years ago they tore down a lovely house to build a mansion. They have now torn down the mansion, bought additional property and are building an even greater mansion complete with a guest house larger than most of the other houses on the lake. The Amway Grand is built on and around a classic old hotel called the Pantlind. Did you see the restaurant called "The Bank" "The Bank" was once a night club space at which my senior prom took place. My aunt was director of the Grand Rapids Convention and Visitors Bureau when the Amway Grand was built, and I remember her saying it would change what her office could accomplish for the city. You should have stayed at the new Gold LEED certified all green hotel in downtown Holland.
- Prospero, the west side of lower Michigan is filled with van names like Vandersloot. Not an uncommon name there it all, so why is it untrustworthy. Oh, and there are VanderSliks as well. And those who do Amway don't call it that, they are part of an upline group that has its own name, the one I am most familiar with is Quixtar. Amway is only the product. The multi-level marketing is independent. A good friend of mine did it for quite some time, and it always seemed to me to be about buying motivational tapes and attending motivational seminars rather than about selling product. And the "Pitch" is always about getting rich like so and so - who is the way upline founder of this group, the one who sells the tapes, puts on the seminars, and gets a percentage of every product sold by the all downline people.
- I still have an ancient copy of Pet Bracken's book and I still use her simple but unusual pork chop recipe.
- A week or two ago every news source I watch/read be it national, local or our local weekly did a story on the dangers of children drowning in pools. I wondered at that time what set something like that off. I am back from a lovely but hot week at Glen Lake/Sleeping Bear. Sue and Holly you must check out the new board walks at the beach at Glen Haven. They appear to have turned a formerly quiet beach into a bustling popular place. We even saw three tour busses turn in as we were leaving.
- Yes Sue, by the cannery complete with new parking, a walkway up to and around the old boat, and a wonderful foot wash faucet. The beach was much busier than previously.
- I moved to Michigan last fall, my Michigan driver's license came in the mail last week. It took me five trips to the Secretary of State's office to get it. Birth certificate, social security card, multiple proofs of address. It should have only taken 4, but they entered my address and the license they sent me was returned and shredded, or so they assume, because they don't keep track of those. It also took my husband five tries, failed with a birth certificate photocopy, then couldn't come up with enough address proofs. They finally accepted my address proofs plus an original with seal copy of our 33 year old marriage certificate. They didn't take away my Indiana license but they did punch a hole in it.
- Here's more info on the Oz movie prequel currently being filmed in metro Detroit: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011107220329 . Stars include James Franco, Mila Kunis and Michelle Williams.
- One of the boingboing guys is at Maker Faire Detroit and has posted several bits about it. http://boingboing.net/ The whole make movement impresses me, all those hipsters learning to solder, weld, etc.
- Following up on an earlier question about the OZ movie currently being filmed in metro Detroit. http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011107220329 . Stars are ames Franco, Mila Kunis and Michelle Williams. When Demi Moore and Miley Cyrus were filming in the area last year, Demi lived in my neighborhood. I will start watching for stars at the grocery store.
- My brother posted this on facebook and I just had to share: Comparing Gabby Giffords to the Tea Party I'd never guess which one has a hole in their head. Over the last couple of days I have twice posted a link to Free Press story about the local filming of the OZ movie and never saw the comment show up. Stars are James Franco, Mila Kunis, James Franco as Oz, Rachel Weisz, and Michelle Williams as Glinda. When Miley Cyrus and Demi Moore filmed in the area last year, word is Demi lived in my neighborhood. So I will watch for them all at the grocery store.
- Brian this blonde is sorry to hear you prefer brunettes. :-)
- THanks for the compliment Brian, our lunch was a pleasure, as was my lunch with Alex the following day.
- After 9/11 there was a lot of federal money available for local law enforcement that was spent on things like that tank. Elkhart County got itself a serious SWAT command post trailer kind of thing.
- My stepmother's previous married name was DuBois and she and her sons all pronounce it DuBoyz. Baldheadeddork, I was surprised by the B'ton Herald Times link, as their web page has always been closed to non-subscribers. Have they changed their mind or does your link somehow invisibly include your subscriber cookie? My husband will be in Bloomington this weekend to move our daughter from her apartment to a house. She won't be back from IU at Oxford until the following week. Cabela's canceled an about to start construction project outside Indianapolis (Greenwood) when the economy went south. We went to one in Minnesota and enjoyed the taxidermy scenes. I enjoyed getting to look up close at all the pistols I had read about in mystery novels. But once was enough. And Brian we have just decided we have to get to the Henry Ford Museum before the Civil War Exhibit ends on Labor Day.
- Indiana also has a Versailles (ver-sales). And a tiny town called Houston (House ton). And moe99, as one who can pronounce Lou uh vuhl like a homey, I think you mean insider. Outsiders say Lou ee vill.
- My first thought was mestizo which turns out to mean A person of mixed racial ancestry, especially of mixed European and Native American ancestry.
- Muskellunge is also a lake in the UP. Muskellunge Lake State Park sits between Muskellunge Lake and Lake Superior. I had a fine camping trip there many years ago. Back when I was willing to sleep on the ground.
- My husband has had a short trimmed beard for most of our married life, our daughter has never seen his chin. My husband scanned some old slides recently recently and posted on facebook a 1972 picture of my dad in profile with the beard he grew for the Zeeland 125 years beard contest. My dad insisted it was not him. We all said look at the house behind you, you still have the dining chairs we can see through the window. My daughter said "Grandpa used to have red hair?" I would have said strawberry blonde, but yup the beard was red.
- Found one of those great spell check errors in Anne River Siddons new book "Burnt Mountain" : character refers to someone having lots of something, "up the kazoo". As for the book, her usual southern sweetness. Pros, I just finished Padgett's new book "State of Wonder" and it was wonderful.
- Kwame's book is being published by a very small vanity publisher in the south, and metro area libraries have discovered it is almost impossible to buy. Originally the publisher took only online orders using paypal. The many phone calls from metro area libraries finally convinced her to accept checks in the mail for orders. Not that we really want to buy it, but hey we buy Ann Coulter and Glenn Beck and it's local interest. Publisher web page states we'll provide the ghostwriter and split the profits with you 50/50. http://www.creativepublishingconsultants.com/ Though it sounds like Kwame's profits are going for restitution.
- My kid notes on facebook that there is some rioting in Oxford and that her crew is not in the area and are committed to staying home tonight for safety. Just what a mother wants to hear. Let's just fast forward to metro airport Sunday night.
- I was always told that default onstage phrase was "watermelon, watermelon." Sounds like walla wall though.
- Salon had an excellent review for "The Help." I am the only person in the world who couldn't finish the book. I couldn't finish "Room" either. Bad librarian. Speaking of librarians I had just shared "Useful things to remember about librarians" on facebook. Great minds? Weather has broken at last. Lovely out, sun is shining and IT IS NOT HUMID!!
- Been there too Alex, tough and hope you have support. I've been a librarian a smidgen longer than Linda has, and the change from then to now is mindblowing. In that time I have spent a couple of million dollars on computers, tech, software, etc. Having been ten years in a tough blue collar town and now in somewhat upscale rural suburbia it is still all about tech. Linda's comment about old folks getting email to be in touch with grandkids is so true. Indiana's requirement to file online once a week in order to receive unemployment benefits overwhelmed public libraries across that state. My inner city branch was overwhelmed every Sunday with filers wanting to file on the first day of the filing week. Having a hundred or so unemployed (mostly) men waiting for computers did not lend itself to family time at the library. I'm glad to be back home in Michigan. And even given the above it is still about books, though they are just as likely to be ebooks as hardcovers. Summer is a joy at the library because kids are excited about Summer Reading Club and excited about their books. As a librarian I get advance reading copies and I am currently reading "When She Woke" by Hillary Jordan, a near future religious America vision that is sort of a cross between "Scarlet Letter" and "Handmaid's Tale" Coming out in October and highly recommended. Because you needed another book on your list and after all, I'm a librarian.
- Check out fiverr, http://fiverr.com/, The place for people to share things they're willing to do for $5. My current fave: I will make a tarzan style ringtone yodelling your name for $5.
- Twice I've had the vet say to me, "you'll know when it's time." And I always did, but that doesn't make it any easier. We have been taking care of our daughter's dog since she left for Europe on May 1 and he has wormed his way into our hearts. She comes back Sunday and has made it very clear to me I can't keep him. We'll be sad to see him go, though my husband will be relieved to go back to walking just one. And he'll come back to visit on the holidays.
- I've had a Kobo for a while (Border's cheap nook) and mostly used it for library downloads and other free downloads. I had just bought a really cheap Cruze android based ereader tablet when my employer unexpectedly decided to buy all high level managers (me!) an ipad 2. So I've had the ipad like two weeks and am still figuring it out, but no problems downloading library ebooks on it. I bought the Cruze because I wanted a reader with a lit screen for night time. It's still in the box it was shipped in untouched, anyone want a cheap deal? I thought about buying the ebook version of Game of Thrones. Kobo lists it at 29.99 and Barnes and Noble at 8.99. Not a hard choice. There is a kindle app for the ipad, and I am happy with ebooks in the GGood Reader app. Demand for library ebook downloads has grown exponentially in recent months. At the last ALA Conference several vendors announced new ebooks programs including 3M and Recorded Books. Our Overdrive consortium is so overwhelmed that if you search available fiction you get maybe 200 available titles. Holds, holds, holds. It is the publisher's licensing model but why can't we do multiple simultaneous downloads of digital content? Frustrating.
- And I voted! I will hold back my rant about fantasy no longer being considered something different and how it is taking over science fiction. But will still recommend Patrick Rothfuss' "Name of the Wind" as a new addition to the list of great fantasy of all time.
- UP! Be sure and give us your opinion on the great pasty debate: catsup or gravy?
- Pasties also have chopped rutabaga in them. At my mother-in-law's church near Flint the women's club makes about 2,000 pasties one day a month. About half go for a hot lunch that day, mostly to employees of GM parts headquarters and warehouse just down the street, and the rest get wrapped, frozen, and sold for $3.75 each. We always have a few in the freezer. Back home in Holland the women's groups tend to make pig in the blankets, aka saucijzenbroodjes, a pork sausage wrapped in piecrust. http://www.hollandsentinel.com/features/x837705934/Dig-in-to-Dutch
- The recipe judybusy posted doesn't have rutabagas in it, here's one that does: http://www.hu.mtu.edu/vup/pasty/recipes.htm .
- It's seems odd to move to the Detroit metro area and have to drive miles for authentic Mexican, when both Holland and Elkhart have many taquerias, tamale stands, etc. Though I happily settle for Trader Joe's frozen green chile and cheese and tamales.
- I've been part of an architect selection/interview team for several projects, including one for which Michael Graves' firm made a proposal. Our goal has always been to select an architect to work with that will design "our" building not his/hers, and to seek good communication. Michael Graves' firm's presentation was all about how famous we would be if we built a Michael Graves building. I once took a job that came with a new building that still had a punch list, where the customer (now me) was no longer on speaking terms with the architect. So I do know those things can go bad.
- I am both working full time and retired. Working full time in Michigan and about to draw a pension from Indiana Public Employees Retirement. The hit for drawing it several years before 65 was so small I went for it. Actually just did. First draw with six months back pay is supposed to come December 1st. Hubby will be 62 about the same time so we will check that out as well.
- We moved from Michigan to Indiana back in 83 and the whole basketball thing seemed odd to us. We hated Bobby from the get go. We were less than an hour from Bloomington and everyone in our new town was a fan except for us. As if having degrees from Michigan and Michigan State didn't get confusing enough my kid is now in grad school at IU. Who do I root for? Butler We moved from Ann Arbor to Columbus as newlyweds, and got great joy out of being there for Woody Haye's firing. We had far more joyful schadenfreude for Woody's firing than we did for Bobby's.
- Today was school supply bingo at my library. Even if you didn't win at bingo you got a box of crayons and a handful of pencils. But pretty much every one wins. I've also worked at libraries that did school supplies for fines in August, similar to the food for fines drives over the holidays.
- Love the Palmer House. Even if you don't stay there you should take a moment to sit in the lovely lobby next time you're in Chicago. And as for me, I'm going to the Tigers game tomorrow. It will be my first visit to the new Tiger Stadium after many childhood visits to the old one during the days of Al Kaline. Julie congrats on the anniversary. My 33rd is in 6 weeks, and as I've said before every year on our anniversary we look at each other in amazement. And my kid got home from her 3 1/2 months in Europe and headed back to Bloomington today. Wait, that's my dog, oh yeah it was your dog and you're taking it with you. When you babysit a dog for that long it seems like it's your own.
- I've been to a Brazilian Steakhouse. The one in Indy was about $50 per person before drinks. But if you are a a beef lover it is truly the place. Plus a gorgeous salad bar.
- Opa!
- Our Saturday included a trip to Comerica Park to see the Tigers whip the Indians 10 to 1. I made many trips to Briggs Field - old Tiger Stadium back in the Al Kaline days but this was my first time to Comerica. Grand it was, complete with 7$ beer. The friend who gave me the tickets also gave me his parking pass which was especially great. Although getting off the freeway before the game reminded of I90 in South Bend on Notre Dame football days. The guy I gave the extra two tickets too didn't show, so next time I'll call Brian.
- My librarian email is filled this morning with the link to a nice story about libraries on cnn.com. Unfortunately it's by Bob Greene. http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/08/21/greene.books/index.html?hpt=hp_c2
- Word is the earthquake was felt in greater Detroit, but not by me. But then I was busy, as we re-arranged a big chunk of my library interior today. My feet hurt. Through the nnc comments in the past we have learned that both Jefftmmo and I experienced the 1987 Indianapolis earthquake at Methodist hospital.
- My daughter got into every school she applied to Except U of Michigan. The rejection letter noted that the school received 25,000 applications for 5,000 freshman openings and that only a limited number were available for out of state apps like hers. Both her mother and her grandfather had attended grad school there, obviously that kind of legacy didn't help. On the money front Butler University was extremely generous with both merit scholarships and financial aid, and cost us annually a smidgen less than Purdue would have cost with the small amount of aid they offered. So don't let price at a private U scare you off. I have numerous co-workers with kids at Michigan in everything from physics to voice. Yet every younger person I meet around here goes to Oakland Community College and Oakland University. Is that metro Detroit's cheapest option?
- It seems extremely unlikely that our hostess would ever consider sending her kid to Hillsdale.
- I agree with Alex, if I had it to do over again..... At Michigan State I was a small town kid lost in a big crowd. My daughter's experience at Butler was just the opposite. Able to be involved and be known by deans, etc. Even an occasional dinner with the President. Not once but twice was asked to be the student who introduced a speaker to a very large crowd. Got to meet Madline Albright. I could go on. I will note that she was a swimmer her first two years at Butler and chose to leave the swim team to "have a real life." And have it she did. I envy her experience.
- National Cathedral is built using classic European stone methods. Which means those spires are just stacked pieces of carved stone. One spire is gone, others are damaged. Pictures: http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/08/at-national-cathedral-concerns-about-damage-from-hurricane-irene/244039/
- From the storm book list: I read and enjoyed "Isaac's Storm", but didn't realize it was by Eric Larson until I saw the list today. Must have been before we all learned his name with "Devil in the White City."
- Brian you made me laugh.
- I have an annual pass to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, does that count? And I didn't even go to the dune climb or the scenic drive this year, but it was, as always, well worth it just for Glen Haven Beach and Bohemian Road beach where we spent most of our afternoons during our cottage week. Nance, if you're looking for another cottage experience our downscale place on Little Glen is always for rent. This week is in fact the not rented week. Lake's too shallow to swim in at our place but there are great Lake Michigan beaches in three directions.
- Lilly scholarships are tuition, books, and a stipend, but not room and board. My daughter's best friend from early grade school won it, my daughter's close guy friend from high school won it, and her close college friend and soph year roomie won it. In each case one of the criteria was that your parents had not gone to college.
- I have a yappy and energetic miniature schnauzer, a big change from the old man Shih Tzu I had for so long. My husband notes that the breed guides state "this is a very vocal breed." Translated: this is a yappy dog. Also an escape champion. We had our daughter's mutt for the summer while she was in Europe. You may admire both dogs in this wonderful picture. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-R2w2Nci4IhU/TlbUBcgVN3I/AAAAAAAAA74/klxlltX8cKU/s1600/jax050911-720744.jpg
- I saw that yesterday and it was one of the ickiest things I've ever seen on regretsy.
- I had a suburban branch library for which the county building department had required sidewalks as a condition of building permit approval. So there it sits, less than half a mile from a high school and a junior high, on a busy two lane through road, and the only stretch of sidewalk within a mile. Gotta wonder.
- Happy Birthday To Dorothy, I'm two years ahead of you as of Saturday.
- Thanks for all the greetings. I am expecting a quiet weekend with a trip on Saturday to the Oakland County Farmer's Market and perhaps a swim at our subdivision beach. My husband claims my birthday dinner out will be at the foot court at Twelve Oaks Mall.
- Hot and cranky here and about to be a year older. Involved in a hurry up and get it done renovation construction project in the $350,000 range. Specs ready to bid by end of next week. Carpet yesterday, lighting and ceilings today. Every time I do this my husband reminds me I swore I'd never do it again. I will repeat, hot and cranky. 95.
- See nothing but a big gray rectangle.
- I see it on my iPad. My trip to the Oakland County farmers market wasn't quite as entertaining though we came home with tomatoes, cucumbers, peaches, and melon. And found the Polish restaurant that is between here and there. Some day.. Dobski.com.
- Basset, the Polish menu is the last page. Rest is pretty typical.
- I was rushing around trying to get to work by 9 and my husband was watching the Today Show. He told me something strange was going on in New York and a WTC tower looked to be on fire. Then I heard him yell my name, he had just seen the second plane hit, live on the Today show. I called my office, told them I couldn't tear myself away from the TV and stayed and watched through both collapses. By the time I got to work there were TVs everywhere, staff had gone home and gotten them. I also remember the photo Nancy mentioned, a guy on the observation deck of one of the towers with a plane coming right behind him. I later saw pics of the same guy in various historic photos, including riding in the car with Kennedy in Dallas. I watched a show on TLC the other night and several of the people interviewed saw the plane coming toward their office windows. Shiver. For 9-11 books I highly recommend the novel "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathon Safran Foer.
- I ahve two friends who are reps for the big book wholesaler Baker and Taylor, and they had met up at Midway Airport in Chicago to head to their fall sales meeting in New Jersey. They were quite surprised to be told all flights were cancelled and the airport was being evacuated with no explanation. They grabbed a cab, and asked the driver to take them to the nearest sports bar where they spent the day watching TV. And drinking beer. This is the same company that lost much of its executive and sales staff in a nasty Chicago plane crash (May 1979?) at the tail end of what is now known as Book Expo.
- Bill's story reminds me of the book The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland by Jim Defede. 38 planes were grounded in Gander Newfoundland for several days starting on 9-11. This is the story of how that community took those passengers in for several days. My favorite part was when Hugo Boss had to buy underwear at Walmart. Highly recommended as a different point of view on that day and the days following.
- I don't know LAMary, I have always wanted Nancy Grace's haircut.
- I read and enjoyed the Sweet Juniper piece about Sleeping Bear. He didn't just climb the dune climb and run back down, he went past the warning signs and went down the steep back side to the lake. I had to email and tell him the easy way to get out of there is not to climb back up, rather to walk the beach north around the point where the dune has come back to ground level. So Sue and Holly, how was your Sleeping Bear week?
- So sorry to hear you didn't make it to Glen Lake this year, Sue and Holly. I have always thought the beach at Empire City Park would be a great place for a wedding.
- That was fun. I also got 10, missed the one about federal budget.
- I have fond memories of this Staples ad: Dad and kids are shopping for school. Dad is bopping through store, kids are moping, soundtrack is "See You in September." Joseph Decuis restaurant in Roanoke Indiana, mentioned before by several of you, is featured in Sept/Oct issue of Midwest Living magazine.
- Heard today that Comcast will be donating computers to local high school students who get free lunch and do not have a computer with internet access at home. Our township supervisor serves on some local government cable committee and our township gets a small cable fee payment from Comcast every year. Money can only spent on technology. Remember when multiple cable companies were trying to be THE ONE picked by local governments?
- He almost ruined Barry Lyndon? It was ruined from the beginning. It is the only movie I have ever walked out of.
- Well Dutch Reformed is at least as bad if not worse than Missouri Synod Lutherans. I am in still in despair over the fact that my childhood church fired and defrocked a Seminary President (husband of one of my high school teachers) for quietly going to Massachusetts and conducting the legal wedding of his lesbian daughter. I lost all my faith long ago, I ponder the vastness of the universe. Skeptic and Pharyngula fan. On the subject of "why, god" I recommend that great classic, "When Bad Things Happen to Good People" by Rabbi Kushner. And I advise to never ever tell a grieving person that God has his reasons. Many years ago when I was grieving I heard that over and over and it just made me mad. Madder. Yes, your god looked over this vast world and decided "That woman's baby needs to die." Give me a break.
- So LAMary, do you think it is our Dutch Reformed upbringing that has made us unbelievers?
- Thinking of you, Alex, all will be well. Went through the exact thing with my husband 3 years ago, stents and all, but I was the one who drove him to the ER. Though I thought we were going to Urgent Care when we left home. I was in the hospital myself for 2 days last fall and was surprised to learn that Huron Valley Sinai had a combination TV/computer with wifi for every patient bed. You guys kept me sane that day and you didn't even know it.
- Alex, ignore those lectures and come smoke with me.
- No shushing anymore. And the haircut, well, sort of close.
- Cloy was so clearly a troll, don't waste your time responding to unknowns like that. I have 28 years of experience as a library director, much of it serving populations of 90,000 or more, with multi million dollar budgets. These are not units of city government they are free standing municipal units responsible for their own finances, like schools in most states. This week I attended the State Library of Michigan's mandatory Library Director school. Two days. Because I've never been a director in Michigan, my library would lose its tiny piece of state aid if I had not attended. Am I wrong to be crabby and irritated about this? On the other hand during my two days in Lansing I did get to spend an evening exploring the Michigan State campus. Sure looks different all these years later. My old dorm didn't have any windows in it, so I am guessing there is renovation going on in the B wing of Rather Hall.
- I will say the same thing about my grad student daughter's generation. I look at her photos of group activities in her grad program and the folks she hangs out with and I have positive feelings for the future. This is a generation that is multi-racial and had gay friends in high school. This kid has just announced that she is trying out for a roller derby team. I think that means she is far hipper than I.
- Caliban/Pros and others. Please no librarian stereotypes. Please.
- As one of those public officials who occasionally got trashed in those public comments I rarely read them anymore. As for internet comments, in general I find them sexist and nasty. If you followed the recent "Elevatorgate" in the atheist blog world you would have seen some perfect examples. I read Michael Moore's memoir "Here Comes Trouble", the other day and he's been just like that since he was a kid. I loved his story about winning the Elk's Club speech prize at Boy's State with a speech about Elk's club's racial discrimination. Dorothy, it's my wedding anniversary tomorrow, doesn't that mean that yours is coming right up? I have this vague memory of our birthdays and anniversaries being close together. And no I am not giving you a link to my cheesy grin wedding picture again, once is enough.
- Every library in the country that buys Overdrive's ebook download program came up with Kindle format availability last week, not just your library, Julie. Interesting that ebooks we already purchased in epub format are now also available in kindle format without us having to purchase them again. But your library download for the kindle somehow still cycles through Amazon.
- I have a slightly used Kobo reader I'll sell you cheap Dorothy. I love ebooks on my ipad. Having never been an Apple person I continue to be amazed to have an ipad. So far mostly used for surfing the web when I should be listening to the speaker. Thank you for your free wireless.
- The small town of Holly Michigan has a downtown area commemorating "Battle Alley." It was a railroad worker's town in its day, and the Battle Alley story involves railroad workers, a circus crew in town, and Carrie Nation showing up.
- MichaelG: "lips that touch liquor touch others quicker."
- I saw Body Worlds in Chicago and the red cloud of the circulatory system is the picture that has stuck in my mind.
- I've always known chili in a bag as taco salad in a bag from street fairs etc. Last weekend my husband left me home alone on our anniversary and went down to IU to visit our daughter. They spent Saturday at Seymour Oktoberfest in the small southern Indiana town where we lived for 14 years. That was where I first sampled whatever you wish to call it in a bag. I told him to bring me some "sati-babi" and he said he wasn't about to carry a pork shish kebob 400 miles back home. Instead he was able to buy me a bottle of sati-babi sauce. We have been stir frying with it since he got home. What's the point of the seven week fetus comment. What am I missing? And I recall a special display of pregnant women's uterus s (Uteri?) and fetuses, set aside behind a curtain. Was there a seven week one that was somehow special? Body Worlds was definitely one of those things you only need to see once.
- Dexter posted this earlier today at the end of comments for the previous post: In the wake of the N!66#rhead painted rock story, Moo Yoo weighs in with this charming story. http://www.detnews.com/article/20111005/SCHOOLS/110050357/Rash-of-racial-slurs-hits-MSU I'm an MSU grad and I went to read the article and made the mistake of reading the comments. I should know better. Talk about racism. When we moved to Elkhart just in time for 7th grade we didn't have a clue about school districts. I have always been thankful that we bought a house in the Concord District rather than Elkhart Public Schools.
- Steve Jobs is still dead. That's what we'll say when the news keeps on and on about him. At our house we said the same for quite a while about both Reagan and the last pope. Ronald Reagan was still dead for a very long time.
- Dave, I think we took it from SNL originally, the one we remember is "Buckwheat is still dead."
- Happy birthday Deborah. It is my one year anniversary at this job. To me circus peanuts were Grandma M. Way better than Grandma O's homemade hard candy, usually made of strange flavors like horehound and anise.
- The Librarian thing? I'm a librarian. What did I miss?
- Both Indiana and Michigan require high school seniors to take a civics class that is focussed on state and local government and how they work. I remember learning about millage rates and how property tax bills are calculated. On my 18th birthday I rode my bike about a mile down a gravel road, knocked on the farmhouse door at the township supervisor's home and registered to vote. The Michigan civics class appears to require attending local government board meetings. There were over 50 kids from 3 different area schools at last night's township board meeting. They all have a form that must be signed by an official. I was at the township board meeting to present the final budget for my proposed small construction project. Approved, approved, approved. So now I am about to tear up 8,000 square feet in the back end of my building. Been there, done that, makes you miserable, then its over. And the 10/17 commemorative issue of Time magazine reminds me that yes, Steve Jobs is still dead.
- Auburn Hills is no way another name for Pontiac. I understood that Richard Dawkins was hired by a Skeptics organization to speak at their event. It was the hotel owner where the event was to be held that supposedly cancelled Dawkins. Makes me wonder who has a contract with whom for what. I read a lot of skeptic/freethought blogs and will probably hear more details. If you enjoy freethought blogs you might enjoy this new blog center: freethoughtblogs.org. This is where you will now find Pharyngula. Which last time I mentioned caliban defined for me. Checked again. Hotel owner cancelled event contract with organization because he didn't want Dawkins speaking there.
- Alex, when I was in college I had a turquoise 1964 Bel Air.
- Recent discussion has been eerily apropos, as I have been reading From a hospital bed for the last 5 days. It started out as a minor infection that failed to respond to Meds and got worse and worse, finally requiring IV antibiotics. Real problem finally was determined to be a blood clot that, as I understand it, was keeping the antibiotics from getting to the infection site. So my insurance co has just approved home use of an injected medicine and with that I am going home tomorrow. Whew. My dear husband kept me sane, though my iPad and DMC's wireless helped. As did the conversation here, so thanks to all of you.
- agree, Brian about this great place. And about the instant death by heart attack. I've been saying that since my Mother died from stage IV breast cancer in hospice at home, though I say I want to be struck by lightning on the street. It is so hard to believe that I am now the age she was when she died. In other news, my daughter is trying out for the Bloomington IN roller derby team. That's my girl.
- Still here I will go home the first morning I wake up without having had an overnight fever. I am in my third room, all alone and peaceful. Last night I told my nurse that my roommate had had her TV on Full blast for the last 48 hours and I didn't think I could take another night of it. She said "I can take care of that" and swoosh, instant move to peace and quiet. The evening I moved in to her room she was watching Jeopardy. The answer, this future pro basketball player and his team, Crispus ATtocks were...... At which point I said out loud, Oscar Robertson. She replied "Are you from Indiana too?". Made me laugh. Had a surprise visit from Lily the therapy dog today. Suggested my husband disguise Molly the mad schnauzer as a therapy dog and bring her in to visit. He pointed out that Molly's paranoid fear of hard floors would leave her frozen in terror in the elevator lobby. Good point.
- Home. Thank you all. So nice to be in a bed that is not plastic.
- Thanks MichaelG, I too will be going for that one eventually as well. Could you not do implanted lenses. Instead of new glasses? I have friends that got that done as part of their surgery. We live near thousands of acres of public land and can hear hunting season. Some bird season has already been banging away and the bow hunters are out in full force. We were invited to a venison dinner the other day to celebrate our friend's 14yr old's successful bow hunt. Passed due to schedules and distance.
- I've never seen the movie, so thanks for finally giving it away. I remember choosing not to join the dorm gang when they went, and being glad I hadn't joined them after their return. I have in fact never seen the movie, but haven't we all seen enough clips and paradise to have a pretty good idea how it goes. And Caliban, I also think Beetlejuice is funny. The Dayo scene has joined our must watch when possible list.
- Brian, I was absolutely terrified of those flying monkeys, every single time. And as a little kid I thought Lassie was the scariest show of all time. Every week, oh no, will she make it this time?
- Hey Brian, my daughter's former marching band took first in state class B today. How was your first marching band season?
- My husband loves Whoppers.
- Io9.com has been doing a top 50 scariest movies countdown. Exorcist came in at 4. Number 1 is Alien.
- I love those paper artworks, I had seen the first two in the library lit and am just delighted to see the rest. We have some collage art work done by a local artist using only things found in library books, which are great fun. Amazing things are found in library books, bills, cards, doilies, valentines.... I did once find an individually wrapped cheese slice. The real art work in my library life right now is the demolition of the back end of my building, which used to be a country club. Removing two locker rooms is like having two bedrooms magically appear at your house. Though I currently have several desks and folding tables stacked in my office floor space, as well as 9 people working in a space usually occupied by 5 right outside my office door. I just keep telling them all that surviving construction is all about going with the flow, and we're doing pretty good. I am just back from a road ribbon cutting, the Detroit CBS news was there, perhaps you'll see me in the crowd on the news if you're in the Detroit metro area. Another benefit of working in a former golf course complex is the amazing wildlife in the nearby wetlands. For the past week this has been a regular sight on the road to the library: http://aroundcommerce.blogspot.com/2011/10/sandhill-cranes.html And hey guys, sight, site, cite, get them straight, one of my pet peeves.
- Author Scalzi lives in rural Ohio and it is his local library. You can keep up with this Best selling science fiction writer at his blog, whatever.Scalzi.com.
- My 1978 wedding dress was made from Qiana. Slick disco fabric, what can I say?
- I was cool driver in the 70s. I spent my last two high school years driving a shiny brand new cool 1972 Nova. Then I spent my college years driving my fave car of all time, bought for $200 from the proverbial little old lady: a 1964 Chevy Belair with a turquoise metallic job. Gave it a quart of oil every Friday. But the car that followed that one (grad school and newlywed years) was an AMC Matador. Definitely not cool.
- Sue, sewing skills live. My grad school daughter just made herself and her roommates lovely dresses for a Halloween party. Much to the surprise of the mother who forced her to learn basic sewing. This is the same kid that has gone out for the roller derby team. My boyfriend had a tacky fuzzy light blue denim leisure suit. He's been my husband for many years and has not been allowed to buy his own clothes other than jeans and shoes,for some time.
- So Caliban, do you judge all women on how attractive their asses are?
- Started out as a German major, graduated as a history major. Knew I wanted to go to a grad school that required a liberal arts degree. I enjoyed history but didn't get much long term out of it. I can name the kings and queens of Englanf from 1066 to today. I know the first ever constition was in medieval eastern Europe but can' remember the country. And many more not so useful tidbits.
- My master,s in library science has given me a decent career, but these days I don't recommend this degree and heartily discouraged my own kid when she considered it. So sort of agree with Suzanne.
- I mostly use the free Overdrive app on my iPad, for reading downloaded library ebooks.
- Dalia Lithwick is a brilliant writer. Caliban, why does it matter if she is attractive? Why do you constantly bring up looks and body when evaluating women, even when, like Lithwick, those things are irrelevant to what she does?
- When I started snoring like a roaring beast my husband told on me to my doctor and I ended up in the sleep lab. Yup. Love my CPAP machine. My sleep problem, like so many, is turning off my churning brain. My stay at home husband does laundry, dinner, dishes, dog walking, love you, big guy. Day 23 of quitting smoking against my will. Truly feel better. Start car, look for cigarettes. Pick up book, look for cigarettes. Answer phone look for cigarettes.
- My first was $35,000 in 1978.
- Yes, Deborah, I moved from Ann Arbor/grad school to Columbus/Upper Arlington, with Michigan bicentennial plates and a U of Michigan sticker on my car. It was dangerous. I was frequently threatened, yelled at, trash talked. Someone mentioned their townhouse in Upper Arlington the other day. My UA townhouse was on Ridgeview Rd, in the midst of a sea of older town homes with hopeless lead windows. Brrr.
- Dutchistan? Dutchistan? I grew up in Dutchistan?. Hmmmm. Note the state rep in question (for the next district east from my hometown) has a Frieslander name just like me. I will be heading to Dutchistan on Saturday for my Dad's 80th birthday party. At the restaurant HIS father refused to go to because it was owned by Catholics. Hope College (in the heart of Dutchistan) colors are blue and orange by the way. Orange being from the House of Orange. I love blue and orange together and have used it in decorating. My lovely rust tapestry couch is in the garage these days because it is too large for any of the doors in our house.
- Only thing missing from your menu is must-have winter squash, preferably buttercup. We will be off to the madness at the in-laws, where my assignment is to bring a dessert that is not a pie. Lemon cake and chocolate/heath trifle have both gone over well in past years.
- Best turkey ever. My sister-in-law buys a fresh turkey and takes it to someone who turns it into a deboned turkey roll. Cooks up beautifully.
- Dorothy, you do still have to cook it.
- My version: wrap whole water chestnuts in bacon. If you cut carefully you should be able to do 3 chestnuts per slice. Prebake in cake pan at 350 until bacon is cooked. That's the part you do ahead. Before serving, mix 1 cup 3ach catsup and brown sugar. Place sauce in bottom of serving dish. Place wrapped chestnuts in sauce. Bake at 350 until hot and serve. One of my faves. Long ago we were going to an aunt's house for Christmas Eve. Aunt tells my mother she will be serving wine. That is a first. Mother asks what kind of wine. Aunt replies "regular." We anxiously awaited Christmas Eve just to find out what "regular" wine was. Turns out it's Mogen David grape.
- 54?
- I was in 3rd grade and home from school for some day off, with my grandma and my best friend Terry, as my parents had gone to Chicago for a long weekend. I remember very little, but Terry does and has told me about it. I do remember seeing Jack Ruby shoot Oswald live. We loved the big newspapers the parents brought home from Chicago. On the subject of birthdays, last Saturday's party for my Dad's 80th was absolutely the best. I still can't believe I recognized - and could name - all the bridge club ladies, whom I probably had not seen since my mother's funeral 20 years ago.
- That sounds tasty Alex, but only one stick of butter?
- Julie, half pound person is what I was taught is the portion to purchase when purchasing BONELESS meat.
- My dumb phone works fine. I am sure I win the oldest phone contest, as mine says Cingular on it.
- Chris, I snorted with laughter.
- Home from work. Because there is no power. Do not miss the wonderful Google doodle honoring Mark Twain's birthday. my sympathy goes those who have lost famiily members. my mother in law's 90th is Saturday, my Dad's 80th was a few weeks ago, and we are thankful.
- So I did a quick google search for Baby Richard, and find out that Bob Greene was all over this one. Sigh.
- My best friend was once a 17 yr old on the bus to New York for an abortion. I will once again heartily recommend the book "The girls who went away : the hidden history of women who surrendered children for adoption in the decades before Roe v. Wade" by Fessler, Ann.
- Basset, it's a southern Indiana thing in general I think. Around Seymour, people sold persimmon pulp on a table in the yard. I never cared for it. We had a persimmon tree in our yard, and people who actually liked the stuff would come and harvest. Persimmon pudding? Sweet orange slime.
- I've also embraced ebooks but not wholeheartedly. Since quitting smoking 49 days ago I have found it very difficult to just sit down and read. I downloaded the kindle app to my ipad, and it doesn't have that cool electronic ink page turner style. It is no different than my various epub format reader apps, so why should I use the kindle app? Except of course for the .99 book I bought on amazon. One word resolution: Organize. We moved into a rental house a little over a year ago thinking it was short term, thus choosing not to unpack a lot of stuff. And we're still there. No books unpacked, no china unpacked, no sewing stuff unpacked. Still can't find my food processor or my iron. This situation must change.
- Your local library probably has a test prep online product if you want to take a sample GED or SAT. Michigan residents can use MEL (Michigan electronic library)to access Learning Express.
- I have been pleasantly surprised at how relevant my long ago high school education has been to my adult professional life. Math? I've been running municipal units with multi million dollar budgets. Just pulling in all the pieces of a personnel budget is mathematically complicated. Speech class? Yup, I speak to community groups of varying sizes from 10 to 300 or so. And so on. Remember sine, cosine and tangent from geometry? Some years ago an architect said to me (I paraphrase from memory) "the reason this outlet keeps blowing out computers is because there is a fan on the same circuit and it causes a sine wave on the line." My response was "sine waves are real? I thought they were just math."
- Bassett, I once heard at a library conference that the numbers of boys with serious reading issues in second grade has a direct correlation to that cohort's prison population when they grew up. I am still skeptical. And cannot cite. Love my iPad, hate the keyboard.
- The pantyhose over the vacuum works for finding contact lenses in a swimming pool too. And there are many cleaning product wipes that come in the same kind of container as shown for baby wipes. I was taught to fold fitted sheets the same way by the lady who worked at the laundromat on Broadway in Ann Arbor when I was in grad school. Love the sheets in the pillow case idea. Basset, my years of not sleeping due to knee pain were fixed by arthroscopic surgery. Now it's arthritis which is not so easily fixable.
- Michigan did not steal the UP. Ohio stole the Toledo strip and Michigan got the UP to make up for the loss. I also had a grilled falafel sandwich for lunch yesterday, most delicious.
- Following up on yesterday's comments. Maggie, I did two weeks of IV vanco last year by driving to an infectious diseases specialist on Woodward to sit in a room full of big chairs, IV poles, and televisions, and sitting for an hour while it dripped. I just did a week in the hospital for more. I've had recurring infections for two years now and it is just a pain. Vanco is nasty stuff with a rep for blowing veins.
- Dorothy your campus library surely gets the W post.
- My husband quotes neighbor/his walking partner, who is quoting local weather person: "It's going to rain for 24 hours and if it were snow it would be ten feet deep." With all the cookie baking supplies tucked in the cupboards a couple of snow days might be nice.
- Congratulations Nancy, I've been keeping up with The Bridge on Facebook for some time and I'll be looking for you there. we drink Detroit waterhere in the far west metro as well. I was at the meeting the other night when the township renewed it's DWS contract.
- You still have a reference source that is equal to the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature. Your state database program - Inspire in Indiana, MEL in Michigan, includes something comparable to Reader's Guide. I occasionally hear NPR sponsorship statements from Ebsco and Proquest. They are among the biggest vendors selling online equivalents to Readers Guide plus full text.
- One year bowl ban for Ohio State.
- Jezebel.com has just chosen The Christmas Shoes as the worst Christmas song of all time. I seem to recall we agree.
- it is comments like those last two make me wish I could write as well as you all do.
- Roller derby daughter asks dad to go roller skating with her while she is home. In an amazing coincidence the recovery room nurses aide after Dad's recent colonoscopy works part time at a nearby (20 miles) rink and offers him passes. You may have seen the headline on msnbc.com: Five shot at Detroit metro area skating rink. Yup. I am guessing they're not going.
- Bassett I feel the same way about Christmas movies . I particularly dislike "It's a wonderful life." Last night my daughter said "You know which Christmas movie I haven't seen yet this year? Die Hard."
- Christmas Eve movie at our house was Love Actually. Happy holidays to all, we are off to the inlaws.
- My husband is a heavy duty boxing fan and our daughter grew up watching boxing on Dad's lap. She used to have a crush on Oscar DeLa Hoya. A couple of weeks ago she called her Dad from IU to discuss the Pacquiao fight. Our roller derby girl is definitely her father's daughter. I can deal with boxing in the house but mixed martial arts fighting, well I have to leave the room.
- What a quiet bunch today. Though for many of you it is your Christmas Holiday off. I am in the office and the library has been very very quiet. We are seeing our usually post holiday patrons: Grandparents desperately seeking DVDs to keep the visiting grandparents occupied. And many years we can tell from library requests what the popular Christmas gifts were. I started as a librarian about the time everyone wanted a how to cook with my new microwave book. I've been through several holidays of bread machine cookbooks as well. Our prediction for this year was books and ebook download assistance for new ipad and ereader owners. Coming true so far. I can't believe we thought we would be actually cooking with microwaves. Don't you think that what we do is just heat, melt and boil?
- Brian, not a PAC but rather a conservative think tank, very influential in the state.
- Or 2 year old Bianca Jones in Detroit, whose father claims he was carjacked while his daughter was in the car. The car was found empty. 3 weeks now.
- Latest update on Fort Wayne girl: Babysitter bludgeoned Ind. girl, 9, then dismembered her, police say
- Well, brian, I'm slower.
- MichaelG I live in suburban Detroit 248 with a 574 (South Bend) cell number. Gave up our land line when we moved here. Only problem is when my phone spends the weekend in my purse and I miss every call. I called 911 on it a few months ago when I got rear ended while stopped for a construction flag and 911 dispatch had to ask where I was. I knew the street but couldn't provide a cross street, until it occurred to me to tell them I was where they were paving the road, which they got immediately. I don't think my phone has GPS. My phone is so old it says Cingular on it. MOst irritating mispronounced word: liberry. Dutch lady pronounciations of my childhood include worsh-rag and kitchen zink.
- I agree with Sherri's comment: "As someone whose first encounter with a lot of words was through the written word, not the spoken word, I’m pretty forgiving about mispronunciations." As a young gifted reader I read many words I never learned to pronounce. I once auditioned for a play and mispronounced the name Penelope as Pen el lope. I had no idea why they were all laughing. It was even more embarassing as my mother's nickname for me was Penelope - pronounced correctly. My problem word has always been maintenance, which my brain wants to pronounce maintain ence.
- Dexter, there is a tiny town named Houston pronounced House ton in southern Indiana. Not too far down the road from Versailles, pronounced ver sales.
- http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/30/9834108-south-carolina-gauntlet-awaits-iowa-and-new-hampshire-winners . I did not mean to copy the link, rather the headline that at this moment reads gantlet.
- Our two old TVs have both blown up in recent weeks, the last survivor two days before New Years Eve. We counted down to 2012 with Garrison Keillor live from Hawaii while eating ham and beans southern Indiana style. And just bought tickets to the U of Detroit Mercy men's basketball game vs. Butler on Sunday. In Detroit.
- Me too, LAMary. Except for the sleazy ex-husband.
- One of my co-workers was caught up in all that. I,m not that far off the left end of your map. Word is the guy tried to change a tire and got hit twice. My vote for worst rush hour goes to Minneapolis.
- Bassett, I will add my recommendation to Schaumburg as a shopping destination, having done a couple of girlfriend weekends there. In addition to Ikea and Cabela,s nearby there is a huge mall and a great assortment of restaurants. I particularly like the Big Bowl, an Asian fusion place, and my friend always makes me go to the Cheesecake Factory.
- As for me, I expect to die some morning on the new roundabout next to my office. I know how they're supposed to work, but nobody else seems to.
- I will join Dorothy in saying I have little interest in all the music you folks recommend. I seem to have stalled at classic rock. Though I now have "send in the drones" running through my mind to the tune of "Send in the clowns."
- Also in Ambassador Bridge news, Bridge bosses Moroun, Stamper are led off to jail in Gateway project dispute. From the Free Press: Wayne County judge this morning sent billionaire Manuel (Matty) Moroun and his chief deputy at the Ambassador Bridge company, Dan Stamper, to jail until they are in compliance with his order to finish building ramps connecting the Ambassador Bridge to nearby expressways. http://www.freep.com/article/20120112/NEWS01/120112008/Matty-Moroun-Ambassador-Bridge-dispute
- And a billionaire besides!
- Suzanne, my thing was arugula. I decided it just can't be bought in Indiana. When we moved to southern Indiana many years ago we had to drive the 40 plus miles to Bloomington just to buy ricotta cheese.
- I thought it would be a pic of our hostess in her evening wear.
- My daughter keeps talking about the wonderful "red cheddar" she ate in England. I haven't seen it, even at my nearest specialty deli/cheese/meat place. Anyone have a clue what this is? And whether I can buy it here?
- Stop talking about spinach, I love spinach and can not currently have any due to taking coumaden. Kid also said the red cheddar makes a lovely colored mac and cheese.
- There are several Heaven on Seven, one kind of behind the Michigan Ave Marriott. That's also a location of a Big Bowl, always one of my faves. Last time I went to Heaven on Seven I was with a friend who was on a strict no carbs diet. He really did go to Heaven with a giant bowl of meat and seafood. Corner of Ohio and Rush.
- yes Paddyo, but I have been told to eat spinach uncooked. It,s a question of concentration. You know how that big bag of fresh spinach cooks down into that tasty green blob? It's a matter of concentration. 5 mgs nightly except for Tuesday and Friday when I take 7.5. And I am off for my occasional Vitamin K test at the coagulation clinic.
- Alex, isn't it possible to screw off the very end of your faucet, wherein lies a screen or strainer?
- As is often the case with my iPad the video link just isn't there. I will admit to making a Paula Deen recipe, I have made her oven baked risotto not once but twice. easy, tasty and almost but not quite risotto.
- Loved the auto descriptions Brian. Especially as the former owner of a Matador.
- Am I the only one out here who thinks women just aren't going to vote for Newt?
- Brian, Alinsky's 1971 book "Rules for Radicals" was intended to pass on his organizing skills to the upcoming generation. I read it for a class in college. The only thing I remember is how to shut down your campus library: over a period of time check out all the books then return them all at once.
- From Americablog: Who was Saul Alinksy, the guy Gingrich fears so much? http://www.americablog.com/2012/01/who-was-saul-alinksy-guy-gingrich-fears.html
- Two years of mandatory high school gym meant I never made the honor roll until junior year. Gymnastics was hopeless, I just fell off the balance beam over and over. Blue gym suits freshman year, self provided t-shirts and shorts sophomore year.
- Most of the largest high school gyms in the country are in Indiana. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Largest_high_school_gyms_in_the_United_States . We used to live in Seymour which is number 4. It's all about basketball.
- I haven't been able to bring myself to throw out my pink ribbon rubber duckie.
- Never turned a TV on all weekend.
- Handel's resignation statement is odd, sort of a not my fault thing. Love the headline on Jezebel: Noted Liar Karen Handel Defensively Resigns From Komen
- My piece of the metro area is only an hour from Lansing. Of course I'm also almost an hour from downtown D.
- Actually Caliban his mother's last name is Snow. so what's with the Goldberg bit? Anti-Semitic insult or what? One of my co-workers said something to me yesterday about the coloreds around here, left me with my mouth hanging open. Today I get caliban's Goldberg plus the n word. And here I thought things had gotten better. I don't think I had heard anyone refer to the coloreds since my grandmother. Time to go to bed, perhaps I'l feel better about it all in the morning. Anyone want an invite to my library open house on Sunday? You'll love the new teen room.
- OK got the Goldberg thing, sorry Caliban. And Brian, pics on Facebook. Commerce Township Community Library.
- Thanks Deborah, those orange chairs are the one remaining thing from the old teen area, so the color scheme in the new room started with those. Our building is a converted country club, that new teen space is in the original commercial kitchen. We had to remove eleven floor drains. My new office is in what was the pro shop.
- I want to know if these organizations that don't want to pay for birth control have been paying for Viagra. Just asking.
- Romney is not only a son of Michigan, he is the son of a former president of AMC, American motors.
- I would hit your links more often if they came over to the comments page with me rather than staying on the home page. And your Romenesko link still goes to Poynter. Si minor this is NOT a complaint.
- Julie, I also thought they were fake, glad to hear others agree. It has to do with roundness. My brother would tell you it has to do with which way they point when lying down.
- Well guys I've never had a close up with fake ones, so we'll let the guys be the experts. I still say too round on top, which to me is the give away. So look for SI swimsuit issue at your local library, you won't find it. It will either be held at the desk for security reasons or already stolen.
- Oh Caliban, holy crap is right.
- Sherri's link clearly shows the most obvious difference between real and fake. Real ones are ski slopes on top. If they are round on top they are likely fake.
- I agree Jeff. News reports have noted that evangelical women wouldn't vote for Gingrich, I say good for them.
- Jeff(tmmo), municipal buildings where I lived in Indiana were paying a similar assessment, though I seem to recall it was based on amount of pavement.
- So Michiganders, if you're a Democrat are you going to vote in the Republican primary? and if so, for who? We have talked about but do not plan to vote.
- Dexter, Hoosiers would put it a little differently. Daniels sold the toll road.
- JWfromNK referred to DST being a perennial subject of Indiana's stuck in the past mentality. In a similar vein , in recent days my Indiana Facebook friends have been moaning about class basketball. 15 years people, let it go.
- Sorry JWetc., part of my ongoing fight with my iPad keyboard. As one who quit smoking somewhat unwillingly back in October, I am still at the stage where a smoker outside the exit just makes me want to grab their cig for myself. I am thankful my crew of construction workers is done. My mother always made box mix chocolate cakes with home made chocolate frosting. My best cake memory is one I bought for my kid. Baskin Robbins ice cream cake roll airplane with cookie wings.
- I lived in Indiana when DST kicked in for the first time, and my coworkers were clueless. Their questions were a riot. No, you do not need to set your alarm clock for 3 a.m. In order to change your clocks. Yes, church will still be at 10 a.m. on the changed time.
- When we lived in Elkhart I had co workers that lived in Michigan and during DST they had to keep careful to keep track of what time it was where. When we lived in s. Indiana we got both Louisville and Indy Tv. During DST we appreciated watching Letterman at 10:30, and again at 11:30. Or watch half a show, wait an hour and watch the other half. Only good thing about not having DST. I for one love the summer evening sunshine it gives me.
- The only thing I remember from my years of Brownies and Girl Scouts is that stupid brownie smile song.
- I grew up in a place with no Catholics. really. My freshman year in college all those dirty foreheads in the cafeteria were a mystery to me.
- At the Dutch Reformed Bingo of my childhood the prizes were groceries. She wins a box of jello! No gambling, just fun.
- My cousin just posted on Facebook her ash forehead pics from a Dutch Reformed service at Holland's most progressive RCA church.
- My girlfriend in the automotive business tells me the President of Chrysler has bought a house (two houses) in my neighborhood. http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120224/OEM02/120229935/1178
- My take on that Palin email was whether that option would get her out from under some serious ethical investigation issues.
- I see on Facebook that my various home town friends saw Santorum, Romney and/or Ron Paul in various Michigan locations yesterday. Sadly, my best friend is a Ron Paul fan. Congressman Hoekstra was replaced by his protege now Congressman Huizenga whom I remember as a very small child, younger sibling of two good high school friends. Hoekstra, Huizenga, Ozinga, can you see the connection? Add Hoosier legislator Bosma to that list.
- I still have my Monkees albums. Somewhere.
- Wow, that Salon article. I have been working on holding back my own schadenfreude. My ipad will no longer display anything but white for Slate and Michigan Truth squad. I've been turning down free aps which made Slate difficult to begin with. So Ipad owners, do I want to download all those apps for sites I may only visit occasionally? And I don't hate my keyboard nearly as much now that I have discovered the secret hidden apostrophe key and turned off the spell check.
- I liked this on mediaite: Don Imus On Rush Limbaugh: ‘He’s A Fat, Gutless, Pill-Popping Loser’
- In my township your property taxes went up because you voted overwhelmingly to approve a police and fire special assessment, a buy green space parks fund, and other such projects. Your services have gone down and the township has laid off most of its office employees because plummeting property values have reduced the amount of taxes collected for the general fund. And because the DDA's grand plans ran into the crash and the township budget is having to take up part of the DDA's multi million dollar bond payments. Indiana folks, a township in Michigan is very different than a township in Indiana. It has certain city like obligations. And local gov units in Michigan do their own tax bills rather than the county doing them for all and distributing the funds as is done in Indiana. As to free meals, there are a couple of sales reps that have been taking me out to for lunch for years. Next week I will be at the PLA Conference in Philadelphia and have RSVP'd to parties put on by Recorded Books (at the Franklin Institute) and Overdrive (at the National Constitutional Center.) I've been to a lot of those kinds of parties over the year, does that mean I'm a hard partying government official? Best party ever? Baker and Taylor hosting fried chicken and beer on a Staten Island Ferry cruise.
- Someone asked yesterday if anyone was from the tornado affected area in southern Indiana. I lived on the edge of that area for many years and what I have seen from my Facebook friends in that area has been amazing. Early news and videos with links to Louisville television reports. Lists of places where clothing and food can be donated and of things that are sorely needed such as large plastic storage containers. The state's new centralized list of rentals available particularly in unhit neighboring areas. And today, several shares about Tide's Loads of Hopes vans coming to Henryville. This big trailer has equipment to do 300 loads of laundry a day. Indystar.com had an amazing photo gallery and is still heavily covering the story.
- Before dying suddenly at 43 last week, right-wing activist Andrew Breitbart promised a “bombshell” to dethrone the President and has now posthumously exploded it: Barack Obama saw a play about Saul Alinsky in Chicago 14 years ago. From: http://themoderatevoice.com/140750/behind-breitbarts-obama-bombshell/
- I do know who DC Stephenson was and have no clue about Mr. X Bushman. Don't even care enough to google today.
- Jeff, I have Seymour roots actually, (14 adult years)and he lived there near the end of his life. But I first learned about Stephenson in the same college class for which I read Saul Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals", an English comp class organized around the theme of American Radical Thought.
- I have been failing to figure out the point of Breitbart's last videos. First, Obama went to a play about Saul Alinsky and spoke on a panel afterward, and the woman who controls the archive tape "refuses to release it." (She says she doesn't even know where it is.) Second, law student Obama spoke in favor of Professor Bell at a demonstration and actually hugged him. Okay. According to the people left at Breitbart's left behind web pages seem to think this proves some kind of radicalism. But without Breitbart's spin it appears no one cares. I never cared. I voted Republican in my first Presidential election, for Gerald Ford, formerly my home town congressman. I have voted Democratic ever since. My best friend is turning into a libertarian and has been posting unhinged stuff on faceback. I am trying to blame it on the Chantix.
- Well, beb said my Breitbart comment was so 29 seconds ago, but from what I can figure out his proof of Obama's radicalness during college was that he hugged Professor Bell. So says Hannity. Or so I hear, not being one who has ever listened to him. I myself wonder whether Breitbart truly could have swung that one. In other exciting news, at least for me, short sale on house in Indiana has been approved. Whew. How long have I lived in Michigan this time? 18 months. I vote yes.
- And in other news Pat Robertson thinks marijuana should be legalized. http://www.americablog.com/2012/03/pat-robertson-wants-marijuana-legalized.html I still vote yes.
- I find the whole reaction to the Olive Garden review appalling and elitist. If we take out my Flint mother in law our choices are Olive Garden, Red Lobster or the nearby Carriage House coffee house. Her choices, OK with me. I spent 14 years in Seymour Indiana, which had essentially a few local restaurants when we got there and dozens of national chains when we left. I remember how delighted we were to have Taco Bell, Shoneys, Ryan's Family Steakhouse, Cracker Barrel and others come to town. We used to drive to Columbus IN and wait in line to go to Red Lobster. I see my Seymour friends recently complaining on Facebook that Columbus is getting an Olive Garden and why can't Seymour. Do realize that when we first moved to Seymour we had to drive to Bloomington for Chinese. My kid lived in Butler's newest dormitory building and it looked just like any dorm to me. We got her through Butler OK, but in her second year of grad studies at IU she is on her own. Though of course she got the tuition waiver that the state of Indiana gives to the dependents of combat veterans with purple hearts. When we moved to exurban Detroit in 2010 we missed the many whole in the wall taquerias and other Mexican places that were everywhere in Elkhart. There aren't many Mexican places here, but we are perfectly happy with the assorted mid-eastern places instead.
- I'Ve had a soft spot for Kucinich ever since I heard him say that our health care should not be someone's profit center. That was in the run up to the 2004 election.
- Migrant farm work brought the Hispanics to my home town of Holland, but as beb notes it was the RV industry that brought them to Elkhart. One of these days we will get to Mexican town. One of my coworkers brings me fresh made tamales from his favorite Mexican grocery in Westland.
- Prospero, Eames chairs are fiberglass , not plastic. They were manifactured in my home town. I have eight in royal blue.
- Peter, when I was a kid we went to Herman Miller sales on the lawn at the plant. There were many Eames chairs with no legs, later to be seen mounted on your neighbor's tractor or fishing boat. Are you from that neck of the woods?
- Nancy you turn my phrase. The sin is shining and spring flowers are blooming here in downtown Philadelphia. Today I had the stirring experience of visiting the Liberty Bell and walking around outside Independence Hall. Unfortunately not inside as free ticket timing didn't work out. A lovely day so far though.
- I would add my recommendation for Stephenson's Reamde and will add to it a recommendation for Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Each book in its own way has portions that take place within an online world somewhat like Second Life. Ready Player One's characters have to use their knowledge of 80s video games to outwit the bad guys. Coming to you from the Public Library Conference in Philadelphia where I have just attended two fine parties. A fine looking Thomas Jefferson was at one.
- Sorry Prospero, no cosplay, though Ben Franklin was there too. Several furries in the exhibit hall too.
- David C, I was just about to post the same thing. TV in the doc's waiting room raises my blood pressure. Although recently I am noticing a content change to playing medical channels. My Dad is coming to visit next week and the TV will be on all day every day. I'll be at work though, so poor hubby.
- Our first was an 11 per cent land contract when standard mortgages were 13 . Sept 79. If there is a per cent symbol on my ipad keyboard I'm not finding it.
- Wow, deborah, you've introduced me to an entire new keyboard. I should read the manual again.
- Sad for you Deborah.
- Gee thanks Jeff I will be humming all afternoon. "Born on a mountaintop in Tennesee, killed him a bear when he was only three...."
- Icarus, many states do have a Pulaski County, including Indiana, Arkansas, and Missouri. And Dorothy my daughter saw Billy Elliot in London and sobbed away, very unusual for her.
- Hunger games is a great book with a compelling story. It is however about teenagers killing each other , I doubt if I will go to the movie.
- So Dexter, DumDums are still there? Lifesaver abandoned Holland Michigan for Canada a few years ago and made it very clear it was due to the sugar tariffs. This week I am recommending "The Fourth Wall" by Walter John Williams. A movie is being made and presented as an internet delivered serial, though the creator/producers may have other motives. And people involved in the movie are dying. It was laugh out loud funny in several places. It shares some characters with the author's previous work "This Is Not a Game."
- Lansing and East Lansing are definitely two very different separate places. Back in my MSU days, oh so long ago, the two cities were separated by what can only be described as the red light district on Michigan St. Speaking Of MSU, this was the amazing sight in my living room last night: My 80 year old father watching the NCAA games while at the same time reading "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" on his Kindle Fire. Which was a gift from my brother the Adobe exec who synced it with his own account so Dad can read Bill's books.
- I kept seeing pictures of that bus, and couldn't figure out the problem. Probably saw it a dozen times before it clicked. In the eye of the beholder, I guess my brain just doesn't work that way.
- I do live with one of those Y people and he does pick up more than enough sexual innuendo for the both of us.
- My Y guy showed me the Land of Lakes boobknees. Just goes to show.
- The discussions about Cheney being "too old" brings to mind the accusations of death panels. How is this kind of comment different?
- I was surprised to see gas at $4.15 yesterday, that last 20 cents just snuck up on me.
- NO Basset, Earl Scruggs was the soundtrack at my house last night.
- All three of my assorted prom dresses for four different were sleeveless, high waisted and high necks. I can't even remember the name of one of my dates. Flat shoes always. As for being one sneeze from a double breasted blowout I am still recovering from the sight of Brooke whatsername's boob revealing dress on Dancing With the Stars the other night. Which leads me to the news that the TV I bought in early January has died and so far Target is not being helpful. Earlier in the week my husband dropped his camera in Wolverine Lake. The new camera has cost more than the new TV is likely to. He is a man who can not live without a camera. For example, early one morning recently he found a sandhill crane playing baseball. http://aroundcommerce.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2012-03-22T14:57:00-07:00&max-results=7 . I can't seem to get a link directly to the picture only to the page it is on. If you care just scroll down to March 16.
- My husband's cousin had already lost his license and served a jail term when he was arrested again while driving his tractor to the liquor store.
- Heard a story on Michigan Radio this a.m. about the panhandlers at freeway exits, particularly around Ann Arbor. State trooper who has befriended many of them says they are all addicts. One view point on your story from last week.
- No questions. No Complaints. All is fine.
- Connecting to a comment from yesterday: You can see the 3D Titanic in IMAX format at the Henry Ford Museum.
- That's OK Del. My daughter was in sixth grade when she chose not to see Titanic. It was all the dead people floating in the water she didn't want to see.
- Brian I can only see 56 plus there are four pink comment with comments by Nancy.
- I am at work today. And tonight I am going to the opening of a friend of a friend's fiber art show at Huron Valley Council for the Arts. http://www.huronvalleyarts.org/1/257/exhibitions.asp . My husband lived in this area until he was 12 and the HVCA is located in the building where he attended church as a child. This Fort Wayne news won't surprise any public librarian: FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - Parents are using their local library as a way to keep children occupied during spring break. However, many parents are dropping their kids off and leaving them unsupervised for the day. http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/local/area-libraries-are-seeing-more-unsupervised-children-due-to-spring-break My library's designated age at which kids must be accompanied by an adult at all times. is 8. I found the comments as always both depressing and amusing. My favorite? Thanks for telling the pedophiles where to find unsupervised kids this week. Parents do seem to think the library is a "safe place" for their kids and don't believe me when I tell them it is no safer than leaving your child at the mall.
- I'm with you Beb. Last couple of days people have said "have a nice holiday" and I'm thinking what holiday. Oh yeah.
- Thinking of you Moe, did this with my mother some 20 years ago and it's hard. And I agree with Sue about how important this community is to me. I'm certainly not a top commenter, but I'm here and I'm glad that you are all here with me. In other news we spent yesterday on the highway as we went to Elkhart and closed on the sale of our house there, said house having been for sale since October 2010. It made me feel very old to realize that my first thought upon seeing the buyers was "my, they're young." But it's a relief to have that done at last. I would like to get to Henry Ford to see Titanic exhibit, but probably won't go there for the 3D IMAX version of the movie. So if any of you are heading up there, I'm not too far away out here in the west end of exurban Detroit. Brian, perhaps we could have a second get together, this time somewhere a little more upscale that Taco Bell.
- I feel the same way as Dorothy and Sue about my comments. Nothing to save for prosperity here, move along.
- As a newly licensed 16 yr old driver I drove the family's second car, a 1969 Volkswagon Fastback automatic. I saw one on vacation a few years ago, in the grocery store parking lot in Glen Arbor, Mi - colors were the same so it could have been the same one - and man was it ugly. I remember having a cool car, perhaps I was wrong.
- My grandmother went through all those stages at the senior living place where she spent something like 20 years. As a kid I thought the Holland Home in Grand Rapids was where all the old Dutch ladies went to live. Grandma was on the waiting list for some time, lived in one room for many years then went on to the various care stages before she died at 94, having outlived all four of her children. The place was huge with two many floored towers, and I'm sorry to say it sort of reminded me of "the projects". Her sister and many of her friends lived there as well and she seemed happy. It took all of her social security and the tiny GR Fire dept pension she got to pay for it. My husband visited her there with our 4 month old baby and told me it was not a safe place to bring a baby, everybody in the place descended upon him to see the baby.
- I have no memory of watching rock n roll dance TV, but boy did I love Paul Revere and the Raiders, still have some albums somewhere. Oh you don't need kicks.... For the last couple years in Indiana my husband worked for an agency that provided in home services, he described it as being caretaker, companion, cook and driver. It was very low paying work, he made more per hour with the occasional under the table cash job. His biggest issue always had to do with who all got to tell him what to do. In most cases his patient, but there were always issues with various family members, etc. It's unpleasant low paying work with very little reward. His agency figured out quite quickly that he was the person to assign to elderly veterans and he was very good at it. And very surprised when one of his guys left him the choice of his antique guns in his will.
- When my mom died at 57 my parents had been married for 37 years. My dad remarried a year later to a woman 16 years younger than him. My brother pointed out that at least she would be likely to live long enough to take care of him. And at 80 he is somewhat decrepit but still getting around. This man has been eating breakfast every week day since 1960 at the same restaurant. While growing up his father had a store across the street but wouldn't go to that restaurant because they were Catholic. Oh Dutchistan. Nancy, I am so glad you gave me that word.
- THen there is my perky mostly healthy 90 year old mother in law and her just as perky and healthy older sister Mary, who regularly drives from Cheboygan to Flint to visit. Their Mom made it to 94. MIL lives in the same small ranch they bought in 1962. And still goes up and down the basement stairs to do her laundry. We'll head up to see her on Saturday and go to the chicken bbq fundraiser at her church. Should I live that long I hope to be like her rather than my dad.
- I love our discussion of words and stupid word mistakes, often homonym errors due to spellcheck. My latest is the book in which a bridal path led to the house.
- There are a lot of swans on the lakes around here and this year the DNR has authorized nest and egg busting. My husband walks at Wolverine Lake regularly and yesterday he took a closer look at a nest that was empty. Until he saw the swans coming toward him at high speed.
- Deborah I tried enlarging your gravatar on my ipad and it just got big and totally fuzzy.
- Lovely building Sue. My library is in a 25,000 square foot former country club. But I have $7 million and growing set aside for a new building in 5 years.
- When I lived in southern Indiana the sheriff shot himself in the thigh with a gun in his pocket. Do check out today's google doodle. Unzip it.
- This New Yorker article covers many of the word issues we have discussed in the past. http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/04/questioningly-words-marked-for-death.html
- We are about to undertake a marketing campaign: geekthelibrary.org/ We'll be doing lots of what do you geek posters and geek yard signs. As I work on the marketing plan I am growing to really like that word. In the sense of liking something as opposed to the carnival guy who bites heads off chickens. And more Heinlein, according to Wikipedia: The word appears in the modern sense of a science, math, or technology enthusiast in Robert Heinlein's 1952 short story "The Year of the Jackpot".
- No, the campaign is sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and OCLC. We are provided art work, templates, give away goodies, and lots of assistance, training and ideas. Many Indiana libraries did it en masse last year. We're doing it as part of our network in the Detroit Metro area. I enjoyed watching on Facebook the southern Indiana library I used to direct do it. I just edited that sentence several times and still don't feel the phrasing is right.
- My real name. Sort of obvious. I will note that most of us Connies are around the same age. There are no baby Connies out there.
- Linda said public employees are barred from participating in S.S. during their public service. I only know this to be true in Ohio. It is not the case in Michigan or Indiana, although in Indiana public units could select non-participation, though it is rarely done.
- Here we are again judging young women we do not know by how their bodies look in their clothing. The link to the confederate dress story demonstrates one of my pet peeves about newspaper web pages. And that is, where the heck is this? The Jackson Sun in Gibson County. Where? Why do you not put your city and state somewhere where it shows up on all web stories? When I went back to look a second time there was a hospital ad that showed me it was Tennessee. Without that random ad I would not have a clue.
- Enjoy the ballgame and bring cash. Cheers! Report finds Comerica Park beer is most expensive in MLB. http://www.freep.com/article/20120426/SPORTS02/120426012/beer-at-Comerica-park-Tigers?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE
- I thought those fair time / equal time laws were no longer in force.
- My husband is just a sneakpeeker not a commenter.
- Deborah was the whole crew on LSD or just you? :-)
- But DellaDash I love Prufrock! How about some cowboy poetry? My favorite is "Reincarnation" by Wallace MacRae. Great language, great story, fun ending. That's got roots. http://cowboypoetry.com/mcrae.htm#Rein . Or there is always "To His Coy Mistress" by Andrew Marvell http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/marvell/coy.htm, "Had we but world enough and time,". So many of my favorite read aloud poems are in the Norton Anthology of Poetry still floating around from college. And of course for real entertainment most Emily Dickinson poems can be sung to the tune of "The Yellow Rose of Texas".
- To make matters even worse in Michigan one of the two board members who voted against putting it on the ballot is an employee of the organization that brought the font size challenge against the petitions. Sound like a conflict of interest to you?
- And following up on ROGirl's comment, I wonder how Jesus would feel about the good group of Christian women who did this. A nice churchgoing lady called up Mikey Weinstein, founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation to tell him that she and her friends are praying for all the women involved with the Military Religious Freedom Foundation to get breast cancer. Seriously. The phone call was followed by an email http://freethoughtblogs.com/dispatches/2012/04/25/youll-know-they-are-christians-by-their-love/
- Kim, "To His Coy Mistress" doesn't really hit you as a seduction poem until the end. (The grave 's a fine and private place,But none, I think, do there embrace.) I also like Browning's "My last Dutchess" where you realize the speaker probably disposed of that Dutchess and is now negotiating for a new younger one.
- Or any Robert Frost poem. You do know that you can sing "Stopping by a woods on a snowy evening" to the tune of Hernando's Hideaway?
- Yup feisty. And now it is time for bed.
- My in-laws are very active in the Methodist church, governance, camp management and peace programs, which appears to actually mean supporting the Palestinians. They talk about the church's commitment to tolerance, diversity and peace. So I was surprised to learn that at this week's general conference the big question is whether to continue to make the statement that homosexuality is incompatible with christian teachings. This has been discussed and voted on for years, and there is no consensus on how the vote may go.
- Judybusy, my best friend forever has unexpectedly become a Rand Paul fan and has posted a few Nobama things on her facebook page. We are blaming it on the Chantix.
- WASHINGTON — Under heavy pressure from farm groups, the Obama administration said Thursday it would drop an unpopular plan to prevent children from doing hazardous work on farms owned by anyone other than their parents. The Labor Department said it is withdrawing proposed rules that would ban children younger than 16 from using most power-driven farm equipment, including tractors. The rules also would prevent those younger than 18 from working in feed lots, grain bins and stockyards. http://www.eschatonblog.com/2012/04/in-defense-of-child-labor.html I picked blueberries for 9 cents a pound at the age of 12 and 13. That's been illegal for years now.
- Bob ng I posted that because someone had posted about it in the comments recently. My friend recently sent me something about Obama passing a law the blocked the free speech rights of protestors. I looked it up and it was way less than she implied. Applied only to certain federal sites when the secret service was present to protect someone. Comparable to the banning farm chores charges.
- FFRF is the Freedom from Religion Foundation. What that has to do with where you are I have no clue.
- Have you gone to see James Randi in Ann Arbor?
- I don't know Charlotte. When I checked earlier this week the only National Protest event in Michigan was in Lansing. Would Nancy drive to Lansing again on her weekend? Especially this week?
- Or perhaps you covered the Pamela Gellar anti-Islam event in Dearborn this weekend.
- One more idea. Perhaps you went to the big skeptical students event in Chicago. Are you ever going to actually tell us?
- And the skeptic students were in Madison, not Chicago, my mistake. But close, so close.
- OK newspaper people, this is certainly the strangest saw it in the newspaper happening of my life. My mother died 20 years ago. Imagine our surprise to see her picture in the Grand Rapids Press last week. Our best guess is that she and the then little girl in the picture were having radiation or chemo together. http://photos.mlive.com/grandrapidspress/2012/04/anya_maciulewski_prepares_for_2.html . Both my brother and I have contacted the reporter but no replies yet. Any comments on this wierdness? Obviously the woman who is the child in the picture provided the picture but the caption implies it could be her father. Just heard from reporter who insists it is the girl's father. Ha! My father, brother and several cousins agree that it is my mother. This is now even weirder.
- My husband enlarged the picture and now we are all wondering. Perhaps she had a male "twin" , after all her father was adopted. Arms seem sort of male to me, but she was not a girly girl. We will continue to be puzzled.
- Deborah, my mother would have been 51. Our consensus now is that it is not her, but could certainly be her twin brother. As for my age due to assorted comments over the years I know I am two years older than Nancy.
- Lovely tulips. Midwesterners note that it is Tulip Time in Holland Michigan beginning later this week and continuing through next week with the big parade on May 12. http://www.tuliptime.com/ . Beginning last year Governor Snyder continued a longstanding governor's tradition by donning a Dutch costume and sweeping the street's in Wednesday's volksparade. I remember Governor Romney in Dutch costume back in my childhood. I also remember the Bushes and the Reagans in the 1980 big parade just a week before the Michigan primary. No Dutch costumes for them.
- LAMary, having danced in wooden shoes I can tell you that if they fit well and you are wearing plenty of socks, marching is no big deal. They have a cool Klompen kick routine they do while marching, while playing "Tiptoe Through the Tulips."
- Kaye, like so many fruit crops in Michigan the tulips got busted by the weird spring weather. As did my lilac buds.
- I not only wonder why anyone would want to be president I wonder why anyone would want to do local politics, city council, state legislature, etc. And I am thankful that others are willing to do what must be a really really unpleasant job. As for Mayday, we lived in Minnesota for a few years in the late 90s, and that is the only place I have ever lived that people actually celebrate Mayday. The handmade paper baskets filled with candy that were left on our doorstep by neighborhood kids were adorable.
- I saw that picture of the icky tanning woman earlier, and I wondered: What does she see when she looks in the mirror?
- As to knowing what it would be like to have your old girlfriends dishing on you.... I am reading "Triggers" the new book by Robert J. Sawyer, award winning science fiction writer and author of "Flash Forward". An odd combination of circumstances gives several people access to someone else's memories, including the President. The President finds himself experiencing someone else's Iraq War flashback. Others remember being molested or having great sex. A secret service agent assigned to watch over the elderly Mississippi woman who now has the President's memories has access to her memories and realizes she thinks of him as "that n****r". And a lawyer find he has the best sex ever with the woman who has his memories. So they are having their own memories "dish" on them.
- Recently someone on this list commented on the lack of tulips this year at Holland's Tulip Time. Tulip Time just posted the following on their facebook page. Stem Fest! Although our tulips are still with us (Centennial Park is GORGEOUS), we're anticipating their early departure with our Stem Fest 2012 T-Shirts. They're in a limited quantity and they're already flying off the shelves. Get yours today before they're gone! https://www.tuliptime.com/stem-fest-2012-t-shirt
- For what's it worth I spent a large chunk of the 80s and 90s living in Seymour, John Mellencamp's home town. In fact you get a quick glimpse of my library at the beginning of the "Small Town" video. I never met John, though my husband did and said John just wanted to chat about his (Tom's) big lawn tractor. John bought the local skating rink in order to save it, and it was run by his brother. One Sunday afternoon my friend took her daughter skating and the only other people in the rink where John and his daughter. Very exciting for friend. He also provides assistance to the Southern Indiana Center for the Arts in Seymour, which sells posters of two of his paintings. http://www.soinart.com/mellencamp.html. Paintings for which I fail to see the appeal.
- Just for Nancy: 100 disturbing clown images. http://mitchoconnell.blogspot.com/2012/03/clown-art-top-100-most-disturbing.html I kind of miss the scary clowns sidebar you used to have.
- At our house there is a t-shirt with SCREAM on it, so we get to look at it regularly. There is also a nice bowl of morels waiting for dinner tonight.
- Saturday I cooked morels for the second time in my life. Very tasty. Today I learned that my grad student daughter had gotten a summer job with the Grand Traverse Conservation District. Not only will she get paid she will get the experience requirement for her MSES degree. And they will pay for her herbicide application training and licensing. As for a place to live? We think there is a spare room at Uncle Fred's in Suttons Bay. And the other good news? It means I get her dog for the summer!
- Prospero, I have always thought the great blizzard of 78 was a midwestern thing. At least for Chicago, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio.
- I think we got unregistered after having to respond to a jury notice from Elkhart County forwarded to us shortly after moving to Michigan. That was two notices, one for me, one for daughter. I wrote new addresses on each and mailed them back.
- Those states that are putting no gay marriage in their constitutions - many of those constitutions once banned interracial marriage. Will there come s time - for some of us now- when we will be embarrassed for enshrining our bigotry into our constitutions? The Methodist church voted last week to continue its statement of doctrine that homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. It's also incompatible with the Methodist church's statement on its web page: Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors, the people of the United Methodist Church.
- Jakash, I always get that bad writer feeling when I post here. You just have to learn to live with it.
- I visited Cranbrook as a child, just once, to accompany my Birmingham cousins and our mothers to a rose show. Flower show? I only remember the flowers.
- In my high school years a group of guys relentlessly bullied one of the girls in my class. They called her beagle, and howled whenever she walked past them in the hall. Many years later at a class reunion one of those guys, now an Assistant Principal at a nearby high school, told me he had made a point of contacting her and apologizing, something like 20 years after we graduated. He told me it was working in a high school that made him realize what complete assholes he and his friends had been.
- Rod Stewart was too sick to come to the Hall of Fame induction and made it very clear that he was dismayed to miss his second induction for the same reason he missed his first.
- I used to say I don't watch reality TV but then I figured out I was watching Dancing and Pawn Stars, so couldn't say it anymore. Then I realized I was watching Storage Wars and Auction Hunters and was dismayed with myself. I miss the old Food network, have no interest in chef wars. Where's Alton? And as to Jeremiah Wright as a political tool: Do you really think everyone sitting in those pews believes in and supports every single thing the pastor says? Ha.
- The grandma shot grandson story made msnbc.com. Our gun situation is like Jeff(tmmo)describes: one black powder pistol, one replica 1850 54 caliber rifle and husband's childhood bb gun. And no ammunition, so it is not like there is going to be any shooting any time soon.
- I agree with you Julie, guns are for killing. Many years ago my daycare person's best friend's 13 year old son accidentally shot himself in the head while playing with his father's gun. The only reason that happened is because there was a gun in the house. Dorothy, is is my understanding that you can always turn a gun in to your local police station for disposal, no questions asked. Anyone watch Storage Wars or Auction Hunters? They find guns regularly. Hester on Storage Wars turns in all found guns.
- We have an empty foreclosed upon for sale house down at the dead end of our little street (ten houses) and it looks worse every day. More boarded up windows especially. Price is down to $69,000. One of my husband's walking buddies told him that her daughter looked at it and there have clearly been parties going on. This is an upscale area, but there are a number of rather grand houses sitting empty. In other news, especially for Brian, I just got my hands on an advance reading copy of "The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln, a novel" by Stephen L. Carter, to be published in July. Back cover says President Lincoln has survived an assassination attempt - only to become embroiled in an impachment trial, charging that he overstepped his constitutional authority during the Civil War. Sounds more like it is about his legal team members, rather than the trial. First printing is 150,000 copies so publisher's expectations are high. And, btw, Who's shooting whom.
- My Mom was 57 when she decided enough was enough when it came to chemo. She had been doing it on and off for quite a while, her throat was badly burned by radiation therapy and she just didn't feel that the few months she would gain were worth the misery. She died a few months later in a hospice at home setting. And my 90 year old mother in law is just totally perky and together, still living in the house they bought in 1962. We are thankful for that and for now living just an hour's drive away.
- Despite being a librarian Brian, I had no idea about the ad until Pros posted it. I fast forward past the ads whenever possible. And you know, librarians hate these kind of ads that play on the great stereotype.
- Alex, there are still a couple of weeks available to rent in August at our Glen Lake/Sleeping Bear cottage. Downscale, Empire, not Glen Arbor. Sleeping Bear and Leelanau County, my favorite place in the world. I think I've told you all that before. Several times.
- You need to research that company a little more thoroughly LAMary.
- Jeff said For all the writers here, which is pretty much all of us but the most dyed-in-the-wool lurkers. I'm not a writer, didn't think I was a lurker. I disagree with you about the pretty much all of us part. Many of us yes. All of us no.
- Midland Michigan used to smell awful too. When we lived in southern Indiana a very large egg producer, Rose Acres farms stunk up and brought bugs to many rural neighborhoods,
- Chicago magazine gives away some of the secrets of the Leelanau Peninsula. http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/June-2012/Midwest-Foodie-Destinations-Leelanau-Peninsula-in-Michigan/
- So my friends spent a couple of days at the Grand Hotel at the beginning of the month. She posted a picture of little girls dancing to the dinner music and well, the band just looked pathetic. Kind of sad and worn out feel. But that was just a picture. So Nancy, tell me the place is grander inside than my impression from that sad picture. In other news I am car shopping. American made, good mileage. Got any recommendations? Want to buy a 96 Mazda B300 pickup with an unfixable oil leak? The stereo system is worth more than the rest of the truck. Looks like the 03 Dodge Grand Caravan is about to become the family pickup truck. Hubby transported a motorcycle in it a few weeks ago. Today he is driving it (motorcycle) to Traverse City where our daughter, its owner, has the world's greatest summer job. He has a ride to Flint on Wednesday to get almost home.
- Yes JW, American brand too. My husband is from Flint. My car business brother also rec'd the Ford Focus. So far I am thinking that or the Chevy Cruse. Or that I may not be able to go back to a smaller car after years with a mini-van.
- So Brian, Butler bulldog Blue II posted this on his facebook page today: Any of you Ft. Wayne area Bulldogs see me and Butler Blue III in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette on Saturday regarding our visit to Lutheran Hospital? http://www.jg.net/article/20120602/LOCAL/306029957/0/SEARCH. And because you posted it here I could say YES! Along with Dorothy I am also pretty sure beb is a HE. I also think he is connected to crazycatlady who I think is HIS HER.
- I have faint memories of 10 cent a shot tequila night every Tuesday at the Brewery in East Lansing.
- I attended the dedication of the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial with my husband and VVA Chapter 73 of which he was a charter member. It was a very meaningful couple of days and also one huge party. Many items were left at the wall, and that is the first time I every saw teddy bears etc piling up at a place to mark a loss. Reagan cancelled his attendance at the dedication because Breznev died. The vets present said that showed who/what Reagan cared about. Leaning toward the Chevy Cruze. Why? Because the seat fits my rear best.
- Dexter, back in the 90s when the web was new my husband tracked down many of his old army buddies and borrowed and scanned their many Vietnam pictures. The web page he created then is now part of the Texas Tech Vietnam archives. http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/ . His online gang of veteran buddies now has several hundred members and they gather each September in St. Louis for an informal reunion. They call themselves Alpha Company, 1/20th, 11th Light Infantry Brigade.
- Make sure you go to the drive-in at google.com today.
- Gigantic Pfaltzgraff Angela? We use the salad plates regularly. I don't remember soft drinks as a kid but there were huge quantities of koolaid, how is that different?
- I was a lifetime heavy smoker until last fall. If you're forced to quit smoking because you're living in the hospital for a week you might as well keep going. So I say that I quit smoking unwillingly and I am still kind of grumpy about it. And I am still reaching for my smokes every time I start my car. (Soon to be a Chevy Cruse.) But I still have little patience with the complaints I hear. Yes, OK, not outside the doors of the building you are about to enter. But yesterday my SIL posted something on facebook in which she complained mightily about a person smoking on the next park bench over. Give me a break. Now flame me.
- Jeff, I am trying to decide between a bridge and an implant, it will cost me a ton, and that is with health insurance. And root canals are miracles.
- My Dad was a small town dentist and took those kind of screaming pain calls at home regularly. He would go in on his time off quite regularly to help people with sudden major tooth problems. And as for free dental work his contribution was made at the area migrant camps every summer. And yes they were called migrant camps.
- You are wrong Prospero, dentists would prefer that you not have those problems. My dentist dad always said that his dentist generation did such a good job of teaching about tooth care, promoting flouride treatments etc., that they practically put the profession out of business. He went straight from dental school to the air force and always said he did dental work there that he never saw anywhere else, mostly on country boys who had never been to a dentist in their lives.
- My brother is building an airplane in his garage. Really. You buy the kit in sections, he is about done with the whole tail portion. Whatever.
- Worst song of all time: Marty Robbins "El Paso". Second worst song of all time: anything by John Denver. As to Detroit area restaurants, The Root in White Lake has been hailed as best new restaurant. It's not far from me, but I hear reservations are a must. http://www.therootrestaurant.com/restaurant.php. Or you could do what Anthony Bourdain did: Go to Lafayette Coney Island and a Polish restaurant in Hamtramck. And Guy Fieri went to a place in Clarkston about which I hear good things about the food and bad things about the parking.
- These days Homer Laughlin is best known for still making Fiesta dinnerware.
- A New Yorker visits Detroit and actually says good things. http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/travel/just_back_detroit_BfI8YFbbFtFCnHbMzVuTzK?utm_medium=rss&utm_content=Travel
- Jeff, I've seen this on bumper stickers. When fascism comes to America, it will come wrapped in the flag and waving a cross.
- MY BFF is getting tea baggy and it makes me sad. She gave me a hard time about buying GM, because GM has stolen billions of our tax dollars. This from a VP at a major automotive supply company. What would have happened to you dear if GM and Chrysler had gone bankrupt? And my husband is from Flint so we buy American. I don't care where the parts were made, I care where the profits go. She complaints about her tax dollars going to GM. My husband says where was she when he was going to demonstrations about my tax dollars paying for war in Iraq? We agreed long ago not to talk politics.
- Michigan legislature will not allow woman legislators to speak in abortion debate: http://michiganradio.org/post/women-reps-michigan-barred-speaking-one-vagina-mention . One of them is my rep, I was glad to realize that I was being represented by one of the few willing to speak against this bill.
- What a chronic ear infection looks like: http://boingboing.net/2012/06/14/what-a-chronic-ear-infection-l.html
- Today I wrote a thank you email to my state legislature representative, Lisa Brown. I told her that in 25 years in Indiana I never had a rep who truly represented me, and I appreciated having one now that I live in Michigan, and thank you thank you thank you. And to keep it up despite the "punishment".
- Escanaba in da Moonlight. I hated it. It's a fart movie.
- He may face charges of reckless discharge of a firearm. As if he hasn't been punished enough.
- My new Chevy Cruze has a manual option, but no clutch. So why? I was a newlywed who learned to drive a stick in the parking lot of a budget rent-a-car. Meant to say no clutch. Corrected.
- Can't post the edited version. Meant to say no clutch.
- Alex, IU has strange age rules for management positions, perhaps that had something to do with it. A friend of mine was an interim dean there for two years and was not given the promotion due to a policy about not making management hires of people aged 62 and over. She is now the dean of the same thing at U of Maryland.
- I'm not the movie goer many of you seem to be. I think the only Adam Sandler movie I have actually watched is The Wedding Singer. The last movie I saw in the theater was The King's Speech. Last movies I watched on In Demand are Cowboys and Aliens and Contagion. This afternoon I am off to visit the Overdrive Bookmobile at a neighboring library. I see it will be visiting Ohio next month, so if you are looking for help with your local library's ebook download program - most likely it is Overdrive - it's coming to buckeye land soon. http://www.digitalbookmobile.com/Calendar.aspx
- That raccoon photo was in my email this morning and all over facebook. One of my friends had a mobile home up north. One winter a raccoon got in and totally destroyed it. Ceilings, walls, contents. He got enough from his insurance to buy a nice used modular home, so he says thank you Mr. Raccoon.
- My friend moved from Elkhart to Colorado Springs last year. Her Facebook postings about the fire are downright scary.
- Been in meetings all day and missed the great news, glad to hear it. After meetings were over I fired someone, so all in all a crappy day. Life should improve as a result though.
- Last week was the American Library Association conference in Anaheim. The big scholarship fund raiser was the final performance of the Rock Bottom Remainders, a rock and roll band that includes Dave Barry, Stephen King, Amy Tan, Maya Angelou, Cynthia Heimel, Sam Barry, Ridley Pearson, Scott Turow, Joel Selvin, James McBride, Mitch Albom, Roy Blount Jr., Barbara Kingsolver, Robert Fulghum and more. In an email one of my friends reports: Mitch Album did an Elvis impression and then shimmied off his shirt to Jail House Rock. Wow, does he look terrific without a shirt! I knew you all needed to hear this on this steamy Friday.
- I also saw Astrud Gilberto live, late 80s or early to mid 90s at the Kentucky Center for the Arts Lonesome Pine Specials series. We attended that series for years and watched the TV shows on PBS as well. It was a great assortment of concerts with cheap tickets, billed as "non mainstream" music.
- Nope Dorothy, I used my travel money to go to the big PLA conference in Philadelphia in March. I would have liked to attend the one you mention if only to see the final performance of the Rock Bottom Remainders, a rock band that features Stephen King, Amy Tan, Dave Barry, and unfortunately Mitch Albom. Next year in Chicago! Let me know if you want a free exhibit pass.
- Nope, haven't spotted him in the rural west end of his district, he seems to hang out in the more urban areas east of here. I do believe however I have met every single one of the many candidates running in the primary to be my rep at the state house. Power is out at home on this might be 100 degree day. Roof is leaking at work, but not in my air conditioned office.
- We are one of 100,000 homes in the county without power, and 300,000 in the region. No estimates yet for when power does return. So what does one do at home with no power on a 90 degree day? Sit in the shade outside and read by flashlight? Can't download new ebooks to my ipad with the wifi down. Hmmm.
- This is my favorite fireworks disaster story for this year. An entire show blows up en masse and leaves behind a huge crater. Due to stupidity of course. Fireworks for Bainbridge Island's Fourth of July show, along with fireworks for neighboring Poulsbo's show, were packed, organized and stored ready to go in a container at an auto-wrecking yard a few miles away. Then, authorities say, the operator of the wrecking yard decided to go outside and try out his new rifle. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2018585460_fireworks03.html Nancy a few years ago you shared a story about a Detroit setting of fireworks who went to check why one hadn't gone off at which point it blew up in her face.
- It's not just industrial workplaces that have to deal with OSHA. I had to deal with an OSHA surprise inspection a couple of years ago, and there was no question that they were called by a disgruntled employee. I was written up for three things: emergency plan was not adequate, not enough eyewash stations,and employees did not seem to know where the MSDS - material safety data sheets - were located. This was an urban public library mind you, and the MSDA sheets were for things like cleaning products and industrial glues. It all seemed like a meaningless hassle to me, but I complied and reported. In 30 years of library work that was the only time I ever ran into OSHA.
- David, are you in Warren, MI? I have a friend that is an engineer at the Army tank place there.
- David, I am in Oakland County with an aging parent in Zeeland, and it just isn't as close as I had hoped.
- My phone is so old it says Cingular on it. In addition to voice and voicemail I can text and take pictures. The only thing I can do with such pictures is send them to your phone for a cost not included in my plan.
- Tonight's township board meeting was more interesting than usual as the board heard a presentation from a Location Manager seeking to use Commerce Township Dodge 5 park for shooting on July 23. The film is AKA Jimmy Picard and it stars Benicio Del Toro as a stressed WWII vet come home to Kansas. From what I got the two scenes they will shoot will be dream sequences, in one of which he kills a bear. They will also shoot a scene involving a school bus in a cornfield on the west end of the township. And lunch is served at 1:30.
- I saw the Grand Canyon on a family trip when I was 14. My mother always said that her kids walked up to the Grand Canyon and said Oh cool, where's the gift shop. I have taken custody of my family's multiyear history in slides. My husband has been converting a few to digital files. I hadn't seen them in decades, no one has cried "Let's show slides!" since my mother died. He showed me a picture of me and my brothers at the Petrified Forest and I barely recognized myself. That girl was far lovelier than I ever remember being.
- Dexter over the last ten years the phone company showed up unannounced at every one of my branch libraries to the pull the payphone. At least one of them was busy enough to still be making money. All gone. Libraries always could point to a pay phone or two within walking distance. Not any more.
- As a kid growing up in Michigan I remember Romney as being well thought of and well liked. As Prez of AMC he was asked to chair what was considered to be a very successful state constitution revision and I think that made his reputation, though the only thing I could really tell you about it was that it got rid of justices of the peace.
- Penn state deserves the death penalty and Paterno's statue should be torn down: http://www.suntimes.com/13733985-761/penn-state-deserves-death-penalty-for-football-prison-for-officials.html
- Dorothy, every library in the country suddenly has hundreds of holds on Gone Girl, including mine. Blame Oprah.
- Hey Brian, 14 in 2 weeks, mine is 25 in 2 weeks. Watch our for left behind rotten melons, you'll have a yard full next year before you know what hit you. One of the few things I miss about living in southern Indiana: melons!
- I love pepper jelly. I was served the best jalapeno marmalade with my crab cake order at a bar in Seattle. And will be stocking up on cherry pepper jelly when I get to Cherry Republib on vacation in a few weeks. http://Cherryrepublic.com
- How pet friendly Jeff? I've got a place on the same lake Sue linked to, much cheaper, more downscale, house is across street from Glen Lake, own frontage as well. View across Glen Lake is Sleeping Bear Dunes. Many great Lake Michigan beaches in a short driving distance. A couple of weeks still available in August but would definitely depend on pets. Nancy, my husband looked over my shoulder at your picture and said "who canoed the Au Sable?"
- Finding an available room without a reservation on the west shore of Michigan this time of year is pretty unlikely. Even finding a campground spot can be iffy. Which isn't to say there might not be something right along the freeway exit in Muskegon. As to Saugatuck, not the place for quiet beach time. Think restaurants, bars, art galleries and big boats. And it is on the river not the Lake. Don't think the drift boat would have worked but somewhere near Newaygo there is a state campground on a small river which you can jump into with your tube and after 20 minutes of fine floating fetch up against the other side of the same campground.
- Jefftmmo, the last thing we were going to do as teenagers going to the beach was climb Mt. Baldy. We only climbed Mr. Baldy for a family outing - usually on a Sunday afternoon. Nancy, Dad's Inn makes me laugh every time I pass the Fowlerville exit.
- We've had that experience too Brian. Day's Inn, Farmer City Illinois, one of those side of the freeway places late at night. We sat and listened and laughed, hoping our ten year old didn't wake up to hear it. Then we got to listen to the post coitus conversation between the truck driver and the woman he met in the bar. Best line of all time: "And she had the nerve to call me f**king trailer park trash."
- John (not McCain), the thing with cilantro tasting like soap is supposedly genetic.
- I am meeting a friend at a new to me restaurant later this week. I just checked out the menu online and I see there is a salad named after Mitch. http://thestagedeli.com/pdf/StageDeliMenu.pdf
- Thanks, LAMary, I was wondering what us Frisians were. Though I will note that this map: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxons , lists Frisi along with Saxoni and Angli. Off to the dentist to get my fallen out filling replaced. Fun.
- I had an (older) coworker who was a young fresh college grad in a new job when his national guard unit got called up to go to the riots. He talked about all the young "dutch" boys getting on the bus and how quiet with fear it was on that bus ride. I always found it an interesting story.
- As a kid I went to Tiger games regularly on the GM tickets, courtesy of VP Uncle John. There were no boxes but third base line was a mighty fine view. I am back from a fine and quiet week up north.
- As soon as Julie mentioned Hamlisch my brain began to play the soundtrack to "The Sting." Alex, I suggest no thread comment awards to comments that discuss women's sexual parts in an inappropriate manner. I consider that an ongoing issue in the comments here. At least for me.
- Voter No. 132. The only candidates on Democratic ballot were county, state and national. All the local offices - the township people with whom I work - are Republican.
- I have a similar pile of beautiful fresh picked tomatoes on my counter. Tomato salad and tomato sandwiches and BLTs were the menu this weekend. My husband chose to do a container garden this year with great success. This picture is earlier in the summer: http://aroundcommerce.blogspot.com/2012/06/old-hick.html . Click on the picture for a larger version. With a beautiful huge back yard I have no clue why he chose to do a container garden. We have a lovely second crop growing where he threw a couple of extra plants next to the garage.
- Thanks for the comments on my husband's odd tomato container garden (picture link late in yesterday's comments). It is in the driveway rather than the yard because then he doesn't to mow around it. As for the gate, well it came home with him from his walk one day. What he is keeping out I have no clue.
- I think the ongoing construction on college campuses is ubiquitous. I drove through East Lansing last fall and my old dorm had no windows, just big openings.
- Dorothy, plus I managed to spell it right on the first try!
- Yes, Jefftmmo, how do you do the meat and gravy part of your shepherd's pie. We usually use leftovers but would love a from scratch recipe that is as tasty as the shepherd's pie I had in the English pub in Niagara by the Lake.
- Jeff, thanks for your shepherds pie. The meat and gravy part is pretty much what we called gravy train as kids and served on top of mashed potatoes. The few restaurant shepherds pies I've had the meat is more pot roasty with tangy gravy. I'd like to duplicate those. But if I actually make pot roast it gets eaten up! Anyone want some tomatoes?
- I am also reading "Dog Stars" and find it's style very chunky. Not much of a story line yet either. We'll see, it comes highly recommended and I have long been a fan of post apocalyptic fiction, all the way back to "Fail Safe." I think the accusations of news media not addressing the FRC shooting are incorrect. I say the breaking news banner on MSNBC, whoops NBCNEWS.com. I have also seen statements of dismay and support from numerous LGBT and atheist organizations. And according to TPM: The man accused of shooting a security guard at the Family Research Council’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. yesterday had 15 Chick-fil-A sandwiches on him along with a 9mm Sig Sauer pistol. 15!
- LAMary, my lovely niece just completed her midwifery degree(?) certification (?) on top of her nursing degree and will go anywhere for work. Just saying.
- Can I join the crowd? We will celebrate our 34th at the end of September.
- Augusta National admits first female members. Took long enough. http://tinyurl.com/96f4umj
- I'm not needle-phobic, but I have difficult veins and you are only allowed to poke me so many times. I was still in college when the Red Cross ladies told me I was not an ideal blood donor and not to worry about not doing it. My daughter had major surgery when she was 14 and the doctor had her go in and donate blood for her own use. They asked my kid all the questions they ask adults: have you had sex with anyone from Africa lately? She was so embarrassed, and even more embarrassed that her mother was present for the questions..
- All of my various dogs have liked undie crotches. My current dog is an escape artist. We once left two dogs home for a very long day after Thanksgiving. Came home to find the turkey carcass removed from the trash and beautifully polished on the living room floor.
- Tickets are available for a Romney/Ryan appearance in my neighborhood Friday. Commerce Township, Michigan. Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are scheduled to be in Commerce Township (Long Family Orchard Farm & Cider Mill) early afternoon on Friday, August 24. From what I know. Have people get tickets for the event. http://romneyryanmichigan.eventbrite.com/ Commerce road from Bogie/Wise rd will be closed to Williams Dr. at the Hospital or when ever all the parking is used up at the farm. There is parking at Northern High School and a shuttle service to get over to the farm. It is expected between 3 and 5 thousand people will show up for this event so expect a lot of people. If you think you want to attend you could be late by arriving at 9:00 for a 12:00 noon event. That is when Mr. Romney and Mr. Ryan will arrive, give or take 10 min. Mr. Romney will give a 45 min speech, and meet with the press and leave some time around 1:00 Mr. Ryan will leave around 2:00 and some place you will be able to get water and eat a ear of corn free.
- My husband was an infantryman in Viet Nam when Apollo 11 happened. He didn't hear about it for a very long time, and found it very hard to believe when he did. Whereas I was a 13 yr old. I clearly remember the whole family in the family room.
- Mitch Albom is all over the new book news as his new book is officially published tomorrow. This from Early Word: The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom (Hyperion; Thorndike Large Print) marks a return to fiction by the author of Tuesdays With Morrie and Five People You Meet in Heaven. This fable is about Father Time, who returns to Earth to liberate us by teaching the true meaning of time, with the help of a teenage girl and an old business man. http://www.earlyword.com/ Sounds really awful to me, but that's Mitch.
- I can't believe I am mentioning Mitch Albom twice in one day. His latest column for the Free Press is about Honey Boo Boo. He doesn't think much of her, her family, or the TV show.
- This is fun: famous album covers superimposed against their actual New York locations: http://www.buzzfeed.com/txblacklabel/album-cover-locations-new-york-28m7
- Brian, I did not go out looking for MItch Albom, he just found me. He is always there in my quick morning look at the Free Press (freep.com) and there he was on Early Word, which I usually check on Monday to see this week's big Tuesday releases. Did you know most newly published books are released on Tuesdays? Bookstores and libraries sign a legal agreement with their main providers to hold all new items until their release date. If we won't sign it we don't get them prior to release dates. Most hot new books arrive in house a week or two before release and we abide by the requirements of the embargo.
- I love Ivan Doig and I just go my library copy of his new book and Laura Lippman's new book. On my list of all time faves: Ivan Doig, Dancing at the Rascal Fair.
- No Brian, they get shipped a week or two ahead and can be labelled, processed, cataloged, but must wait unused in the back room until the designated Tuesday.
- The bic pen for ladies reminded of this web pages which reprints funny reviews of books etc. at Amazon and similar places. http://leasthelpful.com/
- Hey Peter, roller derby isn't what it used to be. I went to a meet last month and it was a fun family event. My IU grad student daughter has joined the roller derby in Bloomington, and skated for the Traverse City Toxic Cherries while she was there this summer for her summer job. It's all flat track now and no fakery. I think it's a girrrrrl power thing. I didn't watch the convention but in my channel cruising I saw a bit. Chris Christie looked seriously large and I hated Ann Romney's dress. My convention reporting has come from talkingpointsmemo.com, americablog.com, and dailykos.com, so you already know the viewpoint I am reading. And the throwing peanuts at a black Cnn employees just exemplifies what is wrong with the Republican party to me.
- The New York Times reports on August 29, 2012 on the life and death of DeAndre McCullough in Baltimore on August 1, 2012 at age 35 of an apparent heroin overdose. DeAndre’s youth had been chronicled in the non-fiction book and HBO mini-series, The Corner, A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood (New York, Broadway Books, 1997), by David Simon and Edward Burns. DeAndre’s parents, both Baltimore residents addicted to drugs are central figures in the book and miniseries. The book and mini-series were sort of a scholarly prelude by Simon and Burns to the HBO smash hit series, The Wire, about contemporary urban life, policing,urban politics, drug trafficking, drug use in Baltimore. http://www.theagitator.com/2012/08/29/deandre-mccullough-dies-in-baltimore-from-heroin-overdose/
- Green flowered grilled cheese and tomato sandwich. Just doesn't do it for me. I much prefer my Captain Underpants name of Zippy Stinkerchunks. http://www.ultsoftware.com/NameGen.html There's another version out there that has me being buttercup burger head. Way better than porn names.
- Following up on yesterday with this headline from the Free Press: Bicyclist dies after being shot in confrontation with motorist in Taylor. http://www.freep.com/article/20120830/NEWS02/120830008/Bicyclist-dies-after-being-shot-in-confrontation-with-motorist-in-Taylor?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE
- Piece on NPR/Here and Now today where Politifact laid out several of those lies. There was also a mention of a front page NYTimes story about Ryan's lies about the closing of an auto plant in his home town.
- See also this article about Ryan lies at Americablog which includes a link to a Fox News web site article about Ryan's lies. http://www.americablog.com/2012/08/every-time-paul-ryan-attacked-last.html Yes, I said Fox News.
- Isaac hits home. Yesterday we were supposed to be leg 1 in a relay meant to get a young man from Louisiana we've never met picked up at the airport, reunited with the musical instruments stored at mother-in-law's in Flint (upright bass and more)and then both young man and instruments to Ann Arbor to begin another year at UM. We were doing the airport pickup. All flights out of Louisiana were cancelled due to Isaac. I cracked up at the headline about Honey Boo Boo beating the Republicans in ratings. Ha.
- Tweet I saw on Facebook: this is a perfect representation of the campaign: an old white man arguing with an imaginary Barack Obama. From Jamelle Bouie. Am I supposed to cite something like that?
- Leland Michigan or somewhere else?
- Leland Michigan, old fishing village, harbor town, good restaurants, one of many lovely shoreline places in Leelanau County.
- Julie, I've always called it Sunday in the Park with George too. It is always my first stop on my occasional visits to the Chicago Art Institute. My second stop is right around the corner, Rembrandt's Dutch Girl at a Half Open Door, a replica of which hung in the dining room of my childhood. I was dismayed at my last visit by the new plaque which states it may not be by Rembrandt. I was once the used textbook buyer at the MSU bookstore, and one of the books that was used a lot had Sunday in the Park with George on the cover. Imagine my surprise at the size of the real one when I finally saw it. It is huge!
- In unrelated news Wikipedia tells Philip Roth he is not a "credible source" on the book he wrote. http://arstechnica.com/business/2012/09/wikipedia-told-philip-roth-hes-not-credible-source-on-book-he-wrote/
- Sue, I learned years ago that I couldn't grow sugar snap peas without nets to protect their little shoots from the neighborhood bunnies.
- I'm a month short of my one year quit smoking anniversary and the last two nights I have woken in the wee hours due to smoking dreams. Dreams in which I am sneaking around smoking. Dreams in which I know I am not supposed to be smoking. In one of them I was trying to hide my smoking from my mother who has been gone for 20 years. Too weird. Usually my problem is at the beginning of the night, just falling asleep, and once I do I'm good for the night.
- Kaye mentioned this book: The Day the World Came to Town. I loved that book and I appreciated that Hugo Boss set up a computer center for the local school. And I loved the part where Hugo Boss had to buy underwear at Walmart.
- My husband sent me this link to an article about Vietnam because the beautiful photos were of the area he was in. http://www.cnngo.com/explorations/life/day-i-discovered-great-wall-vietnam-301053
- My reaction is the same as MarkH'. I've been coming here ten years now. Glad to have known you all for so long.
- I saw two interesting political yard signs today. The first said "Christians for Obama" with the usual Obama red white and blue O on it. Not too much later I saw a white sign with a giraffe shaped red white and blue logo adorning it and the words "Stop Fighting - Start Fixing" and the nolabels.org website address. Which appears to be a partisan that wants to fix how Washington has been working. I was coming back from ordering new glasses. After vision insurance they cost $85, mostly due to the extra cost of making my very thick lenses a little thinner.
- Sign of the day: 100% pure plastic lumber.
- I grew up with those same Sunday dinners Dexter describes. And I was amused he found it necessary to define the buffet, as I own one.
- Julie, my Dutch grandmothers referred to bacon grease as speck, and canister sets came with a canister labelled such. I can make gravy the way my grandmothers did. I'll have you over for roasted pork loin if you want a lesson. The trick is the gooey stuff in the bottom of the roasted pan. I have a cookbook the Grand Rapids Reformed Church women put out in the 1950s. Many of the recipes call for oleo, often in an undefined quantity such as a lump.
- The Randy Newman song Alex mentioned can be found here:http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/09/18/_i_m_dreaming_of_a_white_president_randy_newman_talks_about_his_new_song_.html
- Brian, I grew up here and it has always been Michigander.
- Brian, it's official. FWCS is now the largest school district in the state.
- My brother in law is teaching Marketing 101 for the Baker College chain here in Michigan. He told me he was surprised at the cohesive groupness of his students who never see each other but hold long discussions and work together through the Blackboard software.
- Jeff(tmmo) I did one of those quizzes that tells you for whom to vote based on your answers to assorted questions. It told me my first choice was Jill Stein, second choice Prez Obama. I had to look her up sorry to say. As for Art Prize my friends told me it was an absolute mob scene and they wouldn't go again. Not your experience David C.?
- Pros, my thought exactly. I'll be voting for Obama.
- GQ article about Grand Rapids' Art Prize: http://www.gq.com/entertainment/art-and-design/201209/artprize-rick-devos
- Charity sues Mitch Albom: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/21/mitch-albom-haiti-orphanage-lawsuit-sued_n_1903668.html?utm_hp_ref=detroit
- As a long time public official of sorts and a resident of ex urban Detroit I have an interesting view point. What get's me right now is that no one is noticing what is happening with Downtown Development Authorities right now. During the boom times they incurred large bond debt for large projects, expecting to pay that bond with huge TIF profits from the assessment growth spurred by those projects. Money has been spent, profits are not happening. The Troy DDA is about to default on major debt payments. In my township the Charter Township backed the DDA bonds with its "full faith and credit." This year that meant covering 1.8 million of DDA bond debt payments from the township operating funds. More than half the township employees were laid off a couple of years ago to cover this. I suspect this is going on all over the metro area. We've not yet seen any signs of recovery in property value assessments.
- Thanks for the referral to the Bridge article on TIF districts and DDA debt. The library community in general is opposed to TIF districts due to their impact on all local government budgets. In Indiana every time there was a new TIF district proposed I would get paperwork telling me it would have no financial impact on my budget. And yes, technically, OK my revenue will not go down. But neither will it go up for years and years.
- My Julie Ann is named after the queen. Who I thought was our queen until I was in second grade because grandma talked about the queen all the time. I had a college friend named Kate Hunsucker who was really looking forward to marrying John Smith. I have worked with a LaToya, and currently work with Latonia. One is white, one is African-American.
- I always she is named after the queen and rarely say which Queen unless asked. LAMary will know of course, if you remember where I am from you will know too. I also ask every Julie I meet what their middle name is and way more than half of them are Julie Ann in some form.
- My husband just reminded me that his UP cousin named her son Cord Arrow. It took us awhile to realize she had named him after a soap opera character who was actually named Cordero. I've never met a Connie younger than I. We all seem to be about the same age. Think Connie Francis, Connie Stevens. My husband recently visited his great great grandmother's gravestone in southern Indiana. Her name on the stone is Andaluza, although he is pretty sure spelling varied. http://aroundcommerce.blogspot.com/2012/09/andaluza-elmore.html
- LAMary, is that where YoYo comes from? I also wonder about the male nickname Yop. (Yup?) When we were expecting we made lists of family names we would never use. They made us laugh uproariously for some reason. From my side: Agnes, Gertrude, Alice, Harriett, Morris, Bernard, Herman and Hermoine. From his side: Irma, Claude, Merle, Cecil. The last 3 were brothers. Oh, and I found out when she died that Grandma Agnes' birth name was Akka.
- Band parent memories. Enjoyed it while I did it, was glad to have my Fall saturdays back. I still check results occasionally at IndianaMarching.com.
- Brian, Junior year my daughter's band (Concord) had an amazing 246 kids in it. It was bigger than any of the class A bands for that year.
- Jeff(tmmo) as a librarian I really love this line: Published first in the Journal of Occasional Studies, a twice-annual periodical found in all the libraries to which it is sent.
- Slate's guide to picking the right apple for your purpose. http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2012/10/apple_variety_flow_chart_which_kind_of_apple_should_i_choose_for_eating_baking_bobbing_throwing_.html Feed those Red Delicious' to a horse.
- If you have a Sonic in your neighborhood you can order the chili/cheese/frito wrap. That's what I think of for Frito Pie.
- Hear hear Minnie. If he dislikes us so much why does he bother?
- My experience is that scholarships and financial aid are two different things. At least they were at Butler. Within weeks of her acceptance she had been notified of several merit based scholarship awards that appeared to be based on GPA and SAT scores. They covered half the cost for all four years. Financial aid happens in the Spring and includes grants and loans. Our annual cost at Butler was lower than our annual cost would have been for Purdue. IU grad school graduation is in December and there appears to be a job offer for a low paying grant funded job in her specialty. In Traverse City.
- The space parachute jump seemed pretty anti-climactic to me.
- My church did feature "Love Lifted Me' though not by Jack Black. I still know all the words and am sitting here singing it in my office. Didn't keep me going to church.. Do check out the google doodle today and click it all the way to end of story. I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore, Very deeply stained within, sinking to rise no more, But the Master of the sea heard my despairing cry, From the waters lifted me, now safe am I. Refrain: Love lifted me! Love lifted me! When nothing else could help, Love lifted me! Jack Black's version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE7XEDrdcYs&noredirect=1
- Tickets are still available for this week's Tiger playoff games, $79 and up. And Series tickets if it happens, more like $259 and up.
- So plans for tonight: debate or Tiger's game. Hmmm.
- Praying Mantis are good guy bugs, there is no reason to be afraid of them. Of course that is true of most spiders too and that doesn't stop people from screaming at them.
- Go Obama. Go Tigers. Go Obama. Go Tigers. Go Obama. Go Tigers.... OK, I know one of tonight's games isn't finished yet, but not sure I can stay awake for one more inning.
- Made it. Great game, Go Tigers.
- Any other Tiger watchers have a brief Kirk Gibson moment during that last at bat?
- We got rid of the land line when we moved to Oakland County Michigan. We have cell phones with 574 area codes which is Elkhart/South Bend. Sometime people get confused, but I think that is more and more common. My daughter tells me it is very common in college towns, with cell numbers from all over the county. It is nice to not have to worry about long distance charges any more. I will answer calls from unfamiliar numbers only if they are from our local exchange. Our house in Elkhart was for sale for almost two years when just as we submitted a short sale offer for approval they decided to foreclose. It took Citibank four months to get the sale offer handled. We sold the house in April. Citibank forgot to tell its foreclosure unit that the house had been sold and the first mortgage had been fully paid off. I continued to receive very nasty collection calls all summer and when I told them the house had been sold they just laughed. I stopped answering all calls from the 866 area code. I finally got several levels of supervisor up the chain and got assigned to a problem resolution team. Who told me they were working to resolve my problem. My problem. I was quite sure it was their problem. Any way it took 8 weeks for citibank to figure out the mortgage had been paid off, take it out of foreclosure, and take all the post sale date foreclosure stuff off my credit record. The whole experience was a misery, but it is over. I do not use my husband's last name but somewhere in California there is a Connie with his last name who has credit problems. I get calls from collection for Connie E*** a couple of times a year. I have never ever used that name, but telling the caller my name was Connie O*** was not persuasive, and he kept asking for my social security number. I don't think so. And now that I think about it I have not had any of those calls since giving up my landline. So Nancy is it possible you are getting these calls from some local trickster? Sorry for babbling on.
- Alex, I understood that Indiana vehicle emissions testing was required only in those counties so designated by the EPA due to air quality issues. That included the Chicago suburbs, the Louisville suburbs and a few other places. I lived in Jackson County for 14 years and Elkhart County for 10 and never had to have my vehicle testing.
- Jakash, that's called an autodial. A computer has called you and if the call is answered is supposed to transfer it to a human. My experience in the Citibank craziness was that you had about a 50/50 chance of someone actually being there to speak to you,
- Go Tigers, see you at the World Series.
- My big beef is all the calls at work from sales people with an amazing product. Usually it is about copy machines or network services. Today it was healthy fresh vending machines. As soon as possible I politely say "I'm sorry I don't take cold calls" and hang up. I want to be open for calls from my community members, so that is one of the byproducts. My staffing is way too tight to have someone else field my calls.
- Actually I don't think the machine itself is healthy and fresh but you know what I meat.
- Brian, she not only appears to be starving to death, there is also something weird about her hair color.
- Indiana folks watch out, Mitch Albom's article about the Tigers is in the Star today. At least you are getting his sports writer persona.
- I just received a call on my cell phone about lowering my credit card interest rates. This is a first for me. Several of you brought this up yesterday and I am trying to decide if I've been jinxed.
- Dexter, Noble Roman's now does quick takeout in gas stations. There personal pan is great and there are always a couple ready to go. I have a Little Caesar's around the corner from my house and do not believe I have ever seen a salad there. Also in the neighborhood is Hungry Howie's and Happys. Closest Papa John's is a good ten miles away. Our pizza mostly comes from our new favorite, Jet's Pizza, I recommend the eight corner pizza. It was Dorothy who first told me about Little Caesar's Hot N Ready. I believe it what she was going to eat when she stayed home on New Year's Eve. A few days later one opened in Elkhart and we started doing the Not N Ready thing.
- Prospero, my VietNam vet husband got the GI bill money and a VA home loan.
- We turned out the porch light on Halloween when we no longer had a kid to answer the door. We live on a small dead end street with 9 houses, only two of which have kids. I'd rather visit Nathan and Ethan and siblings with some goodies. Particularly since Ethan learning to ride a two wheeler has been a big part of our summer entertainment. Didn't watch the debate. Didn't watch the baseball game. And didn't get to watch Dancing With the Stars because Detroit ABC preempted it for a Lions pregame. They ran it at 2 a.m. instead. Went to bed early.
- Nancy, I remember when you told us all you were buying a house in the Pointes and it turned out you had no idea what you were really getting in to. You've done a fine job of figuring it out and sharing.
- Rape victim pregnancy the will of God? How was it my long ago died at birth baby was also the will of God? Does this make sense to anyone? Is there any wonder I left the church for good right around that time?
- I remember all the useless stuff and struggle with the important today staff. I know all the words to all the old songs, including numerous hymns for which I have provided for you the lyrics. My cousins will no longer play Trivial Pursuit with me. Our family word for that moment when that lost word from yesterday finally comes to you is "aurora borealis Moment." It dates back to the night we watched the northern lights in Leelanau County and couldn't think of that word. The next day at lunch I leaped up from chair, threw my arms in the air and hollered "aurora borealis!".
- According to my relatives in Evansville, the dolts are all from Kentucky. That’s their story, and they’re sticking to it. Well you know what the Hoosiers say: Indiana is where it is because Kentucky sucks and Michigan blows.
- Guy Vander Jagt and my Dad went to college together, two good Dutch boys at Hope College. Vander Jagt gets a lot of the credit for making Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore a reality.
- Thanks Deborah, lovely article about our hostess.
- Linda, Michigan courts have just ruled that Michigan libraries must put up with big guns, as none of the exemptions apply to public libraries.
- Just like Prospero I have exactly one 45 rpm record, a copy of Blueberry Hill given to me by the lady I babysit for. It is still floating around somewhere.
- This is by far the most populous area in which I have ever lived and voted. I spent some time with the Oakland County League of Women Voters guide and have the back page clip sheet filled out and ready to take along. A first for me. I did vote in the local primary at which 88 people voted at my precinct.
- Local news: Wixom police has a freeway shooting suspect in custody for questioning. I live right next door to Wixom so this whole thing has been wierd.
- Just walked down to the neighborhood elementary school where I was ballot number 650. As a township employee I actually know a surprising number of candidates. Oakland County Community College Board of Regents! Go Clay J.!
- One of you called it: The woman who received the allegedly harassing emails that were traced to Broadwell, has been identified as Jill Kelley, 37, of Tampa, Fla., multiple sources confirmed to NBC News on Sunday.
- Nancy, my brother did a Europe choir tour with the same arts camp. They had a lot of rehearsals in Lansing, and the west Michigan car pooling contingent often ended up at my East Lansing apartment for pizza. Brian if you ever get to ND again I recommend a visit to the bookstore. Mostly just to see the amazing amount of stuff with ND on it.
- It's all too icky for me today.
- I don't know Julie, I have two younger ones.
- My best friend just got a lovely little tattoo and her 70plus mother had a fit, is still having fit. In the discussion of this my brother tells me that our mother, dead these 20 years, made him vow to never get a tattoo. So he feels eternally obligated to never get a tattoo. He pointed out that she had never made me vow. True. I do not ever expect to get a tattoo but should I change my mind it will be of the Very Hungry Caterpillar.
- Goodbye Twinkies, I won't miss you at all. Hostess says it is going out of business.
- Birthdays of my two brothers and I are in a 5 week span with mine in the middle exactly nine months to the day after my mother's 21st birthday. She always said their friends in Ann Arbor got her way too drunk on her birthday for that to be a likelihood. Since the brother born two and a half weeks before me came early as well, we just never believed her.
- Bassett, best classic rock around Grand Rapids, WLAV, 96 or 97 FM. Had a button set on my car radio since college and still do. While I don't live near there I drive through there at least once a month and always listen to it.
- 10 of the best bookstores in the country: http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/2012/1113/10-of-America-s-best-bookstores/Carmichael-s-Bookstore-Louisville-Ky I've been to two, The Strand, and Powell's. I'm surprised to find one is in Petoskey Michigan. How many have you been to?
- Really Brian?
- My brother in law took a bad fall in the northern Michigan woods while deer hunting some years ago. He said he could hear his leg break in the fall. He also said that he shot his gun into the air twice, which he told me was a hunter's emergency signal. Someone got to him in about 20 minutes and hiked out to call for help. The rest of the story involved an ambulance crew hiking in with a litter who carried him out to where they could meet the helicopter. Point being if two shots is really an emergency signal why did the guy in the story above crawl out with his broken legs. Am I the only one having trouble wrapping my head around the idea of Rutgers and U Maryland joining the Big Ten? Twelve? Fourteen?
- How bored are you? http://www.theuselessweb.com/
- http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/20/15308655-fbi-raids-detroit-public-library-main-offices?lite FBI raids Detroit Public Library main offices
- Defined benefit pensions for various government employees vary from state to state. The Indiana version pays 1.1% per year of service times your highest three year average salary. I am currently pulling early retirement based on 23.9 years of service. There is an additional annuity amount based on the 3% of salary per year employees are required to contribute. I believe the various plans I was in (long ago) in Michigan and Ohio were more like 2% per year of service. My current plan is more like a 401K investment plan to which the township pays 13% of each full time employee's annual salary. Investment of such totally controlled by John Hancock. I will note that the Michigan plan (MMERS) plan I was in years ago was an independent group with a board of directors made up of participating employees, while Indiana's PERF is totally controlled by state government and the legislature.
- All of our dogs have been rescue dogs, but nothing as bad as those stories. Nelly, the smartest mutt in the world was found in a Grand Haven parking lot, gained 10 pounds the first week, and loved us for many years. Most empathetic dog we've ever had. Not sure I got that word right. Dusty the old man Shih Tzu came to us from a foster home after having been passed through four homes due to his dislike for small children. Except for the fact that he pooped under the Christmas Tree his first night at our home, he was a loving dog who loved me the most. Our current dog, Molly the mad mini Schnauzer came to us at 5 months from a woman who had paid $500 for her and just didn't like her. She sits half way up the stairs where she can see the driveway and the street and do her dog warning duties. I wish my life could handle more dogs. The last two summers I've had my daughter's loving mutt Jax and when she comes to visit so does he. This week I think of both of them as being home for the holidays.
- Cleaning rags do not live in the kitchen. Old dish towels live under the sink for kitchen mop ups and yes, bibs. Especially if I run home for lunch and eat soup in my work clothes. Whereas old towels are renamed dog towels and are used for.....
- Not my sweet mother-in-law Danny. Over 20 of us will be descending on my 90 year old mother in law's house (the one they bought in 1962)for a fine family Thanksgiving. My mother used to say that she had the kindest sweetest mother-in-law anyone could ask for and she was sorry that she couldn't say the same for her husband.
- Had a lovely day with fine food and even finer family. All my nieces have become such lovely women. And met my brother in law's new lady friend who turns out to be a judge in the next county south of Sleeping Bear.
- Dorothy, I bought a Powerball 7$ winner while passing through Ohio last spring. Turns out you can only cash out Powerball in the state in which it was purchased. If you get the big winner I'll be happy to join on your trip to Virginia to claim your winnings.
- Alex and Little Bird, root canals are miracles. Truly. And I've not had a problem taking clyndamyacin either. Too each his...
- Comparing Redford Michigan to Los Altos? One of my co-workers grew up there and owns two rental properties there. He describes Redford as the first place you get to when you manage to crawl out of Detroit. From a Hoosier point of view the comparison is sort of like comparing Gary and Carmel.
- Alex, you're right. I know this because I've been hosed. Sold my house in Elkhart after 18 months on the market for way less that is was appraised for. Even for less that I paid in 2000, long before the bubble years.
- Dexter, only 3 weeks until the days start getting longer.
- This will be our third year with no Christmas tree, due to a long skinny living room with no place to put one. It makes matters worse that my husband's cousin has a tree farm on the other half of the old farm in Cadillac and we can get a live tree free. We order before Thanksgiving and my brother-in-law hauls them down to Flint when he comes for turkey.
- For a story of industrial parks, look for the special the Mythbusters made about all the industrial park locations and warehouses they have been kicked out of by various landlords. Do you have to wonder why?
- Send me direct to cremation. That's all. No songs, no ceremonies, no stuff. Buy a book in my memory for your local library if you must do something. I already own the plot next to where my mother is buried in the home town cemetery where my father's family has buried many generations. I've asked that the headstone there for my baby be replaced with a headstone that includes my husband, myself and our son. On the other hand I'll be dead and gone. You can do anything you want because I'll never know.
- We took one of those Detroit drives several weeks ago. I had a meeting in Huntington Woods, a beautiful old style close in suburb. From there we drove down Woodward Ave to downtown Detroit, which mostly meant driving through Highland Park. It was mile after mile of empty lots and tall buildings with no windows. Pedestrians were everywhere near Comerica Park as a Tigers game was about to start. After a cruise through downtown we headed west on Grand River avenue. That was the stretch of truly beat down Detroit with blocks of boarded up store fronts. All the cross streets were filled with those dilapidated homes in abandoned neighborhoods. We did see where they were tearing down old Redford High School to build the first Meijer store in Detroit. From there Grand River could only improve as we took it all the way to Novi (sort of our neighborhood) for a late lunch. It was a pretty random trip for us and I don't know if we would do it again.
- http://www.earlyword.com/, Early Word, a web page aimed at connecting publishers and librarians and a great source for info on new titles and movie tie ins, compiles all the end of year lists they come up with into a giant spreadsheet list.
- velvet goldmine, some years ago I found myself discouraging my child from following my career footsteps as a librarian, as I feel there is no future in it. She was horrified by my response. Next week she graduates from IU SPEA with an MPA and an MSES and it looks like she may be working in a winery in order to stay in Bloomington to continue her professional job hunt with SPEA resources. I think your son could major in any number of areas of interest - poli sci for example - with lots of writing courses, not necessarily in journalism.
- Oh Pilot Joe, at last we agree. Mmmm bacon.
- Thanksgiving conversation with my 40 year old niece and her friend: Both majored in graphic design, both spent years working for newspapers in advertising design. Neither was able to find a new job after staying home for a few years because all the software had changed. My niece is now a very successful home based designer selling through Etsy. The friend is still unemployed.
- As to not having your shopping done, I have spent several hundred dollars on Amazon in recent days and will need one trip to Penney's for hubby gym clothes, and a drugstore run for stocking stuffers. Favorite Amazon discovery: smart wool socks. They're washable! And expensive! And come in sizes! Most fun item: My grownup daughter is getting a life size cutout of Sheldon Cooper. And I still need to place a Harry and David order for the best pears in the world. So far all my shopping has been done at my kitchen table.
- Maybe the past ain’t really all that far past, but this old history major has always thought that it just isn't right to judge historical personages and events by today's new and different standards, be it slave owning or the trail of tears. Even the Little House on the Prairie books had lots of scary Indians. And don't get me going on the question of erasing all the cigarettes being smoked in Humphrey Bogart movies. (Having quit almost 14 months ago I could still cheerfully light one up. But I won't.)
- I was always picked last for everything. Except the math contest. If I had been picked first I might have actually had to play basketball or something.
- Hey Cooz, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is the soundtrack to my sophomore year in the dorms. With a little Aqualung in the background.
- Roger Ebert fractured hip doing 'tricky disco dance moves' http://todayentertainment.today.com/_news/2012/12/06/15738754-roger-ebert-fractured-hip-doing-tricky-disco-dance-moves?lite More power to him
- I just recently had the visual aura part of a migraine, but no headache. It was as if everything I looked sparkled so brightly it hurt, and covering my eyes didn't help. I described it to my doctor and he defined it as a migraine aura. It was very strange. My husband is driving to the other side of the state and back today, but he threatened to get off in Lansing and see if he could get arrested. He's a long ago UAW member from working a couple of years at the Chevy Truck Engine Plant.
- Need a good book? Check out the winners of the bad sex in fiction award: http://www.literaryreview.co.uk/badsex2012.php Random House, publisher of the "Fifty Shades of Gray" series has announced that every single employee at every level will receive a $5,000 bonus this year. Looks like they made some money.
- Jolene, on the library community's fiction-l list someone brought up the question of training librarians to work with readers who want that kind of erotica. Oh, the reaction. I for one would have no desire to attend such training. OTOH My library has multiple hard cover copies of all 3 Fifty Shades books as well as multiple large print (!), audio book, ebook, and downloadable audio. And waiting lists for most. So what do I know?
- The librarian specialty that does that kind of work is called reader's advisory. There is a lot of training for that specialty in areas like genres such as mysteries. I assume erotica training would be similar, covering such things as history, classics and past best sellers, major authors, various sub genres, etc. Trust me, while fiction publishing is a lot sexier than is used to be, erotica is not what People is reviewing. So, Brian, I am not the only person in the world who hasn't read "Fifty Shades" Because it sure sounds like you haven't either.
- Judybusy, unless they have major budget issues your local library will certainly buy that book. Generally there is no reason not to buy user requested items. As long as it as a real user and not some email marketing ploy of which I see more and more. Though I can remember the days when we would not purchase Anne Rice's Sleeping Beauty novels because they were considered porn. Today we would buy them and call them erotica.
- Article about Anne Rice's Sleeping Beauty books being republished with a book jacket stamped with a message: “If you liked 50 Shades of Grey, you’ll love the Sleeping Beauty trilogy.” http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/08/in-race-toward-the-erotic-reviving-an-old-trilogy/
- I just got to do one of the fun librarian things. Newspaper reporter called, wanted recommendations on books to buy for Christmas gifts. I gave him my current list of recommendations, all of which implement technology in fiction in an interesting or even amazing way. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, Reamde by Neal Stephenson, and Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore by John Sloan. Right now I am heavily recommending Mr. Penumbra's which combines a medieval secret society with google folk, san francisco entrepreneurs and an amazing mix of interesting characters. Read it or gift it. Or read it before you gift it.
- Yes Del I saw it. Butler beats IU by two in overtime. In other news today my Butler girl received an MPA and an MSES from IU. Go Butler!
- I am compelled to post this link due to its clown-ness. I remember there was once a sidebar link to scary clowns. There are plenty on Bad Art! http://mitchoconnell.blogspot.com/2012/12/bad-art-most-amazingly-weird-wild-and.html
- EDIT: boob warning with link above.
- Open carry groups did demonstrations this year in local public libraries in Lansing and Birmingham. I personally think the children's room in particular is a bad place for open carry of big guns. My husband shot pictures last August of an open carry guy with shoulder holster at a local community street fair. He was there to protect us all from bad barbecue.
- Light snow cover this morning on my end of the metro area with more coming down.
- https://takingsenseaway.wordpress.com/ , confessions of a former TSA screener. Interesting reading. I have this vision of all of you scurrying around to shop and bake, and I am jealous. I have for some months now been suffering from a rare auto immune skin disease on my lower left leg. I am currently sentenced to as little walking and standing as possible, keeping my leg elevated as much as possible. I can go back to work half days on January 2. This was one of those deals where one specialist sends you to another specialist and it was specialist number 4 who figured it all out. I am visiting a wound clinic twice a week and am on the way to healing. Needless to say I am bored stiff. Books, TV, computer have gotten old. My husband offered to take me to the grocery store for a ride in the handicapped cart. So feel free to entertain me. Links? Stories? Jokes? Anything is welcome.
- The fascinating basement to which Sherri sent me reminds of the basement in the building we called the Library Annex in my previous job. It started out in 1970 as a small four story office building with an exterior wall contiguous to the library. It was originally built as an annex to the neighboring bank, and its basement contained the remains of the central boards and wires of numerous phone systems. We always wondered why the elevator didn't go to the basement. Then a former civil defense official gave me a magazine article about the construction of the building which informed me that the basement had been designed as a fall out shelter for 200 people that would protect them in case of a direct nuclear hit on the New York Central Railyards just west of town. There was nothing left to give the slightest clue of that, no cots, no barrels of crackers, no toilets. We used the space to store our Christmas stuff.
- Thanks for the offer Dorothy I would love to learn how to knit. Imagine making socks that actually fit my wide foot. I've been crocheting for years from afghan to doilies but my daughter stole my collection of hooks. Today I got to Target and drive the handicapped cart. It was an adventure. It has a loud beep when you back up, and has zero turning radius. Got the last bit of shopping done and then some. Thanks for all the suggestions. I am already tired of reading best books of the year list,
- We took off on our errands in time to beat the snow - we thought - and really got caught up in it. Now it's been coming down for several hours. My husband calls walking the little dog in this kind of snow "dog snow plowing." Brian, I drove the Trader Joe's scooter and hit the apple display which turned out to be on wheels and ready to roll. Whoops.
- I just discovered that my husband took my picture in the Trader Joe's scooter. Love the bumper sticker. http://aroundcommerce.blogspot.com/2012/12/charles-shaw-for-president.html .
- OK. New York Times. Cincinnati Library. Guy from Chicago. How does that all come together? I would like to hear the rest of the story. At our last couple of big book sales we had an entire case of multiple hardcover copies of the Twilight series. In another year that will be an entire case of Fifty Shades of Gray. Of which we have purchased multiple copies in hardcover, large print, audio book, audio download and e-book formats.
- Brian, I had the same reaction to Linda Ronstadt years ago. She just stood there and sang and something was missing. I will add my voice to Julie's about Library Friends. My Library's friends group funds all of our children's programming and other things as well. Our summer reading club programs feature performers for whom they pay the fees. Those Republican library boards do sometimes have that idea and then generally realize that fees won't get near matching their tax revenue per capita. And there is a company out there called LSSI to which you can outsource your local library operations. They might even rehire your library employees at a lower rate with no benefits. Book selection is centralized which means your staff can no longer select the books they think are appropriate for your community. But they are a little cheaper than running your own community library.
- Brian these days they are bookmobiles, usually a custom built interior in a school bus body. Fort Wayne had one years ago, I had a board member back in the day who had fond memories of the Fort Wayne bookmobile. In the early 60s the Indiana State Library used federal funds to buy bookmobiles for small towns to serve rural counties. That program had a huge and positive impact on the development of community libraries in the state. These days they are as likely to be a technology bus as a book filled bus.
- Newtown has asked that people stop sending toys.
- We had a lovely last Christmas celebration today with my family on the other side of the state. Only 13 people, 4 generations. Love those little great grands. As we departed this morning we saw several cars off the freeway but once we got about 50 miles away the road was clean and dry. Unfortunately coming back we were all funnelled off the freeway at Webberville, which was a pain. We did agree that driving through a couple of small towns all lit up for Christmas was sort of pleasant. As for politics? My uncle got going on what a good thing for the state right to work was. My husband commented later that considering his lifetime career in workman's compensation insurance he certainly didn't know his union history, as the unions (?Walter Reuther in particular?) were responsible for the existence of workman's comp. As a group we found one thing we could all agree on: no matter what one thinks of the governor we all made fun of his voice.
- I found daily flossing very do-able once I starting using the prestrung floss holders with plastic handles. Don't get the mint.
- I actually own a mangle, purchased for $50 at the Mennonite thrift shop in Goshen. Very handy for tablecloths and fabric yardage. I followed the directions on how to iron a shirt only once. Great for a pants crease as well. We got the big HDtv earlier this year but haven't gotten around to paying Comcast the extra bucks for HD reception. Got a Blueray for Christmas, once we try it out perhaps we will change our minds.
- My husband got a pair of those slip on cleats this year and had mixed feelings about them. After a very serious fall on the ice last year, this year he has joined a gym for his daily 5K and then some. His total daily dog walking mileage varies from 3 to 6 miles a day but at least they only go to the lake, not out on the ice.
- Got the cleats last year. EDIT.
- We only upgraded our television because not just one, but two old style TVs blew out between Christmas and New Year's last year. We spent New Year's eve last year counting down with Garrison Keiller on the radio. This year it was Anderson Cooper on the big TV.
- Issues for me aren't API - so glad my Dad married a younger woman - but cancer announcements, lung cancer for my insurance-less brother and breast cancer for my BFF. Not such a happy new year in that part of my life.
- Brian you pay income taxes on the value you inherit. So that doesn't make sense at all. I saw then congressman Ford several times as a kid, he came to town with his trailer and parked it next to my dad's office. I thought my dad was important because this really important man always remembered his name. And I saw Reagan and Bush 1 and their wives in the 1980 Holland Tulip Time which so coincidentally fell just prior to the primary.
- I wouldn't want last summer's weather again but would be perfectly happy to have another mild winter like last year's.
- Your 30 year old Kenwood speakers are very likely not able to connect to any of today's technology. As my friends discovered when there was no way to connect their classic Bose speakers to their new HD flat screen TV. Dorothy, remember our long ago discussion about synvisc? I'm going to do it again with a different brand. I have just been told there is no cartilage left in either of my knees.
- I have just finished a bowl of Panera French Onion soup to go, picked up for a late lunch after my dentist appointment. Sherry when my daughter had jaw surgery at 14 we discovered that homemade mac and cheese and small pasta in marinara sauce were also easy to eat without chewing. Nancy my dentist just told me that his nephew has flown in from the east coast to choreograph a flash mob performance at the Auto Show's Friday night black tie event. I will hope for a report from you.
- Dorothy, I've been to a Penzey spices store in the Detroit metro area. In fact it has been added to the list of places out of town visitors want to go: Trader Joe's, Ikea, Penzey. All within a half hour drive. Also, do you remember our long ago discussion about synvisc knee injections? I'm going to do it again, with a newer and more up to date version with a different name. I am kind of looking forward to going up stairs again.
- Good news Basset. The good news at our house is that my brother does NOT have lung cancer, rather he has histoplasmosis which looks like lung cancer on Xrays and CAT scans. Histoplasmosis is an all body fungal disease caused by inhaling spores from bat guano or chicken shit and is commonly referred to as caver's disease. He should recover in a couple of months without much treatment. And he has 3 weeks in on his quit smoking effort.
- 5 People Shot At 3 Different Gun Shows On Gun Appreciation Day http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/01/19/1473881/two-people-accidentally-shot-at-a-gun-show-safety-checkpoint-on-gun-appreciation-day/
- 16 great library scenes in film. Of Course Marion is first. http://bookriot.com/2013/01/23/great-library-scenes-in-film/?doing_wp_cron=1358964144.7754089832305908203125
- My first thought about the Jim Nabors news was: all those years singing "Back home again" at the Indy 500. And no one knew. Was that a big joke on Indiana?
- Amazing pictures of the I-75 crash in the Detroit News. http://www.detroitnews.com/ Click on the front page pic to go to the slide show.
- Never watched 30 Rock. Or Mad Men, or Breaking Bad or most of the shows you all seem to love. Watched a few episodes the first season of Downton Abbey. For a long time I said I had never watched a reality show, but I've become a regular watcher of Dancing With the Stars, Pawn Stars, Storage Wars and Love It or List It (HGTV). No survivors, races, voices though. http://detroitnews.com continued to update their crash photos through the day. I was fascinated by the photos of the big equipment taking that mangled mess apart in order to clear the freeway.
- Indianapolis had its own major pileup accident yesterday. Best headline in today's Indy Star: Elephants briefly unloaded on I-70 after truck slides off roadway. No one got a picture or even many details.
- Oh and Brian, those guys are Auction Hunters. The new season started this week and they have opened their own pawn store. The thing I like about them is that you actually see them sell the stuff, unlike Storage Wars where they just estimate what they think is the value.
- And what's with all the baking competition shows? I don't watch Iron Chef or any of the cook/bake competitions.
- And are those Love It or List It prices Canadian or American dollars? Actually they are so close these days it probably doesn't matter. And how do those relatively young couples buy that first house for $600,000 for a pretty standard older style three bedroom. To me that is the real question.
- Brian, I hope you made it to the battle of Franklin battlefield site while you were there. It is my favorite of the few I've been too. Also the smallest.
- Sheriff Arpaio in Phoenix recently had HIS Discover card hacked. The self-proclaimed "toughest sheriff in America" has apparently been the victim of credit card fraud, and the thief used the account at a Chicago grocery store. Maricopa County authorities in Phoenix said Sheriff Joe Arpaio's credit card information was stolen and used to make a $291 transaction at a Jewel store last weekend. Arpaio said he hasn't been to Chicago since 1957 and that Discover Card representatives alerted him to possible fraudulent activity. http://www.nbcnews.com/id/50710422#.URJllPJhc_w
- Here's a dead giveaway story for you. A co-worker and his roommates lost several laptops in a home break-in. (ROgirl it was in Royal Oak.) One of the roomies had her laptop set up to automatically upload all photos taken with it to her dropbox account. From that drop box account she has now provided the detective on the case with photos of the presumed burglar and his kitties.
- Growing up in Dutch country I never knew any Catholics. The only thing I learned about Catholicism was that they worshipped idols. My first year in college I remember sitting in the cafeteria and asking why all those people had dirt on their faces. The coolest trendiest Dutch Reformed churches -that's an oxymoron- have added Ash Wednesday services and ashes to their programs.
- As to team building, there's nothing I hate worse than "Let's break up into small groups."
- The “speech into print” error that bugs me the most is Wallah! I believe they mean Voila! I've seen it numerous times.
- Julie, that same sex couple bought the bride's dress on "Say Yes to the Dress." It's not like they were trying to keep it secret.
- Danny, our Thanksgiving dinner prayer last year began with a request to put away all phones and tablets until the meal was complete. That was a first.
- Do check out the Google doodle today which combines Valentine's day and a celebration of the inventor of the Ferris wheel.
- I am reading Homeland by Cory Doctorow, a sequel to his YA bestseller Little Brother. If you haven't read Little Brother you should, it is about teenagers in the Bay Area getting into trouble when Homeland Security clamps down after terrorists blow up the Bay Bridge. Homeland opens with the characters at Burning Man and I really enjoyed the closeup look at Burning Man.
- In general cruises have not appealed to me because I envision them as a vacation for which one must dress up. I prefer to vacation in my grungies. I would like to do the Alaskan coast cruise though.
- Snarky article on Wonkette about Coursera: http://wonkette.com/502147/drudge-siren-turns-out-a-bunch-of-youtube-videos-are-not-the-same-as-college
- Awana is Baptist. My kid went.
- Didn't watch, haven't seen any of the movies, don't really care. Discussion of the Bond songs has me singing "Live and Let Die" to myself though.
- Brian, those Eagle Scout things -honor court?- are like a wedding with a bad church basement reception.
- I was in high school when a neighborhood farmer found what he called "an alligator" sunning on the bank of a creek that ran across his field. With the help of first the sheriffs, and second, the Grand Rapids zoo, it was identified as a South American caiman and moved to the GR zoo. Excuse me, John Ball Zoological Park.
- "Where the Boys Are" opens with a scene of everyone excitedly leaving a college building at the end of classes just before spring break. That scene was filmed at Berkey Hall at MSU. I think I got the building name right. In my day it was filled with English and Philosophy classes.
- In the mid 70s I did occasional secret shopper outings for the company my aunt worked for in Grand Rapids. My particular assignment was to evaluate the reaction of car dealers to a young woman shopping alone. Every single place I went told me I should come back with my boyfriend or my father. That was then, this is now. I have bought several cars without my husband including my still shiny new Chevy Cruze. My only issue is when they won't take no for an answer on the extended warranty sale. I walked out of one dealership when they wouldn't take no for an answer and they chased me down in the lot to apologize and try to reclose the sale.
- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez dies at 58
- Cooz, when we were kids and both said something at the same time, we would punch each other and holler "buy me a coke" and then count. I have no idea what any of it meant, but you are too far away to punch anyway.
- When we were early marrieds we owned an old house with an oil fueled furnace, with oil tank in basement. Every Christmas my Dad gave me $500. That's exactly what it took to fill the tank once and make it just barely to the next Christmas. The new owners put in a new furnace and converted to propane. Remembering that we paid all of $46,000 for that house makes me feel old.
- Same as Nancy. We may be in the same metro area but we are a long long way away from each other. I can get to Lansing in an hour. How much longer does it take you Nancy?
- Years ago we were in a veteran's organization where I was introduced to Jesse. Then I heard someone else call him Hay-soos. So I asked him which he preferred. His answer: "you can call me Jesse or you can call me Hay-soos, just as long as you never call me Jesus.
- Alex, there was supposed to have been a comet visible sometime in the last few days, maybe that is what you saw.
- Comet visible in the west last night, tonight, tomorrow night, with best viewing in the hour after sunset. I bet that was what you saw Alex.
- Open carry groups here in Michigan have demonstrated by bringing their AR-15s and other weapons and openly entering the Lansing and Birmingham libraries and sitting with their visible weapons in the children's rooms. If you were at the library with your kid and a bunch of guys with big scary guns came into the children's area how would you react?
- I posted the TPM story about Harry's obituary on my facebook page this morning and dedicated it to all my Indiana friends who still hate DST after 8 years. And the example of them all still longing for the old non class basketball tournament, gone since 1995, makes me think my Hoosier friends will not get over DST either. Those 2 things seem to be the number one topic of conversation in Indiana this time of year.
- beb, I was raised Dutch Reformed and never met a Catholic until I went to college where all the cute boys had gone to Brother Rice in Birmingham MI. I don't remember believing the Pope was the anti-Christ, but I truly believed that Catholics worshipped idols.
- MichaelG, we fax with our copy machine and can also scan to email on it. The only thing I fax though is timesheets to the payroll office every two weeks. The only faxes we receive any more are the typical sales junk. Oh, I remember how excited we were with our first fax machine and its rolls of shiny thermal paper.
- Questions that have come up in local conversations about the Detroit EFM. Can he sell the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts? Or privatize the Detroit Zoo? What about Detroit water and sewer which also supplies water to many of the suburbs.? Just wondering.
- Brian, my first ever Japanese steakhouse experience was in Fort Wayne years ago. Upstairs over the gas house?
- Michigan State beat Valpo. Butler just beat Bucknell 68 to 56.
- Brian, It's been a long time since we took that family trip to San Diego but after the zoo and Sea World the other high point was our one day there and back to Disneyland.
- Alex, we used to have a 96 Mazda B300 pickup truck, which was an exact twin to the Ford Ranger. In fact my brother's 96 Ford Ranger pickup (his winter car) now bears the Mazda's tail gate.
- I agree with Scout. Never heard of the guy, don't care, won't read the stuff.
- The President of Howard Miller Clocks is Howard Miller III, better known as Buzz. Back when I babysat him he was a naughty little kid.
- Non HBO subscribers: If your cable company is Comcast Xfinity and you have In Demand, all premium channel content is available free on In Demand through Sunday, including HBO. Now what was that HBO documentary I wanted to see?
- The documentary was the one about the Cowsills. My first ever concert, at a hall in downtown Grand Rapids where years later I saw Harry Chapin and PDQ Bach. The music in the documentary made me smile.
- I thought we were all friends even if we've never met. Sometime ago I posted about injections of synthetic joint fluid in my knees. Dorothy posted later something like I told my doctor that my friend tried that and recommended it." And then she said, wait, I guess we're all friends here even if we haven't met. Although I have had the pleasure of meeting Brian and Alex.
- When she died I learned that the grandmother I knew as Agnes was really named Akka. She grew up a Dutch girl in New Jersey, just like LAMary.
- Shame on you Brian.
- Same for my daughter. Butler gave her tons of money, Purdue offered her nothing, so that the cost of each for us was the same
- That surprises me about Michigan turkeys, as I have seen them regularly all over the state. My brother moved to Leelanau County this past weekend, and this morning he posted on facebook pictures of turkeys in his front yard. My sister-in-law north of Flint posts numerous turkey pictures regularly.
- Oh Nancy, that just sounds so boring. And uncomfortable. And I thought spending several weeks in a lazyboy with my legs elevated was bad. I hope you can roll your facedown chair out to the patio.
- So Alex, were you able to keep your lip zipped in that conversation? I was just in a small meeting where a woman said they had been thinking about retiring to Colorado, but it looked like Colorado was about to ban open carry so they were thinking Texas instead.
- In more medical news: After going to the wound care clinic twice a week since August today I was declared cured (for now) of my rare auto immune skin disease. I long ago got to the point where my insurance pays 100%. This disease is so rare that other doctors came to see it, they had never seen it before. Even the company reps for the products they used to treat it came to see it. Not at all a good reason to be famous. However I must continue to wear medical grade support stockings. Ick.
- Brian, at my last library we had a procedure in place to deal with cockroaches in videos. And the only stories I've heard involving bedbugs has to do with books donated to a book sale. Beb, there are all kinds of fast food places missing from southeastern Michigan. Or at least from my west Oakland bit of it. Since moving here I have not seen a Fazoli's, a Hardees, or a Long John Silver. And the nearest Steak and Shake is a long way away. I live ten miles north of a major mall area, but there is no Pier One anywhere near me. Long ago in southern Indiana we became fans of Captain D's and we've missed that ever since as well. I see the nearest one to me is 97 miles away in Defiance Ohio.
- Cool Dexter, have one of those deviled crab fried in the shell things for me. Wow did it rain today. I am seeing facebook reports of flooded basements in both suburban Chicago and Holland. My poor dogs.
- There were kewpees in Grand Rapids when I was a kid.
- Americablog.com claims to have found a social media page for one of the bombers and it says he is Muslim. http://americablog.com/2013/04/breaking-boston-marathon-bombing-suspect-in-custody-globe-reports.html
- Nancynall.com quoted in Deadline Detroit: http://www.deadlinedetroit.com/articles/4568/quotes_of_the_week_shots_at_model_d_berry_gordy_and_carolyn_kilpatrick "I love dogs as much as anyone, but even I can’t help but think [it] isn't the greatest idea . . . to allow dogs in restaurants. Because what could possibly go wrong with a bunch of dogs on leashes around people carrying trays of hot food? Really." -- Nancy Nall Derringer, blogging on state legislation to let dogs in sidewalk dining areas
- People magazine has declared Gwyneth Paltrow the world's most beautiful woman. Really.
- American in Paris food blogger David Leibowitz, http://www.davidlebovitz.com/, regularly visits the mideast and writes about the food. He raves about the salads and also mentions the Nescafe.
- Nancy, I am sending positive vibes your way. I don't know what I'll do without you to kick off my weekday mornings, so the rest of you, it's up to us for a few days. My library is closed for the day as we replace a leaking window wall, install new shelving, have an all staff staff meeting and a celebration lunch for our soon to be married children's librarian. It's not often we can have all staff for a meeting.
- New Headline: 3 more suspects arrested in Boston Marathon bombing case: police . But no actual additional news. http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/01/18001437-3-more-suspects-arrested-in-boston-marathon-bombing-case-police?lite
- So glad you are back. So Brian, I thought of you as I saw numerous articles about Florence (of the Machine) being a best dressed at the Iron Man 3 premiere.
- I found it interesting that both site and hostess were down. You see that? Site. Not sight. Not cite. This is not the first or second time I have said this here.
- My condolences to LAMary. My old man Shih Tzu died of congestive heart failure after taking his pills for over a year. It was so sad to hear him cough. That was the first time I have ever held my dog while they gave him the shot. He was my dog, he picked me. Our current Molly the mad mini schnauzer picked my husband and she is unquestionable his dog. She is wild runaway who will escape at any occasion.
- Bringing up Clinton is so 90s. Will you ever let it go?
- Beb, when I had my baby it was "Jesus, make it stop." And not plaintive, but screaming.
- Great fun. How historical figures would look today. I particularly like Queen Elizabeth. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/10030619/Historical-Figures-for-the-21st-Century.html
- An interesting tidbit about Brothers: Brothers gained fame in late 1955 by winning The $64,000 Question game show, on which she appeared as an expert in the subject area of boxing.
- So what would you do if YOU knew you had the breast cancer gene? My mother died of breast cancer at age 57. Earlier this year my OB/GYN recommended that I have the breast cancer gene test. After much thought, mostly involving the question of what would I do, I took the test. I DO NOT have the breast cancer gene. And I did qualify for insurance of the test which cost around $3,000.
- Amy's Baking Company has deleted all the Facebook posts and claims to have been hacked.
- Charlotte, hope you find those morels. So far all my husband has come home with is ticks. Multiple times.
- Well then Brian I won't tell you where one of them was because you would surely laugh then.
- I was horrified by the story I heard this morning about the children who died in their school. They were in their designated shelter place when the roof collapsed on them. They would probably have been rescued OK, except the broken water pipes filled the small space with water and they drowned. Not often I get tears in my eyes listening to the car radio.
- Remember our earlier discussion about the Detroit Zoo and Institute of Art? According to the radio story I heard this morning the Emergency Manager IS looking at the value of the Art Institute's collection. This is a really bad idea.
- I will not listen to Rod Stewart.
- Nancy, are you at Mackinac for the Policy Conference this year?
- Bitter Scribe, finding people in those kinds of situations used to be something the Red Cross did. I wonder if they still do, internet and all.
- I've been to New York twice for conferences and had no problems, including riding the subway. Check out the Edison Hotel near Times Square, cheapish for New York, filled with foreign families and the coffee shop has been featured on Jane and Michael Stern's radio show and is supposedly where Jackie Mason hangs out. Or hung out for all I know. JW you left out Central Park.
- This makes me nostalgic for Little Professor and the other small book store chains that are gone, gone, gone.
- This makes me nostalgic for Little Professor and the other small store bookstore chains that are gone, gone, gone.
- All three of our rescued dogs came with names, Nelly, Dusty, and Molly. We considered changing them, but the dogs clearly knew their names. I did get a hard time from my grandmother for naming a dog - Nelly - after her sister. I have heard that dogs hear hard vowels better. All of my dogs managed to know their names with or without a hard vowel.
- I am in Mccormick center for ALA. Linda posted yesterday with a link to the news that America,s public libraries are being asked to play a key role in getting out information about the new healthcare program. We have just been informed that there will be a program about this tomorrow with a live video feed from President Obama. My daughter ages out of my insurance next month, so I need a solution sooner than that.
- Used to Watch Linda Ellerbee do Nick News at Night with my daughter. Real news for kids. What a concept.
- I am at my husband's family reunion in Cadillac Miichigan, where I have been listening to 90 plus year old Aunt Mary talking about working at Willow Run during WW 2. She says they turned out one B24 every 63 minutes, and she told about the "midgets" that worked inside the wings. Her job involved a large Cardex machine which held an inventory card for every part used. She talked about how important the union was to her and how she a "young blond newlywed" Felt protected from management. She told a story that today we would call sexual harassment. Very interesting.. I used a much smaller cardex system many years later to track textbook inventory at the MSU bookstore.
- Sorry Bassett, the cousins sold the Pines this year after 35 years. I wonder if pizza is still half off on Thursday.
- Connecting to an earlier conversation: From an article in today's Free Press about troublesome locations in Detroit: Coleman A. Young International Airport (Formerly City Airport). The residential blocks west of the airport contain some of the most vacant streets in the city. In 1960, two-thirds of all the people living in metro Detroit lived in the city. Today, fewer than one in five people in the tri-county area do. As a result, the blocks west of the airport offer some of the bleakest vistas in urban America. http://www.freep.com/article/20130710/BUSINESS06/307100028/Detroit-Kevyn-Orr-bankruptcy
- Shingles is nasty. Depending on the location I recommend lidocaine patches, the only thing that ever gave me the slightest bit of pain relief.
- Mia Farrow and Philip Roth watched Sharknado together? http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/07/12/sharknado_devours_twitter_here_s_mia_mia_farrow_and_philip_roth_watching.html
- Mark, I remember those dealer installed air conditioning units that sort of hung under the dashboard. Yesterday in all this heat my husband and daughter spent the day at the Ann Arbor Art Fair, where they were thankful for the misting stations.
- The comments at the link Brandon posted are pretty awful.
- Harlan Ellison is a jerk. At the Hugo Awards in 2006 he groped Connie Willis' breasts on stage. And while he apologized a few days later he didn't appear to have a clue. Read more about this at: http://blog.shrub.com/archives/sigel-phoenix/2006-08-30_375 Sexism in the science fiction and atheist/skeptic world has been a big topic lately. In the last couple of weeks a long time editor at Tor has left his job after numerous reports of sexual harassment at conferences.
- Well he did his great writing back in the 70s.
- My husband was on his bike at Kensington Metro Park for one of those cloudbursts. Local news and how we get it has been a hot topic lately in my part of Oakland County. Our long time weekly news paper got bought and turned into a print your press release as news advertising wreck. So today's version has this front page headline: Ciyto Walled Lake approves budget including tenative layoffs. See it yourself at http://www.spinalcolumnonline.com/ .
- Stacy Keibler was a professional wrestler. Really.
- I wondered who Daria was as well. AThen I went to nbcnews.com and there was a headline about a trailer featuring Daria, so I found it. Coincidence. I must brag about the amazing corn chowder my daughter made for us yesterday. She went to the farmer's market for the corn, picked that morning. That chowder was definitely sweet corn soup. She also left out the hot sauce just for her tender mouthed mother.
- Daria reminds me.... My library pages have named all of our book carts, and placed photos of the namee on each one. I had to look a few of the names up, the ones I didn't know were cartoon characters from TV. I did know Daphne, Hook and others. And I noticed the other day that the Elwood book cart is now sporting the correct hat.
- So Brian, what I remember about driving in San Diego was the u-turn lane that was the inside lane before the left turn lane. Michigan turns are a pain but they work. A few years ago a roundabout was built in front of the entrance/exit at the South Bend airport. Three of the four options were labelled Michigan St.
- And another thing. Deborah was wondering about how to get computer streamed shows on your own TV. Google has just announced the Google Chrome dongle. ( I love that word. I have since I first heard it in the mid 80s.) Anyway you plug the dongle into the hdmi port on your TV and it wirelessly receives and plays your streaming video.
- The Google chrome cast dongle will cost $35. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2422228,00.asp
- I live in Oakland County Brian, and I kind of agree with you. My husband's negative feelings about Brooks has to do with his (Brooks') outspoken support for the death penalty. He was badly hurt in a car accident last August, long hospitalization, months away from work, and now in a wheelchair. He had a broken hip, leg, ankle, five ribs and both wrists. He was not wearing a seat belt. There were those who thought he should have dropped out of the November election, as he didn't know even then when he would back to work.
- I have very fond memories of childhood outings to Tiger Stadium. I can understand why people want to memorialize it. Of course my uncle had access to GM's tickets so I never sat in a bad seat.
- Never published photos of the Detroit riots, rescued from the trash at the Detroit News. I saw Governor Romney. http://doubledeucefire.smugmug.com/Events/Unpublished-Detroit-1967-Riot/20760734_sSMXQW#!i=1647658212&k=tT9h7S9
- Today's post is quoted in Deadline Detroit. http://www.deadlinedetroit.com/articles/5850/fox_2_teased_widely_for_naive_facebook_post_on_crisco_can_at_fist#.UflpWKwRNs4
- I've tried and failed to appreciate opera. What little people my age know about "Ring" is due to Bugs Bunny. Kill the wabbit, kill the wabbit.
- Homemade peach blueberry pie at my house tonight.
- I remember a comments discussion about how to hem the witch costume Kate is wearing in one of those pics.
- It seems to me the DIA must maintain a valuation of their collection, at least for insurance purposes. So why spend $200,000 on Christies?
- I am just back from an up North week, where the local news highlight was the pictures my sister-in-law (Ann) took of Mario Batali carrying an American flag at the beginning of the Northport Dog Parade, of which he was Grand Marshall. He and his family spend summers near Northport. We kicked off our week with the wedding of my husband's younger brother, the college friend who introduced me to his older brother all those years ago. The wedding ceremony was perfect, it focused on the thought of finding someone after some years alone, and how happy they both are to have done so. Followed by a live cajun band at the barn dance where they met, on the grounds of the St. Ambrose Winery. Of which I only have this to say: "Mead, ick." Might as well pour some olive juice into your pink wine according to my sister-in-law (Melinda). And on the subject of sisters-in-law, I am now the only one of the three daughters-in-law on my husband's side that is not named Nancy. We have caught ourselves referring to new Nancy, but have promised the other Nancy not to call her old Nancy.
- Oh, and I have tickets to the Tigers' game tomorrow. Deep down the first base line.
- Deadline Detroit does not like Mitch Albom today. http://deadlinedetroit.com/articles/6080/sundays_with_mitch_leave_prince_fielder_alone#.UhDgpD_D-8A
- I was just going to post this about Bentilio: Michigan Rep. Kerry Bentivolio at a town hall on Monday, explaining that it would be a “dream come true” to impeach President Obama, if only he could scrape up some kind of evidence of a crime. This guy is my rep.
- I've not watched Mad Men, but I was surfing the channels the other night and stopped to watch a few minutes. I was pleased to see Dean Norris as a main character, as he also is in Under the Dome. Dean was the valectorian of my sister-in-law Ann's highschool class at Clay High School in South Bend. He comes to all the class reunions and she says he is not a bad guy at all, he just looks like one.
- Information about Elmore Leonard's funeral: A visitation is scheduled at an Oakland County funeral home for best-selling author Elmore Leonard. Leonard's family will receive friends from 2-8 p.m. Friday at Lynch & Sons Funeral Home in Clawson, north of Detroit. A funeral Mass is scheduled at 10 a.m. Saturday at Holy Name Church in Birmingham.
- Wow. I've been to 37. Although some, like Maryland, I've just driven through on my way elsewhere. When I was 14 my family took a month long trip out west in the first RV I had ever seen. We started at the St. Louis Arch, circled around the northern end of the west (Dakotas, Wyoming, Montana) then did the coast of California from San Franciso to Tiajuana. Then return in a more southerly route through Arizona and Texas. A whole week was spent in the LA area visiting theme parks. We all have fond memories of that trip. But I have only been to three foreign countries: Mexico, Canada, Germany. Have to get out more. Probably should get a passport first.
- A Girl Named Zippy was very popular throughout Indiana when it was published, as the author lives (lived?) there and the memoir was set there. I remember I found it interesting but the writing style odd.
- Brandon, George Romney, Milt Romney's, father was not a flash in the pan. He was president of American Motors, chairman of the state constitutional convention, governor, and a cabinet secretary at HHS.
- Brian I first heard the word a few weeks ago and all I have figured out is that it describes some kind of sexy nasty move. And didn't want to know more.
- Out here in exurban Detroit our coneys are Leo's and Lulu's and L. George's, each of which has several restaurants. In fact Leo's has one in Chicago.
- My cajun ex sister-in-law from Lafayette LA pronounced it with an accent on the fay.
- Peaches for me too. The season doesn't go much past Labor Day, so get them while you can.
- Dorothy reminds me that we have the same birthday weekend, and not too much longer we will have our sort of our close together wedding anniversaries. This is my rare year for NOT having my birthday on Labor Day weekend, rather the Tuesday. I was supposed to be born in Ann Arbor but my parents came to Holland for a weekend at a family cottage on Lake Michigan. And Happy Birthday to Jeff(tmmo)
- Freegal is one of the single most expensive digital products I purchase for my library. For my population of 41,000 my annual cost is 6,000. We are currently reviewing movie streaming services in a similar price range. I also spend a minimum of 8,200 a year for my basic Overdrive e-book product, plus whatever I can add to it to purchase more titles and more copies. I just processed the paperwork for an additional 5,000 for Overdrive. I have an old family recipe called "peach slop" (our made up name for it) which has a kind of puff pastry topping rather than a crumble topping. I will post it when I get a chance.
- Recipe for peach slop. 1. Place 2 to 3 cups of peaches in an 8 or 9 inch square pan. 2. Mix together:3/4 cup sugar, 4 T butter, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup milk. Spread over the peaches. 3. Mix together 1 cup sugar and 1 T corn starch. Sprinkle evenly over the batter. 4. Pour one cup boiling water over the whole thing. 5. Bake 50 minutes at 325 degrees. I often find I need ten more minutes. It is very sloppy and should sit for a bit before serving. Serve warm with ice cream.
- Julie, is dump pudding anything like dump cake? Dump cake uses fresh fruit and sugar or canned fruit pie filling, the topping is one box of yellow cake mix dry plus one stick of butter melted. Pecans optional. It bakes up a lot like cobbler top. I originally typed it dumb cake which seems appropriately descriptive. If you make it in the winter mix one can cherry pie filling with one can crushed pineapple.
- My scalp has been damp around the edges for several years now. I believe my personal thermostat has broke.
- sad news for Butler fans. Bulldog mascot Blue II has died. I suspect he may be the only dog to have appeared live on the arena floor at the NCAAs. This was not a surprise to his fans, as he had been diagnosed with heart disease. I wonder how many dogs get an obit article in USA Today.
- And in more cheerful news it appears my birthday cake is going to be a peach blueberry pie.
- Our current and previous houses had/have nice cold well water. I can smell and taste the chlorine in the tap water at work. Which is the same Detroit water and sewer water Beb refers to. To which Beb refers.
- The RV company owners in the Elkhart area funneled most of their philanthropy to Notre Dame. Got them great football tickets after all. Nancy, my cost for Butler University was much lower than your estimated cost for UM. They were very generous with both merit based scholarships and need based financial aid.
- Alex, the letter to the editor made me laugh in a despairing sort of way. Some years ago I watch an employee descend into craziness. It started with accusations of secret cameras watching her in her cubicle and it finally got to accusations that I had put a computer chip in her intestine. Why I would want to track her and ruin her life I have no idea. She put her weirdness all over the internet but has been quiet in recent years. If you search my first and last name plus "bully" you may be able to find it.
- More craziness from my congressman: Michigan Congressman Kerry Bentivolio is concerned that the government might be spraying mind-altering drugs and/or toxins into the sky with chemtrails from jets, so he's going to hold a hearing on the matter in his district. http://www.deadlinedetroit.com/articles/6332/kerry_bentivolio_promises_hearing_on_chemtrail_conspiracy#.Ui8nUT-J5id
- Alex, thankfully it was outdated contact information.
- There is a nasty divorce going on across the street, and much to his dismay my husband was subpoenaed to testify last week. Why? He witnessed the ex and her friends return and dig up all the perennials. Our power has been out since late yesterday afternoon. This is the same guy who irritates with his noisy generator.
- I attended MSU football games for two years and Michigan for one season as a grad student. Large quantities of alcohol accompanied us to those games. As grad students from all over the country Michigan treated us like freshmen and gave us reserved seats high up in the end zone. I've been to a few Michigan games since then, but it has been a long time. I think I am equal distance from the Big House and the TIgers' Comerica Park.
- I have never watched Breaking Bad, but after today I sure know what happened. And that Marty Robbins song, never a favorite of mine; now I am singing it at my desk!
- MY TV habits are like Dave's. Junk like the Mentalist, none of the shows you all tend to talk about. Partly because I don't have HBO. Soon I will turn on the box to watch Dancing With the Stars. I'll admit it. We went out for our anniversary dinner tonight. The two women in the next booth - we couldn't see them but we sure could hear them - spent the time talking about the ghosts they have seen, the spirits by which they have been visited, and the mediums they have visited. It was too weird for me.
- I also watched the Robin Williams and probably won't again. And it was Sarah Michelle Gellar, for what it's worth.
- Sorry Dave, still don't believe in ghosts or any other kind of mythical being. Call me a skeptic.
- I'm off to bed with a heavy heart. My country is run by idiots.
- I've been to NYC twice for conferences, always stayed in conference block hotels, once in midtown at 6th and 34th and one at the Hotel Edison just off Times Square. My focus was more on going to shows and restaurants, though the best thing I ever did was put together a group who paid $35 each for a fabric shoppers guided tour of the garment district. I spent way too much money, much of it on silk and linen.
- Dorothy I bought several lengths of Hoffman batiks in crinkle gauze cotton from which I made mostly skirts. And I found one of the batiks in regular cotton at an Indianapolis quilt shop, so was able to make a coordinating vest with the print plus two colors of dupioni. I still have two long pieces of sandwashed silk and a half yard of a very expensive silk that coordinates. Unfortunately the shades of fuchsia and teal are not fashionable today. If you do go I'll pull out that old file and at least tell you which blocks we went to. Our tour leader also took to us a local restaurant for lunch, of a type I consider uniquely New York. It is the worlds largest salad bar and buffet, paid for by weight.
- Brian, I just saw the announcement for Lippman's next book, coming out in the new year. In other news my doctor just told me that the reason for the severe shoulder pain is a fracture. I see the orthopedic surgeon tomorrow. This might involve a new shoulder.
- Until a few years ago my employer paid one 100 % of the premium for family coverage. As increases continues they started splitting the increases with the employees 50/50. Then last year the Michigan legislature passed a law requiring public employees to pay at least 20% of premiums so our share went up. We have however just received the second of three lump sum annual payments to assist employees in covering the increase. Mine was around I just wrote a long post and disappeared it. Since I am under the influence of Oxycontin due to a probably broken shoulder I think I will wait until later to report. It cost me $25 to see my personal doctor yesterday and will cost me $50 to see the orthopedic surgeon tomorrow. If I have surgery all of it will be covered because I pay for a no deductible 100 I have now written and somehow erased two posts about health insurance. It must be the oxycontin. I will try again later. 4
- OK, I pay extra for 100 per cent coverage. I hadn't been in the hospital since my baby and than had a week long hospitalization stay two years ago, and yup 100%. Which was two years ago next week which means my two year anniversary for quitting smoking is also next week.
- Here are the details you asked for yesterday regarding insurance coverage. The regular stuff, 80/20, 1,000 deductible, single 55.74 per two week paycheck, 125.40 for 2, 150.48 for family. I have the buy-up plan which is no deductible, 100% coverage and has lower co-pays for visits and prescriptions. Cost for 1 is 87.83 per two week paycheck, and 197.61 for two. So I am paying not quite 400 per month for top of the line coverage. The better copay for prescriptions makes a difference of about 200 a month which is why I selected it. It has turned out to be worth every penny. In other news I saw my orthopedic surgeon today and I do not have a fractured shoulder as suspected, rather severe tendonitis of the rotator cuff.
- And increase for basic plan was$5 per paycheck for two persons. Increase for the buy-up plan was around $40 per two week paycheck.
- I have two different friends who have had long planned vacations messed up due to the shut down. One is not seeing the Grand Canyon. The other is not camping in the Smoky Mountains. Both found alternatives, although the camper is a mile higher than planned and bought a propane heater to bring along.
- OK she's still camping in the Great Smokies, just not in a national park campground as planned.
- I will ad my voice to the dismay with the gruesome description. A couple of years ago I vowed to never again read fiction in which torture occurs. And every so often I put away a partially read book for that reason. Most often it is some kind of romantic suspense thriller. As to leaves, we love our mulching mower and have not raked for years.
- If it's Herman Miller it was manufactured in my home town. Those benches were all over my high school. I knew most of the DePrees and had no idea what a big deal they were. We used to go to the Herman Miller outdoor factory sales to buy Eames fiberglass chairs. I have eight in royal blue with the black matte legs and the Eames white round table to go with them.
- Alex that first link refers to the Eames fiberglass chairs as plastic, which is of course, incorrect. My sister-in-law got the Eames lounge chair at a garage sale in South Bend for $25.
- My daughter has those rings in her ears, not very large. She doesn't wear rings though, she wears these artsy curly earrings that go through the hole and sort of look like hoops. You sound like my parents when they were bitching about long hair on boys. Remember once they're 18 they can choose for themselves.
- I recently found out that before she died my mother made one of my brothers vow to never get a tattoo. He has kept that vow and thinks that my other brother and I should also abide by it. That is no problem for me as I have no intention of ever getting a tattoo. If I do get one, my hypothetical tattoo will be the Very Hungry Caterpillar.
- We are absolutely convinced that Chantix changed our good friend from a plain old Republican to a Ron Paul fanatic. Really. Just use patches.
- As a person in charge of those who order paper towels I have been saying for years: You buy the cheap paper towels you end buying twice as many in the long run.
- Bleeding heart liberal here as well. I knew that.
- Diane, did you go to Digipalooza? I am at Michigan Library Assoc this week, and brought my advance readers copy of Donna Tartt's Goldfinch along. I am in beautiful downtown Lansing. I can also tell mean childhood librarian stories. In my case it was my father who argued with the librarian over who could decide what his daughter was allowed to read.
- I have a real problem with the Breaking Bad kid's costumes I've been seeing. Yes, let's dress our children like a murdering meth dealer. It most certainly isn't cute. It's appalling.
- In the 2008 presidential election a large group of retired nuns living near Notre Dame in South Bend were denied the right to vote due to not having photo ID. They had never in their lives had or needed photo ID. I left my small town home town as soon as I could. Everyone knew who I was and who my father was, many remembered my grandfather, who ran the Main St. store founded by my great grandfather.
- It took me several tries to get a Michigan driver's license when we moved here three years ago. All the paperwork requirements had to be original, so a printout of my paperless bank statement was not acceptable, I had to go to the bank and get a "real" one. I had even more trouble with my husband's proof of address, until we discovered that my proof of address paperwork could be used for him if I showed them our 30some year old marriage license.
- I've been seeing a D.O. since moving here three years ago last week, and I am very happy with him. Except he is an Internist. After years of seeing a Family Practice Specialist, I find the Internist is far more likely to send me to a specialist for things the family practice doctor would have handled. Site, sight cite.
- Dear Brian, there may be lunatics at your school board meeting and on this list, but you are not one of them.
- Well, that didn't last long: Update: Texas Doctor's Packard Bid Cancelled As Down Payment Is A No-Show. http://deadlinedetroit.com/articles/7011/as_they_say_in_texas_packard_auction_winner_is_dancing_in_the_hog_trough#.UnFqhPmX9Io
- A Mighty Fortress is now thundering in my head. Lots of rain here. I am always reminded of Halloween of 1991. The day before I had flown into Minneapolis for a conference. By late afternoon on the 31st a heavy duty snow storm had started which turned into what is still the largest single snowfall in Minneapolis history, 36 inches by morning. We were snowed in at the Hyatt Regency downtown for three days. It is still referred to as the Halloween Blizzard.
- There was a big trick or treat and kid craft event at my library tonight. We were prepared to handle 150 kids and required pre-registration. We had about 20 slots left when we opened on this rainy morning. And the phones began to ring. And ring. Those slots were filled within an hour, we let a few more sign up, then had to stop. We probably turned away another 100 kids. Frantic mothers looking for a rainy night option. We have an automated phone answering setup and I am the last option on the list. For administration press 6. That means we get all the calls from people who could not figure out which dept they actually wanted to talk to. I probably handled 30 or so calls myself. Sorry Mom, we're full.
- A message from my daughter: We just got home from Ender's Game (the Movie). It was horrid beyond words. Don't let anyone go see it.
- From Nancy's link: "And we want the dead to rest easy, knowing their obligations are taken care of.” I am sure they are tracking that from wherever they have gone. Just had a root canal. Miraculous pain relief for over $1,000. My insurance will pay half.
- This is the headline to the article to which Brian linked: Witnesses revive crash victim after being thrown from truck. Excuse me. Who exactly was thrown from the truck?
- Adding to Dexter's comments about having an MRI, I found it extremely difficult to remain relaxed as required and could feel my knee twitching. I had to go back for a second go around on one of the shots. Claustrophobia was not a problem, rather relaxing. If I were to do it again - which I expect I will - I would request the muscle relaxant option. The only time I needed PT was for what the neurologist called a "nerve Knot" in my back. I expected PT to be exercises, but instead it was heated ultrasound massage, very nice. Heard on NPR that Charlie Trotter told friends he had a brain aneurysm. Which I found odd, as my mother had a brain aneurysm, and it generally means an ambulance rush to the hospital, skip the local hospital and go straight to the nearest big city hospital. She survived, but many don't.
- Deborah, any durable medical store will have a selection of interesting canes. Colors, paint jobs, etc.
- http://www.canemart.com/c/funfashionable/ Fun and fashionable canes.
- Tennesee Ernie Ford.
- Nancy, Today on Michigan Radio Jack Lessenberry gave props to the Bridge, and called it something like "the best investigative journalism" in the state. And then "stole" all the info from the pension stories for today's essay.
- Nice article at The Bridge about library funding and service issues in Michigan. http://bridgemi.com/2013/11/libraries-strained-by-budget-cuts/ I will claim some credit for finding a librarian for Nancy for this one.
- I meant to mention that I am home from work for the second day in a row due to power outage caused by Sunday storms. This is our fifth power out day this calendar year. The only other power outage I can remember in my library career is when the tornado hit the Seymour library.
- The dead individual appears to be the son who stabbed him.
- Nancy, you made Romenesko, or at least a screen cap of your facebook comment on the black on black crime post that was pulled by the Detroit news. http://jimromenesko.com/2013/11/20/detroit-news-pulls-politics-blog-post-about-the-negro-and-black-on-black-crime/
- And do not miss George Jone's recently installed headstone. Or monument. Or something. http://www.savingcountrymusic.com/george-jones-receives-monument-in-nashville
- I have two arthritic knees with no cartilage. Ortho says I am too young for new knees. He means under 60. Arthroscopic some ten years ago helped a lot with the pain. My problem is spending any lengthy time on my feet - like the exhibit hall at a conference - leaves me crippled and in pain for several days. I go to these big conferences once or twice a year, and find myself stumbling around these interesting cities in too much pain to appreciate the sights. And barely able to walk for a week after I get home. I've had synthetic joint fluid injections twice, more effective the first time than they were last January. My current job has excellent insurance and disability pay. This is the time and place. I was going to say I want to be Dorothy (she has new knees) but as she is in the middle of moving I do not want to be Dorothy right now.
- I thought the leg angioplasty was for below the knee pain. My father is considering that, he called it stents for your legs. And I have been trying to find out if this has any connection to those leg arteries having been used for heart bypass surgery. Twice.
- Ditto.
- I and my 3rd grade best friend were watching TV at my house. We had no school due to parent teacher conferences. My parents had gone to Chicago for the weekend and my grandmother was staying with us. The most memorable thing was the newspapers my parents brought home from Chicago. In my memory I saw Jack Ruby shoot Oswald live on TV but I keep thinking that might not be a first run memory. Power came back on at the library an hour ago after a five day power outage from last Sunday night's storms. Power is on, heat is not, dress warmly.
- Happy birthday Nancy. I was just wishing for a waffle iron, which I have never owned. Due to the blog post I saw the other day about cooking hash browns in the waffle iron. Guaranteed to always be crispy.
- I just watched Detroit Public Television's show The History of Detroit Television. Some of you would have loved it. In addition to featuring kiddy shows, including the very early Soupy Sales, and various sportscasters and newscasters and weatherman Sonny Elliott, it included a segment on the teen dance party shows and how they used local talent. I saw a very young Stevie Wonder, an unbelievably young Bob Seger, and a young Mitch Ryder singing CC Rider. Mitch also provided some commentary. It was a very fun show.
- One of my co-workers just told me he is converting to Mormonism. I am stunned. How does a raised Catholic turned adult atheist get to that point? Before he can be baptized he must marry his long time live-in.
- Elan Gale has admitted that he made Diane in 7A up. According to salon.com.
- You mean Joe wasn't serious?
- Ooh, ooh, ooh! I was just handed the advance reader's edition of Laura Lippmann's February 2014 release After I'm Gone.
- I used to live near Medora and it was a pretty depressing place. I believe it is one of if not the smallest schools in Indiana. I am glad to find out I can see it on indemand.
- So Bassett, did you lay ties in the Fort Ritner railroad tunnel that is supposedly haunted? I believe by a headless brake man.
- I laughed out loud at the antics of this elf: http://fb-troublemakers.com/inappropriate-elf-on-the-shelf-2482/
- No kidding Basset. I lived in Seymour for 14 years, to me it was always just this size of hillbilly country. I did put a branch library in Medora but I hear that in recent years usage has dropped to very low levels.
- I only watched the first hour, but was disappointed. The nuns singing was covered up by the too loud orchestra. The scenery was brown. And Carrie's voice is nowhere near Julie andrews'. And while I realize we live in multi-ethnic society, having black and asian nuns in Austria in the 1930s just wasn't very realistic. I will watch the rest this weekend.
- Jack Lessenbery on Michigan Radio talked about that trip to Detroit today. He filled Tiger Stadium. And downtowners were surprised and pleased to see him jogging the next morning.
- Facebook looks at the most popular topics of 2013, and includes a link to your very own year review. (That is, if you are on facebook.) http://www.facebookstories.com/2013/en-en
- Alan, there are at least six of us in Michigan that I can think of, all in the metro Area: Me, Nancy, Beb, Crazycatlady, ROGirl and you. And we're just the ones who comment sort of frequently, I am sure there are a lot more. Read about the MSU riots over the weekend and was horrified. I did go there back in the day. (And grad school at U of M.)
- Carrie Underwood is praying for those of us who were "mean" about The Sound of Music.
- For us it's the cheap Mr. Coffee, we have gone through several in recent years which we think is due to our mineral laden well water. So a year or so ago we got out the old Farberware stainless steel percolator, which sees to be going as well. Sounds like it perks, water gets plenty hot, but it makes awfully pale coffee. So cheap Mr. Coffee is on my Christmas list. My retired neighbor just repaired the toaster he and his later wife got for a wedding present, and not for the first time. Has to be close to 50. This is our fourth winter in this house and we suddenly have a mouse infestation. Score so far is 12 mice and one foot. I am tired of cleaning out the silverware drawer.
- President Barack Obama on Tuesday shook hands with Cuban President Raul Castro before taking the podium at a memorial service for former South African President Nelson Mandela. Uh Oh, now he's really in trouble with the right wingers.
- Yoko is a terrorist?
- I too have lost the Little Drummer Boy challenge, and this version was voices plus beat box.
- In the morning news I see I called the reaction to the Raul Castro handshake. And in other news the sign language interpreter at yesterday's memorial service was a fake.
- The R uling Class is the strangest and funniest movie I have ever seen. I have a very painful sprained wrist. Doc says, splint, elevate, ice, motrin, hydrocodone. Some things are very hard to do onehanded. Such as opening the motrim bottle.
- As to New As to New orleans, may I recommend the Hotel Monteleone, and the restaurants Bayona and the Palace Cafe.
- Larry Lujack was the DJ voice of my growing up years, sorry to hear of his death.
- Brian: Vote to impeach. I was going to say not sure what that had to do with peaches and then I got it.
- I had ether at 17 and remember it well. When I was going under the docs were talking about my dad, their dentist, and how much trouble they would get in if they screwed this up, all in kind of an up/down quiet/loud style that reminded me of European police sirens. I woke up and thought my mother was sitting there watching me die. It actually was some time before I actually opened my eyes.
- Nancy, I see you made Deadline Detroit's quotes of the week, with your Facebook post about assuming your neighbors to be racists.
- I'll take the caps. My husband's found hats count for 2013 is about to hit 100.
- I was in grad school in Ann Arbor for the 78 blizzard. Just yesterday I learned that it was the first time U of Mich had ever cancelled classes.
- Not only does Nancy's post make Deadline Detroit again, commenter Sherri is quoted as well. http://deadlinedetroit.com/articles/7824/weather_roundup_video_photos_humor_and_reality_checks#.UsrsQLTD-8A
- I hope it wasn't a bike accident, he seemed to have a lot of them.
- My number one rule: Always tell them you are sorry. Many many years ago I had a full term stillborn baby. I remembered for a long time who couldn't look me in the face and say "I'm sorry." I've been thinking about Pros. How was it I could dislike him when he was Caliban and like him when he was Pros. Or at least when he was sober Pros. Did he change with the name change? I don't have it in me to reread those thousand plus comments and figure it out.
- Adding to Dave's comment: Never tell them god has his reasons.
- Eavesdropping. A few months ago at a restaurant the two women in the booth behind my husband started describing their own personal experiences with spirits and being haunted. Then they began describing the various psychics they have visited and which were the best. While I know people believe in this stuff I was horrified by the conversation.
- Sherri, my husband's favorite heard from a back seat of seconf grade girls: I showed him, I kicked him in the nards.
- My husband did in home care for awhile and was left one of those guns by one of his patients, a gorgeous replica of a circa 1850 54 caliber rifle.
- In college I sold those Sears appliance warranties over the phone. I wouldn't buy one. My mom's drink was a Jim Beam Manhattan with a little extra cherry juice.
- I'm with Linda. It was painful to just look at.
- For ideas about food back in the day you might look at http://www.midcenturymenu.com/. It has some very entertaining bad food.
- My daughter's dog has severe allergies and after trying every alternative dog food out there, including bison and sweet potatoes, he is now being fed a vet prescription dog food, very expensive. We gave him fish oil capsules for a while, yes by putting them directly in his mouth. We eventually discovered that about half of the capsules were ending up hidden under the couch cushions.
- Oh Alex, my thoughts are with you and your partner. I've done a couple of hospitalizations for IV antibiotics (Vanco!) And it's not fun. New things I learned about hospitals that have changed in the 25 years since I had my baby in one. Room Service food and wifi.
- We have found ourselves eating a lot of chicken/vegetable stir fries. After listening to my husband and daughter bicker about who made the worst rice, and constantly try to get the other to make it, I bought them a rice cooker for Christmas. Dinner time has improved. So has the rice.
- I've been making very simple bread from the book "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day". Basically you mix up a big bowl of dough using the Kitchen Aid bread hook. The dough can sit in your refrigerator for up to two weeks. You grab a blob of dough, shape it, and bake it with a pan of hot water in the oven. The steam it makes is what makes a crispy crust. I've made loaves of various sizes, baguettes, and cinnamon rolls from the dough. For more info see http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/
- That app is now $9.99.
- One of my facebook friends just called Pete Seeger a "commie." Been a long time since I heard that word.
- Subway is doing a healthy eating promotion involving Michelle Obama. Oh the nastiness on their facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/subway And then there is this: https://www.facebook.com/pages/I-Reject-Michelle-Obama-Subway/550148545092210 Did Bush haters act like this toward Laura?
- Cream of wheat is produced in Warsaw Indiana. Or at least their corporate presence is headquartered there.
- Oh, Beb, bad news in the news today for water department employees. Are you going to be OK? Connie
- http://deadlinedetroit.com/articles/8136/detroit_news_about_700_detroit_water_department_jobs_will_vanish_soon#.Uukhy7Qwf6N Forgot to post this with my above comment, when I tried to post this comment I was told I was posting comments too quickly and should slow down. Haven't seen this before.
- Nancy, looks like as of today Patch is pretty much gone from the region. From Deadline Detroit: Editors at Patch, which includes 30 hyper local news sites in Southeast Michigan, received word this morning of companywide layoffs that have put the news sites they managed at a standstill. According to one source, who took part in a conference call explaining the layoffs this morning, all of the roughly 15 employees in Michigan were laid off today. It was unclear what will happen to the sites following the layoffs, but editors in Michigan lost the ability to post to the sites today, the source said.
- Salt for me, especially with cheese. Cheetohs. Cheese Pringles. I do not buy these things or keep them in the house.
- I thought turning the wheel in the right direction only worked with rear wheel drive. Back in my drivers ed days, yes, the days of rear wheel drive, our fathers took us to snow covered parking lots to learn how to recover from a spin. As a young driver we regular had fun spinning in those parking lots, usually church parking lots. We called it spinning looies or spinning doughnuts. No idea where the looies came from.
- We had mice show up in late fall. Total was 12 trapped before it was over.
- In the pictures at MichaelG's link I couldn't help but notice how many of the children - boys and girls alike - were wearing clothes made from flour sack fabric.
- Some of my facebook friends are rooting for Ken Ham in tonight's Ken Ham/ Bill Nye debate on creationism. Because the Bible. One said that the Bible says "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" and thus all Christians should be creationists. I am kind of horrified to learn that some of my well educated friends feel this way. I wonder if they think the earth is 6,000 years old. So must all Christians be creationists as a requirement of their faith? Must you believe in the literalness of the bible? Help me figure this out.
- Debater Ken Ham believes the earth is 6,000 years ago and that humans lived with dinosaurs. And has displays about that at his Creation Museum. It's that world view that baffles me.
- Thanks, Jeff.
- Is it five minutes a day bread Deborah?
- My daughter made tomato jam last summer and it is a wonderful substitute for ketchup. As for bread containers we just split the dough into two big GLAD plastic thingies. You can skip the wooden paddle, but the baking stone is a must have.
- The Rose Bowl hosts huge flea markets many weekends. No idea if they are in the bowl or the parking lots. Our snow didn't get going until around 7 a.m. but it is blizzard like conditions and accumulating fast. Snow is drifting across the lot and sidewalks at work I stopped to pick up my dry cleaning and slipped in the parking lot, ended up down on one knee with the other leg out behind me. I finally had to ask for help from some guy walking by, who kindly helped me up. The whole thing made me feel stupid, not a great start to my day.
- Google doodle today is a rainbow of Olympic sports. Go google!
- Good news, Dorothy!
- Had to watch the opening ceremonies where we got a quick glimpse of my husband's cousin's son who is coach for Peru's one cross country skier. Very cool. Andy has been a high level cross country and biathlon skier himself, and currently has a start up in northern Michigan where he is manufacturing super light weight ski poles.
- IMHO most of the handlers are women wearing a skirted suit in which the skirt is too small and too short. Is that a mandatory uniform?
- Basset, I saw a story yesterday that said it is the one and only 1983 model made.
- I just wrote a long comment about New Orleans and disappeared it. Two key points: Cream of Garlic soup at Bayona, and of course, beignet and people watching at Cafe Dumond.
- The goats in the picture Dexter posted are available crossing that thing in video form. I know I saw it on facebook. One of those statements that leads nowhere.
- Nancy, I have picked up that the Bridge is doing a story about Sugar Loaf Ski Resort, the abandoned ski slopes of my younger years. Ownership has been a complicated story and recent news reports still seem confused, complicated by the failure of the proposed snow board resort. I will be very interested in seeing what the Bridge has to day.
- Hickistan. I love it. I grew up in Dutchistan.
- jc, until you told us I had truly believed you had enlarged a section of Nancy's photo.
- I'm off to bed, expecting nightmares caused by Dexter.
- Interesting article Bob, put a perfect example of my frequent complaint. Where the heck am I? Some newspaper web site in some mystery town? Can't tell from the web page you sent us to, and there is no about us tab. Though I can tell from the story I am in the Chicago suburbs.
- Nancy, I see the Gross Pointe schools tech bond went down in flames in yesterday's election. I've seen some comments here and there by residents who believe the failure of the tech and security project means their property values will go down. Can you comment?
- A bill similar to the Arizona one has just died in committee in Indiana. My husband said to his computer last night: "People the queer ship has sailed. Deal with it."
- I was alone in my Canal St NO hotel room when a kind of wailing and keening noise came from the next room late one night. I found it frightening, as if someone were being murdered and was considering calling security when the voice suddenly said "Do it to me now." Late one night we got the last room at the Day's Inn at the Farmer City Illinois exit. Our 9 year old had gone to sleep in one bed, and in the other bed we giggled to listen to what was going on next door, hoping the noise did not wake up our kid. Then we got to listen to the post coital conversation from which it became clear they were a truck driver and a woman he picked up in the nearby bar. We were trying to not pay attention when the woman said, "And she had the nerve to call me f**king trailer park trash." We laughed ourselves to sleep.
- As I heard my husband say to his computer the other night: "The queer ship has sailed people, give it up."
- This 4-Year-Old Makes Paper Dresses With Her Mom http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/26/4-year-old-paper-dresses-fashion-by-mayhem_n_4855545.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular For those who like adorable.
- Back to brag that for the first time ever I got a perfect score on the Slate news quiz. So there.
- Deborah, it had to better than the Kid Rock cruise.
- I grew up in totally Protestant Holland and had no clue about Lent or Ash Wednesday until all those students showed up for dinner in Brody Hall with dirt on their foreheads.
- Holland Michigan that is.
- Elmore Leonard estate sale is this weekend. http://deadlinedetroit.com/articles/8609/you_can_own_elmore_leonard_keepsakes_his_estate_sale_is_thu_-sat#.UxeHv4Wcf6M
- Fort Wayners, your long time library director, Jeff Krull has announced his upcoming retirement, effective 9/1.
- Maggie Jochild, my issue is all the female law enforcement professionals with their cleavage hanging out at work.
- As i drove to Indianapolis yesterday I was pleased to see the snow disappearing somewhere around Fort Wayne. And now, if I had been home I would have had a snow day!
- Alex, my cpap machine truly improved my life. You should be able to aim that exhaust port away from your face. The real trick is finding the mask that works for you. I highly recommend the nasal pillow style, and my goal is to have as little strap stuff on my face as possible. I am currently wearing a Swift for her, and have also been happy with the Comfort Lite II.
- I have been involved with design, build, renovation of numerous libraries and it is always about square footage or square feet. Never heard area referred to. I am hanging out in the Indianapolis convention center. There may be 9,000 librarians in town but this is Big Ten championship weekend and their fans are here in droves. My hotel restaurant this morning was filled with Illinois orange. It has been hard to get restaurant reservations. Butler is unlikely to be in the NCAAs. New league and new coach, first year for each.
- Well this trip to Indianapolis has been an adventure. Last night while having dinner at Harry and Izzys I was pickpocketed. I had my purse hanging from my chair between me and the wall. A man sat down behind me and managed to get three credit cards out of my purse. As he stood up to leave the people at the next table realized what had happened and raised the alarm, but he got away. The restaurant staff was wonderful, by the time I left the restaurant the cards were camcelled. They comped our meals which led us both to say darn, we should have had the 75 dollar surf and turf. Interesting side note 1, the witness couple moved from Toledo to FW last year and have nothing but the best to say about the schools. Interesting side note note 2, the reponding police officer went to Concord High School, graduating 16 years before my daughter did. Or as she put it, during the Sean Kemp years. I told her that where I lived they were the Damon Bailey years. Those were the two hs basketball stars who went up against each other in the state championship. After the officer left my roomie said, people from Indiana really do talk about hs basketball. Checking out and heading home.
- Everybody’s Irish on St. Patrick’s day? I don't think so. Dutch folk wear orange on that day.
- There was a huge blizzard across all of lower Michigan on St. Patrick's Day in 1973. For Michigan State it was the last day of school before spring break and students still on campus were snowed in as well. Dorm cafeterias had almost nothing with which to feed them. I heard those stories when I got to MSU the next year.
- On the subject of earthquakes: Jeff(tmmo) and I were both in the Indianapolis Methodist Hospital Complex for the great Indianapolis earthquake of 1987, richter scale 5.1.
- As I've said before, my ancestry is 100% Dutch and I grew up in Dutchistan Michigan. Dutchies wear orange on this day.
- Dexter, I think Michigan has a legislature imposed limit on out of state freshman admissions. I will note that at MSU, a very large school, I felt like a small town kid lost in the crowd. I wish I had had the kind of experience my daughter had at Butler.
- Brian, I will disagree about the living at home thing. Leaving home and living in the dorm was a huge part of growing up for me. I had never met a Catholic or a black person before I went away to college. And Nancy, Butler has a beautiful campus and both music production and music business courses.
- Judge Rules Michigan's Ban on Gay Marriage Unconstitutional http://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/judge-rules-michigans-ban-gay-marriage-unconstitutional-n59116
- My dentist has a miraculous tool that means no more novocaine shots. The laser water drill!
- Some time ago we talked a little about the new documentary about the Medora Indiana boy's basketball team. Medora is one of the most depressing small times I have ever spent time in. Any way the film will likely be on your PBS station this evening on the Independent Lens.
- Nancy, I heard you on Michigan Radio. I heard your name just as I turned off the car, so I sat and listened for a bit. Graffiti? I read the article.
- So Joe K, does that mean you are sure that only Democrats try to get that insurance/disability money?
- I had a knee MRI some years ago, my problem was staying relaxed and not twitching. I had to go back for a second go around of one of the shots because I twitched. If I had it to do over again I would request a muscle relaxant. So they offered me ear buds and the radio station of my choice. I took my local NPR station and ended up listening to the Diane Rehm Show. She was talking with an author who as a teenager had found his mother after her suicide. At one point the technicial rolled me out to ask me if I still wanted to listen to this depressing stuff. Indiana folk, am I alone surprised by the move of Steve Alford to IU? I realize there is the home state/alumni connection, but If you could live up to John Wooden's legacy or live down to Bobby Knight's which would you choose?
- ignore the above final paragraph, I got April Fool'd a day late.
- Interesting. Yes I am. And Tulip Time in the movie? We will see Dutch costumes! I will have to get mine out of the back of the closet if this movie makes them cool. Some scenes from Perdition were filmed in Holland. The beach house at the end was built on a beach north of Holland. It's style and location bore no resemblance to any real beach houses.
- My husband entertained me this morning with John Pinette imitations. Unfortunately I didn't have a clue, and couldn't figure out why he was talking about Chinese buffets while I was eating toast.
- Brian, we've talked about that Body Works display before. I saw it at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. It was both icky and fascinating. They weren't mummified they were "resined"? . The one that sticks with me is the pink puffy cloud that was the blood system and nothing else.
- I scored 59% on the poetry test and was quite disappointed in myself. I just don't know much about the woman poets listed. I was amused by the question that provided J. Alfred Prufrock as one of the poet choices. Of all those clothes what I want is Latifah's shirt.
- Yellow Brick Road was the sound track in the dorms my sophomore year of college.
- Snow. Looks like about three inches. And a new record.
- I believe there are six Weinermobiles on the road. I once ran into one in my library parking lot back in Seymour Indiana. What a surprise.
- I also remember the polio sugar cube. There were crowds and crowds of family in that school hallway.
- I've had shingles. Get the vaccine while you can. If Oberlin is anything like Butler they will give you enough money in scholarships and grants to make their cost to you comparable to a state university.
- In the Detroit metro area there are three counties that pay a property tax millage to the Detroit Zoo and the Detroit Institute of Art. DIA lets us in free, zoo doesn't. The citizens in those three counties voted to tax themselves. The fact that some of that money was getting "tax-captured" by local municipal TIFs and DDAs became a big enough issue that the state leg passed a law against. Other municipal units still get "tax-captured." 10% of my library's property tax revenue goes to a downtown development authority. And while the Detroit Zoo doesn't let us in free, most of the metro area library libraries have zoo discount coupons hidden on their web pages. We're not allowed to put them on our front page.
- Your friend's book "The Way North" is one of this year's recently announced winners of the Michigan Notable Books Award. http://www.michigan.gov/libraryofmichigan/0,2351,7-160-54574_39583---,00.html
- I grew up in the small town where Herman Miller is located, and we always went to their summer outside sales. One of my friend's mother had been President D.J. De Pree's secretary in the 50s, and their living room and dining room were done completely in George Nelson and Charles Eames designs from Herman Miller. We thought it was horrible. It was not unusual to see the shell (no base) of an Eames fiberglass chair mounted on a tractor or a fishing boat. I have eight royal blue Eames chairs with black matte legs and an Eames round table to go with them. And a couple of armless ones on the auditorium stacking base as well. I knew Hugh De Pree as a supporter and promoter of foreign exchange programs when I was in high school and had no clue that I was dealing with the President of a Fortune 500 company. And I did have dinner at his mid century modern house, it wasn't big and fancy, just nice. I'm sure I have mentioned this all before, sorry if I am repeating myself.
- The soon to be available job of Library Director for Fort Wayne/ Allen County is being advertised. http://www.johnkeister.com/allencounty/
- Sorry guys, no more big libraries. Plus I am in the early stages of planning for a new library building. It will be my fifth new building, plus a couple of major renovations. Oh the things they don't teach you in library school. Heather, a good coat of car or furniture wax will brighten up those Eames chairs. In my younger years every auditorium space would be filled with those stackable chairs. I keep waiting for Prospero to chime in the swimming discussion.
- In other news I am going to have cataract surgery, the first eye in a couple of weeks. The concept of being able to see without glasses is so foreign to me I can hardly imagine it.
- I have one eye with an oddly shaped lens that will need an $800 lens upgrade not covered by insurance. If I want perfectish vision. And I will wear reading glasses in lieu of bifocals. Insurance will cover every thing else, and I am at the point in my insurance year where it is paying a no deductible 100^%. Which shouldn't be a good thing, but in this case it is. And it has been fifteen years since I was first told I had cataracts. I still do not notice any effect. In other news ATT sent me a letter saying my phone was so old they could no longer guarantee service, and to come in for my free new phone. And I discovered that I could reduce my monthly cost for three lines by $40 by adding a data plan. Didn't realize my old minutes per month plan had gotten expensive in comparison. The replaced phone was a 2004 flip phone, so old it said Cingular on it.
- Bagels are one of those foods that I had for the first time when I went away to college. My first bagel: Somewhere on Grand River Ave E. Lansing. My first ever Chinese restaurant: Yat Wah in East Lansing my first week in college. My first lasagne: at my house mate's mother's house my junior year in college. My first Mexican restaurant: newlywed, Sosa's in a converted gas station in downtown Holland. I grew up in bland midwestern food country.
- I always wondered about the vendor at the South Bend Farmer's Market that sold bananas year round. Our small local farmer's market opens tomorrow, we will check it out just to see it's new location. On the site where the elementary school my husband attended oh so many years ago was just torn down. Can't imagine what they will have this early.
- We got to see one of those massive steam trains in Seymour many years ago. That baby was big! As to the farmer's market, not much. Dog treats, jams, honey, honey again, and pies. And warnings and offers of free ear plugs as the nearby tornado siren was about to do its first Saturday thing. We got out of there in time with one lonely jar of onion jam. Then on to our favorite interesting market where it was customer appreciation day. Free samples around every corner, deli meats and cheeses, dressings and seasoned olive oils, meatballs, bacon and sloppy joes, free Dearborn hot dogs, bakery goodies and more. It definitely served for lunch.
- "Papa was a Rolling Stone" is a song about my birthday.
- Just the thought of hanging by my hair makes my head hurt.
- Judybusy, growing up in the West Michigan Dutch I learned the name of that wildflower as Dutchman's Broekes. (Brookies). Never heard it called Dutchman's Britches until I was an adult. Broeke is Dutch for pants and was also used to refer to diapers. As in that baby has Skeet in der broeke.
- A better picture of the red cape dress to which Brian referred yesterday. http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/05/showbiz/gallery/met-gala-2014/index.html?hpt=hp_bn9
- My mistake, that link sends you to the beginning of the entire slide show. And Anna Wintour's dress wins my award for ugly.
- When I was a kid Coors was not available in the midwest due to its refrigeration requirements and everyone wanted some. I remember bringing back Coors in a trailer/RV refrigerator on two different trips out west. What was so great about it then, when it is considered just an average every day beer today?
- Prufrock sighting.
- The Ouroboros or Uroboros (/jʊərɵˈbɒrəs/; /ɔːˈrɒbɔrəs/, from the Greek οὐροβόρος ὄφις tail-devouring snake) is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail.
- Where I hang on the internet I see a lot of trigger warnings, meant to support female sexual abuse survivors. We went to a lovely wedding this weekend, the first of the next generation of weddings. The reception room was filled with games and treats were served. Serious treats. Endless cupcakes, cookies and bars. It was fun.
- Good news Michael G. As for me, yesterday was my first eye cataract surgery. I can see, I can see! My distance vision seems to be perfect, close-up not quite. Right now I am wearing glasses with one lens removed which is weird. Second eye next week.
- So true Sue. On the other hand I sure would like that Lladro Dutch girl my mother bought in Spain in 1972.
- You said it Bob (not Greene).
- In our various discussions of celebrity run-ins, I don't think I ever mentioned that I once rode an elevator with Maya Angelou. We were both on our way to library conference dinner at which she was the speaker. She was wearing a black evening gown and what appeared to be lots of diamond. This was many years ago, I have no memory of what she said.
- Bet she's at Book Expo.
- I saw an employer dress code that required hair, if dyed, to be natural colors. I saw a woman at a quilt show whose white hair was what I can only call tie dyed, yellow pink and blue. Sally's Beauty Supply has temporary colors on mascara wands. I wanted to use one to put pink and blue stripes in my blonde hair, but I'm just not brave enough. Cataract surgeries are done and I have perfect distance vision. Need reading glasses for close-up. Very glad I did it.
- I just read The Storied Life of AJ Filkry by Gabrielle Zevin and loved it.
- Kim, I read about a third of that book and got rid of it due to general irritation.
- Gas was .75 a gallon in 1977? I recall that in 1973 gas was .35 a gallon and cigarettes were .35 a pack.
- Study: Eating These 41 ‘Powerhouse’ Fruits And Vegetables Can Prevent Chronic Disease http://consumerist.com/2014/06/06/study-eating-these-41-powerhouse-fruits-and-vegetables-can-prevent-chronic-disease/
- Dorothy, from the article attached to the list: Fruits tended to score rather low on the tests. In fact, the highest rated fruit – red pepper – only scored 41.26. Notably absent from the list were a number of berries including raspberries, blueberries and cranberries. Researchers say that berries, while rich in non-essential nutrients, lacked the recommended intake of certain compounds. As for fruit in my life, I would county numerous rhubarb pies, but in fact rhubarb is a vegetable!
- Brian, there is still another week or so of school here, where by law school may not begin before Labor Day. So your kids go to school in August, ours are still in school in June instead. Plus many districts have had to add a few days to make up for snow days. For my nearby teacher friend that is four days this year.
- I think my parents made that same trip across the straits in 1972, as part of their trip to Torremolinos.
- Open carry issue at a Kalamazoo Public Library children's program: http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2014/06/man_with_gun_at_kalamazoo_libr.html
- Can you them in a knot? Can you tie them in a bow?
- I had my favorite kind of weekend, one at home doing almost nothing. Had our first local strawberries of the season, along with local asparagus and sugar snap peas. My husband came home from visiting his mother with another load of rhubarb, so we are soon to have our fourth rhubarb cream pie of the season. Spent Saturday reassuring a scared dog that the fireworks were far away and no danger to her, but she didn't believe me.
- My now husband taught the meaning of solenoid early in our relationship when he replaced the starter on my 1964 Chevy. A solenoid converts electrical power into mechanical motion. He drives me nuts sometimes by insisting I need to understand how things work or why they don't work.
- I see that Madonna's daughter Lourdes will be a freshman at the University of Michigan this Fall.
- So I indulged my curiousity about amber teething necklaces and learned that they are NOT for babies to chew, but just to wear for pain relief. Too weird.
- Another state falls.
- Alex, weddings have happened today in Allen County. http://interactives.wane.com/photomojo/gallery/12933/241923/judge-strikes-indiana-gay-marriage-ban/judge-strikes-indiana-gay-marriage-ban/
- Jeff, I just replaced my ten year old flip phone (so old it said Cingular on it) with a Samsung Galaxy mini and I seem to be figuring it out ok. And Dorothy, I think you can identify we women of a certain age by the fact that our tupperware is orange. In my case canisters.
- None of my great grand parents were born here, for what it is worth.
- The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that, in limited cases, for-profit companies can claim a religious exemption to the contraceptive insurance mandate of Obamacare.
- Bassett, would the new Cabela's in Grand Rapids be more convenient for you?
- For many of the years we lived in Indiana it was legal to buy fireworks but NOT legal to shoot them off. That has changed. The big fireworks show in my Indiana subdivision was put on by a deputy sheriff who eventually became sheriff. My mini schnauzer spent three days shivering and hiding, poor thing. We had not one but two nights of official firework shows withing hearing. distance.
- For a totally different photo: Prince Fielder naked. Click through for more athletes in the ESPN body issue. http://www.freep.com/article/20140708/SPORTS02/307080096/espn-body-issue-prince-fielder
- Brian's link takes you only to the front page. If you use the search bar there to search Frank Lloyd Wright the article link will come up.
- Ja, LAMary.
- My childhood memory of Mt. Rushmore: everything sparkles. Let's play peel the mica. Enjoy the trip. I leave Saturday for Glen Lake/Sleeping Bear. Aaah, beach time. Any one been swimming in Lake Michigan yet or is it still too cold?
- I am back in the real world after a lovely week up north at Glen Lake. A week with no internet. Brian, I took that same trip with my family when I was ten. Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Estes Park, Central City, the Denver Mint are what sticks with me all these years ago. So long ago that Crazy Horse was only an arm. Bassett we saw a billboard for a Cabela's Outpost in Saginaw.
- Laughed out loud when I read this in the news: Wyoming Police released Monday morning that the cause of Oppenneer's death was likely trauma to the head, but the exact cause has not yet been determined, due to the fact the Oppenneer was decapitated and the head has not yet been found.
- I enjoyed these before and after pictures of Detroit. Maybe enjoy is not quite the right word. http://www.freep.com/article/20140722/NEWS01/140721003/THEN-NOW-Watch-Detroit-change-before-your-very-eyes
- Sherri, many years ago at Michigan State I saw a sort of 50's rock and roll version of Two Gentlemen of Verona. Brian, you know I have the exact same vehicle, and a few weeks ago we had to replace the radiator. It is our second trashy vehicle but we do use it for vacations and such. We haven't even tried to cram our stuff into the Chevy Cruze.
- Dexter, I've had two extractions in the last couple of years and my dentist gave me a prescription for vicodan. Which I considered overkill for the pain, and never took. Stick with the salt water rinse and the gauze pack in the hold and take ibuprofen and you'll be fine in a day or so. I described the pain as having been hit in the face with a rubber mallot. For what that is worth.
- My dad is also 82 and is going blind from macular degeneration. Yet still insists on driving himself daily to his favorite coffee spot. The downtown spot where he has gone for coffee every week day since 1960.
- Suzanne, I feel the same way about growing in my west michigan dutch small town. Before college the only Catholics I met were at my older cousin's wedding mass in Grand Rapids. Every one attended one of the Dutch Reformed churches, the only right place to go. I knew plenty of Hispanics, many of whom were the children of Cuban refugees. I had one black person in my entire high school. (He won the state heavyweight wrestling championship his senior year.) Going off to MSU was truly an eye opening experience. My fingernails have become so long I can barely type but i can't bring myself to cut them.
- We made sauteed zucchini last night and it was so good that when dinner was done we made some more/
- A massive cave under China. I am particularly impressed by the way the presentation is put together, http://www.nationalgeographic.com/china-caves/supercaves/
- I hadn't really thought about the consequences of the Toledo no water event, except for its impact on homes and families. I head this morning that every restaurant in Toledo is closed. Think about the economic impact.
- I've been having the same yoga thoughts. I want the class to be called yoga for fat out of shape klutzes.
- Dexter, Under the Dome is on tonight.
- When Richard Nixon resigned I was working at a high end department store in East Grand Rapids, home of Jerry Ford. The entire store stood in respectful silence as we listened through the announcement system to a live radio broadcast of his swearing in. It makes me chuckle to think that the other time I remember doing something like that I was working at the MSU Bookstore and listening to Magic Johnson's live press conference announcement about which university he was going to attend. Not so silent that time, more like cheers.
- I saw that! Very cool.
- I just got the speaker list for the metro Detroit book and author luncheon on 10/20, and the Longmire author is one of the speakers. As is Kathy Reichs the author of Bones.
- You wonder why anyone runs for a local office, with rewards like this waiting for them. In my career as a Library Director I am a public official, so I have some sense of how weird public opinion can be on things like this. And I am so thankful that others in my community will run for and fill what I view as thankless elected positions. So thankful that I occasionally actually thank them for doing it. Local and state both. I am in the early stages of planning a new library building. Our site was originally one of the Dodge Parks, a series of state park property donated by the Dodge Brothers in the 1920s. The property is filled with gorgeous massive hardwood trees and we are trying to site the building in such a way as to cut down as few trees as possible. The CCC plantings are in a different part of the park. http://www.commercetwp.com/parks_dodge So I asked my construction manager how much it was going to cost us to take down those trees. He gave me a funny look and told me he could get business to pay US to take down the trees.
- The video of the Stewart/Ward accident is all over the Internet and I managed to successfully NOT watch it. Till I stopped at facebook this a.m. and it autoplayed. Gee thanks. Excitement at our house this weekend, as my husband went down Friday night with what the emergency room tells him was a kidney stone. It passed while he was in emergency, and he says he got instantly better. Hoping for no more.
- I have no clue who Savannah Guthrie is. Whoever she is, she is important enough that her new baby is all over nbcnews.com.
- So Brian, did the Brazillian Grill cost you out the wazoo? I went with a group of 9 to Fogo De Chao in Indianapolis, and our bill was over $600.
- 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.
- 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?
- 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
- Dexter: None of your business and none of my business.
- That map has my neighborhood so wrong. I live somewhere between people with trucks and country music capitol of the midwest. More like Jaguars and Range Rovers. Rich people trying to hide among their middle class neighbors.
- Cooz, this morning I got an email from the County Health Department about the trend of teenagers setting their heads on fire. It reads: Currently, there is a challenge going around called the “Fire Challenge.” For this challenge, people douse themselves with an accelerant, ignite it, put the fire out, and then post the video online challenging friends. Oakland County Health Division strongly encourages parents to be aware of their child’s activities as well as discuss the dangers of this activity with them. Dangers of the Fire Challenge include: I think you can figure those out for yourselves.
- Brian at least Indiana has not yet embedded gay marriage banning into its constitution. Thought they have surely tried. Michigan was one of the many states that voted in the constitutional ban in the 2004 election. SO the attorney general is saying "but the people voted for it." And the people voted to get rid of the emergency manager law and the legislature immediately voted it back in again. Why didn't that count?
- My husband and daughter were floating down the Huron River on air mattresses and could see the storm coming yesterday. When the rain hit they had about 45 minutes to go on their two hour trip. As he said, at least we were already wet. I left work just as the heavy rain started gave some serious thought to pulling over until it lightened up.
- Both Slate.com and Salon.com have plenty to say about Judge Posner this morning.
- Julie, I am a September third birthday as well, and I know Dorothy's is right around there somewhere.
- I see Longmire has been cancelled.
- Pitcher Denny McClain does not like Mitch Albom. http://www.deadlinedetroit.com/articles/10282/playboy_magazine_denny_mclain_legendary_pitcher_or_mafia_traitor#.VAcJymOS28A. Back in the day I had Mcclain's Sports illustrated cover pinned up on my bedroom wall.
- Joan Rivers has died. I just watched her do the Emmy and VMA Fashion Police.
- Brian, I am quite sure that is still legal in Indiana schools.
- At least when this was written in 2009: http://www.wthr.com/story/11626275/paddling-becoming-less-popular-at-indiana-schools
- Brian, I disagree. My husband has followed boxing as long as I have known him and has never done pay per view. That Mayweather fight will be shown for free a few days later, after all. My daughter grew up watching boxing from her father's lap and as a school kid had a crush on Oscar DeLaHoya. I kind of think my hub's interest grew out of growing up in a city with a serious Golden Gloves program.
- Or you have the option of paying $25 for a "high security" Michigan driver's license that is good to cross the Canadian border.
- Dorothy, I read a blog called Amateur Gourmet, by Adam Roberts, and his partner is the writer and producer of Skeleton Twins. So I felt like I vicariously attended Sundance as a hanger on with that film. Which I see has been getting excellent reviews. http://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/corridor-sausage-co-churns-out-craft-sausage-in-detroits-eastern-market/Content?oid=2247635 , http://www.amateurgourmet.com/2014/01/our-skeleton-twins-sundance-adventure.html .
- And consider the link to the sausage article to be just a little something extra.
- Virgo here too, September 3. Many years ago when my kid was five we arranged to fly to San Francisco from Flint so our kid could stay with relatives. So one day we drove from southern Indiana to Flint. The next day we went to Bishop airport and were informed that our flight was cancelled and we were being flown to a new flight in Indianapolis where we would have first class to SF. We fund it very humorous that we had driven past the Indy airport the day before.
- Beb, you can try http://www.clickondetroit.com/., which is Channel 4 news. Always the best place for metro area school closings.
- I had cataract surgery on both eyes in May, one with new lens. Had almost no impact on my daily life except to greatly improve my vision, and the only time I needed off was the two days of the surgery. I was able to drive the next day. The whole thing was so easy. And my vision continues to amaze me. I was a little kid with big thick glasses. Now I am driving with no glasses. My only restriction was on lifting.
- Her register didn't tell her how much change to give? I was taught how to count change back in one of my first jobs. You shorted her a penny.
- You're right Kirk, I missed the penny in the original post.
- A walking taco is usually made by adding taco ingredients to a small bag of Fritos and then giving you a fork. A plastic fork.
- Bassett I did that visit Meijer's thing when they first opened in Indianapolis when I was living in southern indiana. I bought several things that I hadn't seen since leaving Michigan: Squirt, Win Schuler's bar cheese, and windmill cookies come to mind.
- We have the intersection of (east) Commerce and (south) Commerce. Here in the Lakes District there are no straight roads. With 27 lakes in the township there is always one to go around. I am back from a couple of days at a conference at the Amway Grand Hotel in Grand Rapids. The Amway incorporates the Pantlind Hotel, once GR's grand downtown hotel. And the long ago site of my senior prom.
- Craig Johnson, author of the Longmire mysteries, was a great speaker today at the Metro Detroit book and author luncheon. And the only guy in the thousand person plus crowd wearing a cowboy hat.
- Sorry, no word on the future of the show. Also present were Kathy Reichs of "Bones" fame, Gary Shteyngart, Hampton Sides and Lisa Jackson.
- There are cupcakes made by a co-worker here today. She calls them Irish car bomb cupcakes. They have Bailey's in the frosting, Guinness in the cake batter, and a filling that contains Irish whiskey. So far I have stuck with the apple cupcakes with caramel frosting. Maybe I will take one home with me for an after dinner drink.
- I've never made persimmon pudding, but I have eaten my share of it and find it somewhat slimy. When we lived in southern Indiana persimmons, pudding and/or pulp were everywhere.
- My husband always says "say boogers". And he gets great results.
- We no longer have a landline, so we don't get the phone calls, but by golly the mail. So many mystery groups are sending out flyers opposing my state rep, I worry that my mailbox will collapse from them. And I have actually gotten to know this guy and kind of like him even if he is a Republican. The local tea party opposed him in the primary. They posted signs next to all of his signs that said he had voted for Obamacare. Which I thought was sort of hard to do in the state legislature, but they actually meant he voted for the medicaid expansion. Our incumbent in Congress lost his primary, the Republican opponent is a millionaire from doing foreclosures. Because this is Oakland County he will win. Back where we used to live in southern Indiana the man we knew as mayor is running for Congress in the district that was repped by Lee Hamilton when we lived there. You gotta like a politician named Bill Bailey, he has his own song!
- That could be the typewriter I got for Christmas that very same year. Like Jeff, I type my way through two degrees, many resumes, Christmas letters and more.
- My sister in law in Leelanau County Michigan just posted snow pictures. In 1991 I was in Minneapolis for a library conference and ended up snowed in at the Hyatt Regency for 3 days by what has ever after been known as the Halloween blizzard. It started late in the afternoon on Halloween and by morning there were 36 inches of new snow. It is still the largest recorded snowfall in Minneapolis history. So a little snow, OK. But please no Halloween blizzard. I will be hunkered down at home in my house on a little dead end street with the outside lights off.
- I think of teal as a slightly bluer version of turquoise. They are my favorite colors, and items in these colors can call to me from far across the store.
- Put me in the group of readers who didn't care for "Gone Girl". I felt cheated.
- Voter number 139 at precinct ten. I did not vote for state supreme court or the various college regents/trustees, as I knew nothing about any of them.
- Alex, I've had my Indiana EZpass for more than six years and never had a problem. The first time you drive to Chicago with it you will love it. If you drive all the way through Illinois - open road tolling - you will love it even more.
- Alex, it is that I90 stretch from Chicago to Rockford that will truly make you happy with your EZpass. I got mine in 08 for a drive to Minnesota. My cohort and I cheered every time we went under one of those "Governor Blagojevich brings you open road tolling" signs. At the time of course we had no clue who Blagojevish was. And I still have no clue how to spell his name.
- For what it is worth Michigan elected a Democratic senator for whom both Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama made campaign appearances.
- I have just learned that Jehovah's Witnesses do not vote.
- Two years after moving to Michigan my daughter and I were each called for jury duty in Elkhart County Indiana. I had been registered to vote here since moving, while she had been registered to vote in Bloomington IN for as long. I scribbled a note on each summons and mailed them back and never heard another word.
- When I got my Indiana EZPass I made a deposit on account of something like $40. Actually I think that was part of the price for buying it. The tolls are deducted from that. When the deposit is low the electronic message at the exit in Indiana will tell you. Then they debit another $10 for the account, so the individual tolls don't get deducted. Mine worked on the skyway a few years ago, perhaps the agreement between the two states has changed. Also mine worked in Ohio and Pennsylvania as well.
- There was snow like stuff on our car windows this morning and slush on the porch.
- Beb, I would be interested in your take on the Detroit bankruptcy as a city employee. I assumed you and your job will move to the reorganized and separate from the city water and sewer authority. Does your pension still take the bankruptcy hit? Which turned out to be far less than you all originally expected.
- Linda, I went to an all day how to survive an active shooter in the library program earlier this year. Tell me if you learn about ALICE. It was a state wide program being televised and somewhere in there a guy with a gun came in and attacked the speaker and we got to compare witness statements. Interesting program, but kind of creepy that we train with something like this.
- In first grade I broke off my two (baby) front teeth on a classic teeter totter. My grade school playground had this frightening ride that was sort of like an open work bell balanced over a pole. We rode on wood seats with our legs hanging between the bell and the pole on which it clanged and rebounded. Looking back it was truly a potentially killer ride.
- When I saw the picture of Kim Kardashian in a thong bathing suit sitting on a tree I thought "my, that's an unattractive butt." Now her butt is on a magazine cover and today all over the internet. And I still think it is unattractive. It is also unattractive in clothes, her clothes make her look fat. Am I the only person in the world that thinks this?
- Greek was not cool in my MSU days either. Linda: ALICE. Alert, lockdown, information, something, evacuate.
- Counter. http://www.npr.org/2012/10/11/162712905/to-survive-a-shooting-students-learn-to-fight-back
- Baked German potato salad for Michigan? Not in any part of Michigan I have ever lived in. Had way more of that in Indiana than I ever did/have in Michigan.
- There is some really strange stuff in that Thanksgiving foods article. I think they are making it up.
- Netflix will debut a new 10-episode season of Longmire in 2015.
- Brian that story was told on Morning Edition. He was about 7, and only knew two phrases in English. One of them was "please don't kiss me."
- Ebert went back and viewed and reviewed The Graduate in 1997. He was only sort of impressed then. Mostly by Anne Bancroft. http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-graduate-1997
- My first car was a 69 Volkswagon Fastback automatic. I saw one a few years ago and wow was that car ugly. My favorite car was the 1964 Chevy Belair in dark turquoise metallic that I drove in college. My father bought it from the proverbial little old lady original owner for $200.
- Bassett we are the exact same age and birthday month. As a newlywed I replaced my AMC Matador with a brand new Chevette, which I drove until the floor rusted out of the front seat. It needed a new alternator every year or so. It wasn't the alternator that was the problem it was the bolt that held it on that consistently wore through. My husband also has agent orange experience and has just started talking about going to the VA.
- September 3, 1955, Zeeland, Michigan early afternoon.
- Some years ago I made a Rachel Ray recipe for tomato rosemary soup. It had a lot of rosemary in it, so much so that my hands smelled of it for days. As a result it is no longer a smell I care for.
- Ocean, many of us were brought here the first time by Bob Green.
- Michigan AG Schuette is a hypocrite. The people of Michigan also voted to end the emergency manager law. With Schuette's support the legislature immediately passed a new EM law and did so in such a way that it could not be ended by a ballot initiative. every time he talks about the people having voted to ban gay marriage I just shake my head. Or bow my head in shame.
- Alex, I make peppermint ice cream pie. Oreo cookie crust and fudge topping. Yum.
- Happy birthday Nancy.
- Today's column heading has me singing the Edmund Fitzgerald song again, 15 days after the actual anniversary.
- I like plain old boiled potatoes mashed with butter and milk. The trick is to put at least one and maybe two tablespoons of salt in the water for the potatoes. I will later use that hot potato water to make my gravy. I learned to make potatoes, gravy, and roast pork from my Dutch grandmothers and my mother.
- Thanksgiving recipes most googled in every state. Indiana is persimmon pudding. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/11/25/upshot/thanksgiving-recipes-googled-in-every-state.html?smid=fb-share&_r=1&abt=0002&abg=1
- Happy Thanksgiving to all. I am about to spend much of it driving to the west side of the state and back. Looking forward to seeing my Dad and both my brothers in the same place! Husband and daughter are doing a north/south drive as we have decided to separately hit both families today.
- We split up for Thanksgiving. Husband and daughter drove one hour north and did turkey with some 20 people at his mother's house. His mother will be 93 on Friday. Whereas I drove 154 miles west to my father's house where we had a family group of ten. It was the first time in a long time that I had been in the same place as both my brothers. One of whom is having major surgery next week.
- I'll be in Chicago January 30 and 31.
- Isn't that the point of college? For a few years back in the day Michigan had a legal drinking age of 18. Those were my college years. I thought we drank a lot, but not in comparison to the stories I see about campus today.
- I'm with 4dbirds. I rarely drink, but after three years of no smoking I too could return to two pack a day smoking in a minute. I do drink occasionally. For our cottage vacation I bought Oberon beer and a bottle of Bailey's. In a week I drank one beer and most of the Baileys. Haven't had a drink since. My parents did cocktail parties, and everybody drank and smoked. When I was home from college for a weekend I would often go to the Country Club with my Dad for a drink on Saturday night. My Country Club drink was a Velvet Hammer made with ice cream. Mmmm. My drunkest college experience was a fraternity 50s party. My date and I ended up passed out in my dorm room in our 50s costumes. We found out the the punch bowl had contained vodka mixed with powdered Tang. No wonder.
- You know I grew up next door to Hope in CRC/RCA country. People keep telling me it is not as bad as it used to be. I do not find it possible to believe them. Today I read the comments on an article that was posted on a Grand Rapids television station's web site, about requiring welfare recipients to pass drug tests. They were depressingly racist.
- So my cousin's friend posted this ridiculous thing on Facebook about Obama replacing the flags in the White House with a Muslim prayer curtain. Then someone posted the Snopes link to debunk the story. And the original poster then posted: "I hears Snopes got it wrong." Looked awfully detailed to me, do you think Snopes got it wrong? http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/photos/ovaloffice.asp A perfect example of refusing to allow facts to impact your own personal reality.
- I hear. My typo not theirs.
- Hey Brian, here's a Lincoln related volunteer project: The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois, has a new project that asks the public to help transcribe 30,000 pages of documents written during the Civil War. Library officials said December 11 that they’ve set up a website where volunteers can log in and see the papers of Richard Yates Sr., governor of Illinois during the Civil War. Visitors can set up an account, read a document, and type the text into a box at the bottom on the webpage. When they’re finished the document is saved and put in a file for other volunteers to review.... http://alplm-cdi.com/chroniclingillinois/scripto
- Alex, not her commentors are blaming it all on Obama who is surely about to declare marshall law. I wonder if that resembles the marshall plan.
- NOTE her commentators are
- The Arlan Meekhof who is Michigan's new state Senate Majority Leader is NOT the Arlan Meekhof with whom I went to high school. That is a different Arlan Meekhof. Both in West Michigan, both in their late 50s, but two different men named Arlan Meekhof. Dutch names, what can I say?
- As of the new year my insurance plan is far worse than that. And my local branch of the same cupcake shop is also closing. Not that I care.
- And the Maryland politician who threatened his local paper for using his name has led to great entertainment: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/kirby-delauter-maryland-newspaper-editorial
- Brian, the birth place isn't much. And is easy to combine with a trip to Mammoth Cave, not so far away.
- I see Buckeye post win behavior is all over the news. And here I thought burning couches was a Michigan State thing.
- I started visiting Flint during college when there was still name shopping on Saginaw Street. My now husband worked downtown for the county and spent the entire blizzard of 78 at the County administration bldg keeping it open. He lived in a horribly dilapidated central city neighborhood. Much changed today as that old house, still standing, is now across the street from the shiny new campus of Kettering University. I hope you get to visit the cultural area it is the loveliest spot in the city. Library, museums and more.
- Jolene, my husband has a Purple Heart and was exposed to agent orange so he is about the most eligible category after wounded in action, not that he has gone.
- Nancy, I just saw the words sale of the Detroit News. ?????
- Nancy you are going star gazing with a waxing moon. While it is not always possible we try to schedule as close to the new moon as possible for best star gazing.
- So guys I'm in the hospital (I'll live)and it has been an interesting day. My neighbor in the next cubicle in the e-room was a clearly demented older lady of poverty who had climbed up in her attic to make sure there wasn't anyone living there and fell through the living room ceiling and broke her ankle. It was clear she was a medicaid patient. Her son made it patiently clear he would support her but not be her caretaker and he didn't want to go into that disgusting house. At this point my husband with his mental health experience is muttering psych eval. They wanted to splint her and send her home until next week's surgery. Then the ER PA called for the psych eval. She was admitted mostly against her well for surgery. Then she screamed for five minutes while they splinted her. At the other end of the hospital I am in a large private room in the new wing and it is quite lovely. I have a remote control for my shades and lights and many other amenities.
- I'm fine guys. Should be out of here tomorrow. I had a rare skin disease ljast year and when I got better my foot did not quit swelling. I've been working with my doc and 2 specialists on figuring this out. For a couple of weeks I have not been able to get a shoe on. For the last week i've barely been able to walk. So while a small emergency made my doctor send me to the ER this time it has brought us to the drain fluids from my body project. Hope for regular shoes again!
- A story abour daylight savings time? Only in Indiana. My Indiana facebook friends have two topics that get them whining and moaning: daylight savings time and class basketball.
- Brian, wasn't that former museum space the temporary home of the Allen Co. Public Library during the construction project? I remember there was some pretty grand statuary in the library administration area.
- Yes, a grand dais with a marble sculpture. All done in a kind of grand sort of French Provincial gold and white.
- Well, i had surgery on my foot yesterday, and will be discharged tomorrow. I have a wound vac, which is high tech wound drainage. Walking restricted, I will be using a wheelchair at work. And have already borrowed one from my local senior center. No driving for a while, good thing I have my own personal retired husband chauffeur. All of the restrictions have to do with maintaining the seal on the wound vac. So my hospital adventure is almost over, and an adventure in living physically impaired is about to begin.
- Talking points memo says Joe Scarborough/Morning Joe was very disappointed in Palin's performance this weekend.
- Jeff(tmmo) that is exactly what we want. AKA as maintain the seal.
- Seen on jimromenesko.com : neil Steinberg says kill me now I've become Bob Greene. I have learned how to copy and paste on the ipad except for urls.
- Well it's official, i am on disability for at least one more month, probably more. Healing after foot surgery is long and slow. I am thankful that my employer provides as a benefit both short and long term disability insurance. My wound vac and I are sentenced to a living room chair, and may move ( carefully) to bathroom and bedroom. I'm bored and all my library books are overdue. If you make it to west Oakland county feel free to visit. Must like dogs. Plural.
- Suburban Ford in Sterling Heights is giving Robertson a Ford Taurus.
- Don't miss today's LitTle House on the Prairie Google doodle.
- If you have taken all the prereqs and have excellent grades you can get into medical school after your junior year. My dad did it. He has a DDS from Michigan and entered there without a bachelors degree. His undergrad school still considers him an alumni, and some sixty years later he still buys season tickets for their basketball games.
- Plus the Dirty Show includes the Dirty Needle nude tattoo show. http://boingboing.net/2015/02/12/dirty-needle-tattoo-art-show-o.html
- Me neither for Carr. But since I never watch talking heads shows I'm not surprised. Nor do I read the NY Times.
- Brian i had a friend posting on facebook this afternoon while stopped on I-69northbound near Muncie for more than an hour. He also described whiteout conditions.
- VH1 is doing a Saturday Night Live retrospective til 6, I've been watching bits and of the 90s segment. I just saw Nirvana sing Teen Spirit.
- FAFSA? You are way too early, you have almost two weeks left. I agree with JoeK's comment re Miley doing 50 ways, I was impressed.
- MichaelG until I was 18 I had never heard of any of those things either. I grew up in a totally calvinist Protestant region. I learned about Ash Wednesday when I asked why all those students were coming to the cafeteria for dinner with dirt on their faces.
- So you are singlehandedly responsible for your entire family's laundry? What will your daughter do when she goes off to Michigan? When my dad went to grad school at Michigan he mailed his laundry home and received it back the same way complete with nicely ironed shirts.
- JoeK, I have friends in Caro and get there a couple of times a year. You must be bored.
- Brian, actually you learned from listening to the women commenters how bothered they are by husbands who don't take care of their towels and you decided to use this knowledge to be a better husband.
- JoeK, along with my husband and parents I was standing in line at Fricano's Pizza in Grand Haven MI. The line cheered and the whole place was buzzed.
- I see my reindeer farmer ex-congressman - the guy who lost his 14 primary to the foreclosure -millionaire - has just filed for bankruptcy. And here I thought being in Congress made you rich.
- Kerry Bentivilio.
- Julie, most state residents pay an extra ten dollars on their license plates so that they have a state park pass with their plates. That has only been available for a couple of years but we have quickly forgotten about paying at the gate for state parks.
- And I did one of my three daily rounds of leg strengthening exercises to be done in a chair. Still hooked to the wound vac, still at home and oh so bored.
- Speaking of trolling.... Some baseball guy named Curt Schilling (yes, I now know he is famous but earlier today I had never heard of him) tweeted about his senior daughter's plan to play ball for the university she would be attending, and was horrified to receive in return some tweets about sex with his daughter. He got mad, what Dad wouldn't? And shared the tweets and identified the two (young) men who both have problems as a result. His blog post with details is here: https://38pitches.wordpress.com/2015/03/01/the-world-we-live-in-man-has-it-changed/
- The tweets Schilling shared were actually rather mild compared to those sent regularly to women in the atheist/skeptic and gaming communities. Rebecca Watson has been receiving rape and death threats for a couple of years now. All for asking the atheist/skeptic community to not hit on her at conferences. Harassment at skeptic and scifi and other conferences has also been an issue in recent years.
- I recently discovered, deep in the hall closet, a bottle of Hyvee rubbing alcohol. Hyvee is a Minnesota grocery store brand, so it must have moved to Indiana with us in 2000.
- David C, old joke. Why doesn't Indiana have daylight saving time? Because cows can't tell time.
- Jeff(tmmo) please tell your Hope visitors that i suggest a visit to the Holland Peanut Store on E 8th St., the candy store of my childhood.
- Flasher stories, Brian. The one where I realized that the description matched a man who lived in the halfway house where my husband was employed. Butler University was very generous to my daughter, Hope and Purdue were not. Her cost for Butler was about what her cost for Purdue would have been.
- Nancy, the latest issue of our local monthly, Westend Monthly just had an editirial against Prop 1.
- My poor kid spent her 14 yr old easter break having her upper jaw broken and rebuilt. And had to turn down an invitation to Jackson Hold besides.
- That NRA conference should be safe, Bassett. No operational guns allowed, firing pins must be removed. This from the group that fights to make sure guns are allowed everywhere.
- I have spent the last couple of days riveted to the online argument over the recently released Hugo Award nominations which were, well, hijacked by a right wing group of writers fighting SJWs (social justice warriors, you should know this,) and succeeded in successfully gaming the rules. And bringing in gamer-gate and Breitbart.com along the way. Even in the Guardian now. http://www.salon.com/2015/04/06/sci_fis_right_wing_backlash_never_doubt_that_a_small_group_of_deranged_trolls_can_ruin_anything_even_the_hugo_awards/, http://whatever.scalzi.com/2015/04/04/a-note-about-the-hugo-nominations-this-year/ .
- Here's my tale of medical marvel: I had a skin graft today. Not with skin taken from elsewhere on my body, but with skin grown from placental material, called Amnion. It was a painless hospital outpatient procedure done with local anesthetic. The wound vac is on top of it. I was home in time for lunch.
- My husband had his first ever kidney stone last summer and it knocked him right over. Within an hour of the first pain he was curled up in a dark room saying go away. He ended up passing it at the emergency room and was instantly back to his usual self. He did some research on urinary tract health. He wanted to tell me about the amazing discovery he had made about the positive impact of cranberry juice on urinary tract health. Then he wanted to know why I was laughing. I told him I was quite sure that most women already know this.
- Sorry to hear about Doig. His"Dancing at the Rascal Fair" is on my personal best novels of all time list.
- As soon as I saw the dead doc pic I wondered if that was the doctor after whom Rob Lowe modelled the "look" he did while playing Liberace's plastic surgeon in the Under the Candelabra movie.
- Best is a two way tie: Bob Seger at the Brewery Bar in East Lansing, $2.00 cover. His name was just getting known. In that smaller setting that man had charisma. Harry Chapin, Whiting Auditorium, Flint, in a blizzard. His band and truck were snowed in in Illinois. About 200 of us made it to the concert. He had a borrowed guitar, sat down on the edge of the stage and told us to ignore that reserved seat stuff so come on down front. Whiting is one of those grand opera hall with boxes kind of places. First: Does seeing The Cowsills with your Dad count? otherwise Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen. HS senior on Grand Valley campus in that round roofed building that was later ?condemned? Collapsed? Commander Cody had one big hit song that you know, even if you don't know it was him. Yes you do.
- Growing up in a small town in W. Michigan, when the Detroit riots happened I was terrified. Because I heard my Dad and the neighborhood men talking about how they could be coming here next. Dexter, when my daughter was in HS we swore her boyfriend loved her for our cable. We got WGN out of Chicago and thus all the Cubs games, his house didn't. A quick update: I am back to work this week after 14 weeks off on disability. (Thank you township for the short term disability insurance you provide for your employees) I have been and still am in a wheelchair and will be switching to an orthotic boot in the next week or so. Still no weight bearing on my right foot. I am looking forward to standing up to look in the mirror. The wheel chair thing has been interesting. Here's a little test. Pretend you can only get from your car to your destination if you use the curb cut. First you have to find it. Then you have to hope the beauty salon didn't put a bench on the sidewalk that blocks the sidewalk between the curb cut and your destination. I will also note that this all started during the deepest coldest depths of winter and is ending in a big burst of spring. Too bad I can't do the two steps up to my deck. Jeff(tmmo) my wheelchair and a few other items were borrowed from the local senior center which keeps a stash of donated stuff.
- Nancy, is that your daughter's school that has dismissed due to bomb threat? I am thinking she goes to the other GP HS.
- 6 Baltimore cops charged with murder. http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/baltimore-unrest/freddie-gray-n351881
- In other news: word from our neighborhood bar is that it would cost them $3500 to get the Mayweather Pacquiao fight. It would take a $50 cover for that little place to come up with that.
- So Michigan and Indiana folks did you feel the earthquake? My daughter felt it upstairs, I was on the phone downstairs and didn't notice. I did experience the 1987 Indy earthquake, and as I know from previous conversations Jeff( tmmo) and I were both in the Methodist hospital complex at the time.
- Fairfield and Hampton are pretty upscale compared to Red Roof Inn. I tend to use Choice Hotels - Comfort Inn, Quality Inn, Sleep Inn and several more. Reasonably cheap and always decent.
- Oh Bitter Scribe, we're horrified. While we don't shop there often, other than Walmart and Meijer's, Hillers is our only option to Kroger. We have 3 Krogers and 2 Hillers within 4 miles of home.
- I've stayed at several Embassy Suites. They are way too upscale for overnight road trips. I think of them as conference hotels.
- Exactly Beb. My state rep did a flyer in which he listed the pros and cons of each side and never made a recommendation. Come on buddy, what do you think? I think I would vote yes if it were all for road money. Unfortunately they are trying to fund everything else as well including old road debt. I'm voting no.
- My husband's 97 yr old Aunt Mary worked at Willow Run during WWII and she has some harassment stories to tell. She says military men were the worst.
- I lived one county over from Scott County for many years, in a county that wasn't much better, and I am not surprised.
- I have no compassion for the guy, he can only blame himself, in more ways than one. I will note that all three of my prom dresses had turtlenecks. Really. A long time ago.
- Your title, You're going out in that, reminds that when my mother did not approve of what I was wearing out she would tell me "If anyone asks your name tell them it is Sally Brown." Meaning not my kid.
- Four proms , two of them my class. And four Christmas formals, short formals, most of which I sewed. Most memorably a dress of dark green velvet (velvet! Nap!) with ivory lace set in the edge of the scoop neck and at the ends of the bell sleeves. It had an ivory ribbon tied around the empire waist, and it barely covered my butt.
- Leah. I am amused that my 1930s name would be Bernice, as my 1930s father(Bernard)had a cousin named Bernice. And they shared a grandfather named Bernd. We have unexpectedly found several morels in our own yard.
- Jeff, I had the same experience at a conference in Kansas City some years ago. No restaurants within walking distance of the convention center and its nearby hotels. The McDonalds across the street from the hotel closed at 5 p.m. Luckily a large group of us had chartered ourselves a bus to get there and we had access to it during our stay. Which let us sponsor a barbecue tour night of sorts which was fun.
- I absolutely hated the end of senior year. Between band, swim, honors, graduation I had to good mom sit through many boring events. Am I the only one that had trouble keeping from laughing at the over seriousness of national honor society induction? Though I think that was junior year.
- Oh Julie I was once part of a funeral pew of giggling sisters-in-laws trying to hold it back when the special music at our husbands' 94 year old grandmother's funeral turned out to be a former pastor of hers who whistled hymns. Our husbands - soon to be pall bearers - were up in the front row and we could see their shoulders shaking in the effort to hold back their laughter. I did not go to my own college or grad school graduation. My grandmother however went to my college graduation - my cousin also graduated from MSU, and she was dismayed I didn't go.
- Nancy, did you go to the metro Detroit Book and author luncheon, and/or see Laura Lippman while she was here. I did not attend the luncheon as I did not want to make way in from the depths of the parking lot in my orthotic boot. (Didn't order my ticket because I thought I would still be in a wheelchair). Or make my husband/driver wait. Or worse, make my husband driver actually go.
- Brian my husband has been taking care of me since mid January and I try to give him a break. :-) I've heard Ms. Lippman and zillions of other authors speak at ALA events. My autographed book collection has over 200 books in it with many of them mystery or science fiction. The very first one was Susan Stamberg. Favorite autographs: Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey, Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, and a copy of Foundation autographed by Isaac Asimov. As to the cool snap I woke up shivering under the covers this morning. Turns out someone in the house turned the thermostat to OFF and it was 60 degrees in the house.
- Urban lit was big at my previous library. And not even a blip on my user's radar in my current up scale exurban community. Linda, what library?
- Danny you clearly don't like us. You only come here when you can think you can poke us with a Fox News stick and we just laugh. Why do you bother?
- My daughter has been a foodie cook since she was 11. Which was when her Dad let her and her friend make a from scratch angel food while I was gone. They used eleven egg whites and threw away the yokes. Then she watched Alton Brown make pate choux and walked into the kitchen and did it herself. She made chocolate chip pancakes for every sleepover breakfast. And these days sometimes she makes me risotto.
- What Jeff(tmmo) describes is similar to what happens in my small home town. Parade of vets, kids, bikes, middle and high school band, stops at small corner park for brief remarks then on to the cemetery to lay wreaths on every vet grave. I don't think my Dad has ever missed it, he comes home from his holiday weekend at the cottage a day early in order to go.
- Brian, we used to live in Seymour, the first place south of Indy where you could get Louisville TV and thus watch the race. Hotel rooms and bars would fill up with fans. I did the Infield thing with an MSU gang back in the day. AJ won. Once was enough for me. And I remember thinking people in Indianapolis had southern accents.
- http://www.zennioptical.com/ is the cheap place, Warby Parker is the hip place. I bought cheap glasses from Zenni more than 5 years ago. The only measurement issue I had was the measurement between the pupils. I just called the optometrist where I had gotten my last pair, and they looked it up and told me what it was.
- Brian, concerns over damage caused to Belle Isle by the Grand Prix. http://www.deadlinedetroit.com/articles/12412/folks_lament_about_the_negative_impact_of_the_grand_prix_on_belle_isle#.VW75nkYRVwU
- My co-worker has chickens and gives me eggs. Free
- My orientation in Ann Arbor was for graduate school, and we were all moved in and ready to start classes. This will date me. After orientation afternoon a huge crowd of us went to the movies to see "Star Wars."
- Jeff, using one of those carts doesn't mean you can't get off and walk. It usually means you can't walk far by yourself. I currently use those carts, as I am wearing a large heavy orthotic boot in which walking is slow and uncomfortable. And guys, just don't watch those Walmart videos.
- I'm guessing they don't need quarters for the washers. Cards or ?
- So that Walmart fight video? Police called to Beech Grove Wal-Mart nearly 500 times this year http://www.theindychannel.com/news/local-news/police-called-to-beech-grove-wal-mart-nearly-500-times-this-year
- I drove alone to East Lansing for a mid summer two day orientation. Parents not invited. At the time it was the longest distance - 90 miles! - I had ever driven alone, to a place I had never been, with weird directions. Got there, did it, went home.
- Oh, and when my father was in grad school at Michigan he mailed his laundry home, there were special boxes for mailing back freshly ironed shirts.
- You know those Happy Birthday posts we are now required to make on facebook? I've been debating whether that requires an exclamation point for some time now.
- My husband enrolled last year Bassett, very simple online form. First a card came in the mail, then a giant book with all the details. However, he was still able to check the box about having other insurance, which simplified his options. He will not actually use it until the day we stop being covered by my employer, which will be some years yet.
- Sorry I misunderstood, I was thinking medicare. My friend here in Michigan tells me that when you show up at the hospital with kidney cancer and no job or insurance, there are social workers who can help you get set up with medicaid.
- Donald Trump: 'We'd Win Easily' With Oprah As My Running Mate I am speechless.
- BTW I am quite proud of finally doing those tags on my link.
- In Oakland County metro Detroit Waterford Oaks County Park has a water park. My wealthy west Oakland community has no community pool, but plenty of assorted beaches. Many subdivisions at every level also have beaches or some kind of water access, including mine. We have access to a road right of way width on South Commerce Lake, maybe a two block walk from the house. I grew up near Lake Michigan, and while there was no public pool our parks department did summer swimming lessons at two different nearby high schools and we rode a bus to swimming lessons every summer. As a little girl I was terrified of the "big" boys on that bus. I was in high school when there was a bond issue campaign to expand my high school and add a swimming pool. I remember the letter to the editor in opposition to the bond vote: I learned to swim in a ditch and so can those kids.
- Off topic. There was a sandhill crane at the back door when I got to the library this morning. Earlier this week my husband realized there was an osprey nest on top of a cell tower a half mile north of the library. Turned out to have babies. I see egrets, and blue herons, and green herons, and "white herons" as the locals call egrets. This is metro Detroit? It is a water and wildlife wonderland.
- My husband tells me I am "noticing" impaired. I just noticed the gravatars are gone, and I only noticed because I recently changed mine and wanted to see it. They could have disappeared months ago and I didn't notice.
- And when I came back there they were. Ignore previous comment. I just wanted to see my new gravatar.
- Snarkworth, Yup, sitting in my office this morning. Had many inches cut off my hair the other day, thus the picture.
- That was stupid. I just posted the picture described in 52 to my facebook page. My gravatar of course is Frida. I used to have her eyebrows, but otherwise don't look like her at all.
- Brian, change? You need an i-pass ez pass doodad. And it has truly improved my feelings about the thought of driving through Illinois on 90.
- I did the backyard grad party thing and I was the cook. My girlfriend and I spent the day before chopping veggies, slicing breads, making dips. Let me know if you would like to borrow the life sized cutout of the Three Stooges in graduation gowns. I still have it somewhere.
- Brian, they are done with Supreme Court stuff by lunch time. Here's a good place to watch for those Thursday and Monday morning Supreme Court announcements. SCOTUS blog
- Breitbart. Why am I not surprised? Take Down the Fascist, Anti-Christian Gay-Pride Flag
- I was going to say basically what Alex said. Here, Meijer did it first and biggest. And got my township good.
- And from today's Michigan Library Association email update: Tax Tribunal and Big Box Stores MLA and librarians from the UP to southeast Michigan have been working on a solution to the problems caused by the Michigan Tax Tribunal reducing tax obligations that allow thriving big box stores to be taxed at the same rate as closed-down, abandoned stores. In some cases, libraries have been forced to pay back thousands of dollars in tax revenue. In a recent meeting with Senator Tom Casperson (R-Escanaba), MLA discussed the huge burden this is placing on libraries. He has assured us that his four-bill package will offer some relief for those problems. We are waiting to review the language which is aimed at softening the effects of Tax Tribunal rulings. In another twist on the big box issue, Representative Scott Dianda (D-Calumet), introduced his own “dark store” legislation. This bill would impose user fees on those businesses that get huge cuts in their property tax from the Tax Tribunal.
- And the right-wingers have promised civil disobedience or more over same sex marriage. How far will they go? I can't even guess. A few days ago Fox news contributor Todd Starnes Called On God To Send Hornets And Cicadas To Attack Obama. It was such an Old Testament statement I just laughed.
- Ann Coulter Wants to Know Why She Doesn’t Make You Mad Anymore Because we figured out how pointless you are to the discussion.
- Yup Brian it was the Taco Bell. And the next day Alex in the other direction from the FW Convention Center. Meeting two NNc commenters was great fun. And I don't remember talking about Walmart, but I am not a Walmart fan and have not been to one since at least 2002.
- A brief local news story this morning: A man is dead after an accident involving fireworks Sunday evening in a Walled Lake neighborhood. Police have not identified the victim. Sources told Local 4 the man was in his late 40s and lit a firework off his head. Sounds like a Darwin Award to me.
- Good point Beb, I'll check the obit when it rolls out to see if he qualifies.
- And Beb, Walled Lake fireworks guy had two kids, so not eligible for Darwin award. Also, no life insurance so a fund raising campaign is going on for burial expenses.
- I have the ARC of Coates' book on my desk. Are you jealous? As to apppricots, love them dried, don't know if I've ever had one fresh. And as to fruit, last weekend my refrigerator contained the last of the local strawberries, the first of the Michigan blueberries and a nice load of Michigan sweet cherries. Peach season comes next. I love Michigan summers.
- In fact new release books are usually delivered to book stores and libraries a week or so before their release date, under an agreement that requires us to respect the release date. Libraries generally have them cataloged and labelled and ready to go out at Tuesday opening.
- Yeah, well, may I suggest not saying “God must have needed an angel” to someone who just lost a baby.
- I often say I am not living in suburban Detroit rather exurban Detroit. Wonder what I mean? Just east of Milford on that map. Just as close to Ann Arbor and Flint as I am to Detroit.
- Nancy, please let the appropriate person know this silly mistake: The Bridge's facebook post about the success of the state recreation passport is illustrated by a picture of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Photo taken from Empire Bluff looking north to SB point. National park in state park story. 9 more days till I am there. Also, Sleeping Bear/Glen Lake family cottage has been sold, this will be my last time there. Anyone have an up north place to recommend to me for new adventures in my old age?
- Sue I know roughly where that is, thanks for letting me know, I was going to ask you and Holly about that.
- Construction of new suburbs has kicked off here with a boom this year. All of them big houses on tiny lots priced from $300,000 and up. I would prefer half the house with twice the privacy.
- Diane's last comment on previous page: I also had to insist my library purchase the Coates book, and heard the same thing about no one reading it. OK yes, this is well-off suburban Detroit, so maybe not. But I was bothered that until this week mine was the only library in our 50 library shared catalog system that had even ordered it. I did pass my ARC copy on to a worthy recipient. :-)
- I am back from a lovely week at Glen Lake, which appears to have been trashed by storms yesterday. http://www.mlive.com/weather/index.ssf/2015/08/sleeping_bear_dunes_glen_arbor.html. When the federal park closes the campground due to fallen trees you know it is serious. My sister-in-law is off this morning to check out the condition of the cottage. Sale of which closes in 3 weeks. It took a walker, but I went swimming in Lake Michigan. Weather was perfect all week. Saw both brothers, one brother-in-law, two sisters-inlaw and two cousins I hadn't seen in forever. For a brief moment yesterday while catching up with NNC I thought you were talking about me in the comments. Turned out it was Connie Francis. From whom I believe my parents got my name.
- Remember the two tea party Michigan state reps that Nancy has written about. (About whom Nancy has.....) Check this out: http://deadlinedetroit.com/articles/12903/republican_state_rep_wanted_aide_to_spread_false_rumors_about_him_and_a_male_hooker#.VcSsYvnW8cM Quote: This strange scenario sounds like a plot twist from "House of Cards." Chad Livengood of The Detroit News writes that State Rep. Todd Courser planned to distribute a fictional email alleging he had sex with a male prostitute -- a ploy aimed at hiding his affair with Rep. Cindy Gamrat, according to audio recordings obtained by The Detroit News.
- more from Courser The long and rambling audio tape blames his former staffers, Ben Graham, Josh Cline and Keith Allard, for colluding with the Lansing “mafia” establishment to bring him down. And it didn’t work, he said, because he’s decided to stay in office to expose the “political shenanigans” that are happening in Lansing. http://deadlinedetroit.com/articles/12916/todd_courser_lashes_out_at_detroit_news_hit_piece_as_part_of_blackmail#.VcisqPnW8cM
- Two difficult pregnancies, one live birth. I spent 77 days of my second in Methodist Hospital Indianapolis. We have since figured out that Jeff(tmmo) was doing some kind of internship there at the same time, but we failed to meet. You mean the hot flashes are supposed to end? Julie is truly today's winner, where was the like button?
- In April I had surgery to put a skin graft on my foot. The four inch square of skin cost $2,000 and was stem cell grown. According to the surgeon placentas from caesarean births are purchased for this purpose. When my BIL had a skin graft in 1987 they took the skin from his butt and hip. So thank you stem cell skin. I've been back to work since early May but am still unable to put weight on that foot unless I am wearing the evil orthotic boot. And am still in a wheelchair at home when the boot is off. I have been casted for a custom built medical shoe that takes six weeks to make. Soon. I will once again be able to do things like go up and down stairs and drive my car. Last day I drove was January 11. I am quite sure I remember how.
- Amanda Marcotte's internet home is at Raw Story, where she is Pandagon http://www.rawstory.com/category/pandagon/ Tbogg is here as well, but does not appear to have brought his bassetts with him.
- I think the Straight Out of thing was overdone immediately. The bulldog did Straight Out of Hinkle.
- Here it is: https://www.facebook.com/butlerblue3/photos/a.590877777607271.141030.344497095578675/1112729142088796/?type=1&theater
- Here's my talking point for today. I have NO desire to see Kim Kardashian naked. I don't look for her naked on the internet. BUT Kim Kardashian naked on the internet seems to look for me. Twice yesterday, twice more so far today, her latest naked pregnant selfie has been served up by some web page for my not interested eyeballs. CNN, you could at least have put it behind a click through.
- My husband has stopped cutting his hair and now has a gray pony tail down his back. We each have two bald brothers so perhaps he is showing off. He says the only people who don't like it are me and his mother. Over the weekend I read Best American Sports Writing 2014. Lots of good stuff from surfing to mountain climbing to murdering NFL quarterbacks - two of them - as well as an F1 story for Brian. Most of the sources are main stream, Atlantic, New Yorker, but Deadspin is represented with "Mant'i Teo's Dead Girlfriend. Recommended.
- Brian, nope it is about a designer: In “The Art of Speed,” Ben McGrath explores the glamorous world of Formula One racing, “the caviar to NASCAR’s Cheetos,” as it tries to break into the American market. McGrath focusses not on the drivers in the cars but the engineers and designers behind them, and in particular on Adrian Newey, the “Michelangelo of motor racing.” In a sport where fractions of seconds are worth millions of dollars, Newey has designed some of the world’s fastest cars. “He is often said to perceive solid objects not by their outlines but by the flow of air currents around them,” McGrath writes. “In a sense, he sketches speed itself.”
- Brian, back in the day I was one of those costumed dancing dutch girls pictured at your link.
- Lake Macatawa.
- I am following the WSFS Sasquan - worldcon, the big scifi con, in Spokane this weekend. Hugo awards tonight. While Spokane is safely away from the fires, the air there is affected and people are commenting on issues with red eyes and breathing. The Sspokane sky is a strange color. For pics twitter sasquan.
- We have found ourselves in the midst of the Detroit Institute of Art's Inside Out exhibition in Wolverine Lake. We are discovering fine art around every corner. All fitting with this season's water theme. On the dam is a steamboat by Vincent Van Gogh, while Sophie, Princess of Palestine graces the fitness trail. I have only seen the back of Winter Landscape in Moonlight, as I was in the car and it faces the front of the Dairy Twist where the lines form. Exactly one half mile on foot from our house. My husband first discovered Coastal Scene of a Man Of War on one of his late night runs. It can only be fully seen from the boardwalk at the east end of Wolverine Lake, the far end of which is his 5k turn around point. He came home telling me about the painting of an old sailing ship. So I have three more to find in the neighborhood. He walked in Milford today and found two more that are part of the Huron River Water Trail. The first one he saw was mounted under a bridge so as to best be seen by canoeists on the Huron River. Watson and the Shark by John Singleton Copley really caught his attention. http://www.dia.org/calendar/event.aspx?id=4456
- I am the official spider squisher/mover both at home and at work. What is it with you people?
- Bassett, I am hitting sixty with you this week.
- Easiest way to roast a chicken? Head over to Costco, where $4.99 buys you.........Plus you have already paid $50 just for the privilege of shopping there.
- I remember my mother saying the hardest part for her was figuring out how to cook for four instead of five. My husband and I celebrated by sleeping with the bedroom door open.
- I see the U of Michigan has announced that parents will be notified when an under age student is caught drinking. I went to MSU during the short period when the legal age was 21. No one was under age then.
- Any one watch Colbert last night? Reports?
- The new season of Longmire premieres on Netflix today. http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-longmire-poetic-justice-netflix-20150909-story.html
- As to our adulterous legislators: A Michigan panel voted Thursday to expel two lawmakers who admit to misconduct in covering up their extramarital affair. Just three legislators have been expelled in Michigan history. Tea party Republicans Todd Courser and Cindy Gamrat have apologized and asked the wary panel for a censure letting them keep their jobs in a restricted role. http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/michigan-panel-set-to-recommend-discipline-for-2-lawmakers-in-affair-coverup-scandal/35194072
- Last year I received a letter from ATT which basically said, your phone is so old we can no longer guarantee telephone service. They gave me a free Galaxy mini 3, it works fine for me, though I don't think I've really mastered the smart phone possibilities. I think Galaxy just released the 6? So my new plan with three lines and data is a little cheaper than the old plan with 3 lines, 500 minutes and unlimited texting. How old was my old phone? It said Cingular on it.
- I spent a lot college history class time on Queen Victoria, until yesterday the longest running British monarch. As an 18 year old new queen she was somewhat afraid of those red boxes and quite dependent on her Prime Ministers who taught her about their contents.
- Somewhere I have a button thatsays "impeach Cheney first." And in the useless details dept: I picked it up at BEA in Chicago on the day Reagan died.
- Ohio University in Athens is the No. 1 party school in the nation, a new ranking by Playboy magazine declared on Monday. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/playboy-top-party-school-2015_55f6e2cde4b077ca094f97fe Any alumni here?
- I did four years of marching band momdom with a serious competitive band that took Indiana 1st in state class B twice. And second twice. And second last year. And first in class at the Goshen invitational last Saturday. Go Concord. I still keep an eye out for them all these years and miles away. And second in class B in the most recent indianamarching.com poll. It was fun and I was ready for it to be done.
- The Cowsills! My first ever concert at the ? Grand Rapids Civic Center? Whatever it was the same place I saw the Symphony and saw Harry chapin. I think I was 12.
- On the National Book Awards finalist list: Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me.
- World of Bizarro: Gamrat Runs for Her Vacant Seat http://deadlinedetroit.com/articles/13222/this_is_darn_amusing_gamrat_files_to_run_for_her_vacant_seat#.VfwF0ZfW8cM Grand Rapids Press releases one word editorial on Mlive.com: NO . http://www.mlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/09/on_expelled_rep_cindy_gamrats.html
- Some years ago the legislature made U of Mich limit the number of out of state students accepted for the freshman class. To perhaps 25%?
- Two shiny IU master's degrees have not been very useful in the job market at our household. My kid went for a Christmas season retail job last year and ended up low level management in a big national retail chain. 25 hours a week.
- At the end of yesterday's comments Joe K recommended a band called "Here Come the Mummies". I will add the votes of both my daughter and my brother to Joe's. Although my daughter would tell you that if there are two shows one may be designated family friendly. You should choose the other one if possible.
- Detroit will be the topic of the frugal traveler column in Sunday's NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/01/travel/detroit-budget-travel.html?_r=0
- I looked into putting a charging station in the library parking lot. It would cost to put it in, and unless heavily used would continue to cost. And then the Director at the Novi Library (just down the street) told me theirs had not been used yet in two years.
- My doctor's nurse once told me she was going to give me a shot in the hip. My hip, your ass.
- I have used a cpap machine for sleep apnea for about ten years now. I had it in the hospital with me back in January and the residents all made fun of my antique machine. What really struck me about the sleep study results was the level of oxygen. Your pulse ox should run consistently around 95 or higher. In the middle of night my pulse oxygen was as low as 64. And I just don't need to have my brain starved of oxygen. They are probably sending you home with a full face cover your nose mask. I highly recommend the Swift for Her mask, and am currently using it with the Bella ear loops instead of a head gear. I hope this all makes sense to you.
- My opinion is once you try nasal pillow there is no going back. My machine works fine but is bulky, and a hassle to fly with. My sleep study is ten years old, I fear the insurance company would make me go back to the sleep lab. Colleen, I am wearing the Swift, but with the Bella ear loops instead of the standard headgear. All vinyl, very light, and one can purchase fleece cheek strap covers. All available without a prescription at cpap.com.
- I ended up with an insurance paid for big box of Mepilex bandages a couple of years ago. Loved that they restuck. My nurses always referred to them as silicone.
- Just turned on the TV to see Nancy's name, the Bridge logo, then her face, with commentary on college game day drinking. Fox2 News Detroit. Perfect surprise timing.
- I did not like Ruth Reichl's new book. She came across as pretentious and elitest. As to the football game, all I can say is wow.
- Soak your broccoli in a sink full of salted water before you cook it to get rid of those little icky things.
- When we lived in southern Indiana our first house sat in a corn field full of arrowheads. It was also the supposed hiding place of the Reno treasure, as we learned from the occasional treasure hunter that knocked on our door. Reno gang did the first ever train robbery, in Jackson county.
- I once left a cash stuffed wallet in a bathroom at the Atlanta convention center. It was still there when I got back about an hour later. I then spent most of the cash at the AMerican Craft Council show which was serendipitously being held at the same time. This past weekend was my library's Friend's book sale, another successful sale with just under $5,000 raised. I noted with amusement that in the book sale sorting space they have added a box labelled Mitch Albom. Which means a lot of people are getting rid of their Albom books. I will be spending the next three days at the Michigan Library Association conference. Which is being held just down the street this year, so no hotel room.
- My 2012 Chevy Cruze just received its third recall. This is coming to you courtesy of the free wifi at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi MI where I am waiting for the opening keynote of the Michigan Library Association conference.
- Brian asked yesterday about keynote speakers at a library conference, and I suspect we have some of the same kinds of motivational people you see elsewhere. At that moment I was listening tothe two guys who do a library comic, see it at unshelved.com. At lunch we heard from childrens book illustrator and Caldecott winner David Small, whose memoir "Stitches" about his childhood in Detroit I highly recommend. I am waiting now for a program about starting a digital media lab, and later a lunch with speakers from the Under the Radar Michigan, a tv/video series abour Michigan travel. Tomorrow's closing speaker looks to be generic motivational.
- Jill, the Under the Radar crew was very entertaining. They did a drawing to give away four library appearances,, I was sorry not to win one.
- I hate. The ipad keyboard. Why isn't the apostrophe on the first screen?
- Including Tom Henry of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Is that the mayor?
- Michigan's two adulterous former state reps are NOT re-elected. http://www.deadlinedetroit.com/articles/13580/reason_for_faith_in_voters_courser_and_gamrat_head_to_defeat#.VjoV3SvW9oM
- The couple who challenged Michigan's gay marriage ban did so because they were not able to jointly adopt their children. Today is adoption day for them. http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/formal-adoption-taking-place-for-children-of-couple-in-michigan-gay-marriage-ban-case/36272250
- In Germany as a sixteen year old I was OK with the various toilets, but absolutely horrified by the toilet paper. Oh my sweet midwestern behind. That stuff was barely usable as a paper towel.
- Seems like every online death notice I see includes a GoFundMe for funeral expenses. As for the Edmund Fitzgerald song, as I've said before, it is my husband's birthday song. We each have one (Mine is Papa was a Rolling stone, it was the third of september..) So I do listen to it at least once. One of my old college friends is now the captain of a Great Lakes ore boat 1,000 feet long. The pictures he posts from his wheelhouse are amazing. I would not want to be out there like he is, all year, all weathers.
- Love the deer pic. My husband is out daily in the Lakes area, always with camera. This time of year it is all about the migratory ducks. Today's facebook picture, a Northern Shoveler Duck. He spent the spring and summer tracking the exploits of an osprey family with a nest on a nearby cell tower. Other web pages allow pics in comments, if you did, I would share.
- The last few days I find myself saddened and appalled by the so-called Christianity I see around me. I find myself thankful that I walked away from you people and your evil bigoted religion. There is no defense left. There certainly is no love. This is a religion at the heart of which is a story about a middle eastern family seeking a home during this season. I can't bear to look at the news. The headlines make me cry. Typing this makes me cry. I grew up in Dutch Michigan. The only reason my high school wasn't all white, is the churches having sponsored Cuban refugees. Say that again: Churches sponsored refugees. Nothing left to say.
- Me too.
- I thought she had already said it was David Geffen.
- Jolene, that line is perfect. Discouraged by humanity. My next status update. This is my first post in my new ipad air two, thankyou employer. I am also buying my old ipad2 for$70. So my ios is fully updated and I note the keyboard now has a happy face. Still no apostrophe. I believe that Apple's choice to put the apostrophe on the second keyboard will mean the end of its common use in the not so far future.
- ROGirl, there's a place like that in Novi, Japanese grocery store where there is always a line for sushi. I've had sushi only a few times and found it sort of bland and all the same. So I am quite sure I am completely missing something. Plus I have an extremely sensitive burning mouth and prefer not to eat stuff like wasabi. Or sirachi. Maybe a little tabasco green.
- MSU 17, OSU 14
- Whereas I have reached the point where my insurance is paying 100%. This is not necessarily a good thing.
- You have to have spent a great deal of money in this year to reach that point.
- Diane Rehm has a vocal cord disease, has had for some years. Deal with it people.
- No wine allowed at my Methodist in-law's. Which they failed to tell my now sister-in-law on her first visit there a couple of years ago. So I have once had wine at my mother-in-law's - in a paper cup. My in-laws do holidays on Chinet. My family does fine china and crystal. Reasons for both. Which do you prefer?
- I love to use my china, silver, etc., look over my drawer of tablecloths. Mine is ironstone rather than china, and they are the same dishes with which my grandmother set her Thanksgiving table. Though I often sat on the piano bench at the "kid's table." It's an odd pattern with flowers and a ?bug?. Look up mason's Regency to see it. The company that bought Masons some years ago discontinued the pattern after almost 200 years. And it could be bought in this country only at Forslunds Furniture in Grand Rapids which renamed it plantation colonial and carried it as its private line. The chinet china question kind of describes the difference between our two families.
- Comcast cable and internet, around $180.
- Whereas here the planning commission is arguing with developers over how many varying facades a new subdivision must have.
- Basset, they're going to show the Fair Board, they're bringing in the NRA!
- Still filled with despair about the state of my country. So I posted a link on facebook to the the "thoughts and prayers aren't fixing this" newspaper headline. My dear nephew, a very religious man, posted yeah, we should definitely NOT pray for people that are hurting. I did not post my response: What freaking good do your prayers do? Don't waste your time, do something meaningful. Your prayers help no one but yourself. They make you feel better. They are irrelevant to any one else.
- I read the story yesterday about the girl shot at the Oregon community college. My impression is that here is a family that badly needs help and support, financial and otherwise, and they aren't getting much. I bet there are lots of prayers though.
- Jeff(tmmo), In Elkhart, we could "trespass" someone from the library by making a verbal order to the person in the presence of a police office. From that point on we can call the police if that person trespasses into the building. I assume the police office present made some kind of report so there was a record.
- We have friends with three kids, when kids were small they visited us regularly for weekends and more. We finally had to hide the SPACE JAM video because the boys would play it endlessly. I surprised myself by running into it the other day, tucked away in the fancy tablecloth drawer.
- I can still sing the Berenstein Bear song from those videos. Mama, Papa, sister, brother, we appreciate each other!
- http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/detroit-reborn/2015/12/10/deroit-bankruptcy-anniversary/77052694/ The Freep story. Looking forward to your version.
- Brian, at 17 I auditioned for a play and in my reading mispronounced "Penelope" to rhyme with antelope. I had no idea, I had only read not heard that word. It was embarrassing.
- Feeling rich. Yesterday I received a check in the mail for .30. Cents. Something to do with a settlement re sales tax on ATT data plans from 2005 to 2010. Since I had the same flip phone from 04 to 14, i wonder how I qualified for even this tiny amount. I would say it wasn't worth taking to the bank - who actually goes to the bank in these days of direct deposit - but I just happen to have an appointment at that bank tomorrow. I wonder how many little checks like that never get cashed.
- Roundabout accidents are mostly scrapes, rather than the t-bones of a standard intersection. The largest roundabout in this upscale metro county is out in front of my office. I go three smaller ones on my 8 mile commute.
- Those small town courthouse traffic circles are not roundabouts, nor is Monument Circle in Indy. Roundabout rule: pickyour entry lane based on where you want to exit and DO NOT change lanes while in the roundabout.
- Carnegie Deli and Stage Door Deli (now closed) in NYC, and of course Shapiros. Carnegie Deli, I had their deli made corned beef hash for breakfast, like no corned been hash you've ever seen. My husband still refers to the height of his Pastrami sandwich at the Stage.
- Alex, we have been happily using the sear and roast method for steaks ever since getting a flyer about it in an Omaha steaks gift package. They have directions and a timing chart on their web page.
- http://www.avclub.com/article/20-best-films-2015-229810 20 best films of the year list from AV club. I'm not much of a movie goer. Not only have I not seen any of them , I've only heard of 4. My only shopping left is a trip to Target and that list includes the DVD of Inside Out, so I might see one of the twenty before the year is out.
- http://www.towleroad.com/2015/12/republicats-is-the-perfect-antidote-to-the-gop-debate-watch/ The Republicats. The Republican debate recast by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Even funnier if you've been to "Cats".
- Sherri, last week I wrapped gifts. This is the first time I can remember wrapping gifts BEFORE 10 p.m. on Christmas Eve since....at least before now grown up kid was born. Three more to do today.
- Alex, Cruz says that pic is making fun of his daughters. AND IT IS JUST NOT RIGHT to make fun of a candidate's daughters. A president's daughters must be a different story.
- This librarian rarely gets books as gifts. But my niece in law gave me McCullough's Wright Brothers book, which she tells me was the best book she had read this year. So a nonfiction break from the fiction pile, thanks Lisa. I have survived two long days of family get togethers and am looking forward to a quiet day at home doing little. PerhapsI will read the instructions to the air purifier Santa brought us for Christmas.
- Oh Jeff, the stories my mother told about chaperoning one of those bus trips. Her version might have been titled "small town girls in the big city." My daughter's HS band sent two boys home from their Indy hotel at 3a.m. the night before state marching band finals. Never really knew why, except "zero tolerance." We parents were impressed, and also thankful each and every one that it hadn't been us receiving the phone call. And impressed that "night before state finals" didn't make a difference. So there's some former band mom advice for what it is worth. A band mom who chose NOT to go on the band trips to NYC and LA. Have fun, enjoy the experience of being in the event, and here's hoping for a great bunch of good kids, both behavior wise and performance wise.
- And Jeff, your mention of Medieval Times reminds me that my daughter's band had Thanksgiving dinner on the Queen Mary. I had been surprised to learn that there were travel agencies specializing in band travel planning and arrangements. The plan for flying some 400 plus students and adults to LA involved assigned groups on multiple commercial flights. Busses were much simpler.
- I also got Inside Out, ordered and wrapped it myself to make sure.
- I lost more than 60 pounds this year, the first 40 while in a wheelchair and the rest of it while barely able to walk. Diet? Dietician designed counting carbs and high protein. Helped by husband and caregiver, the diet nazi. Exercise? Wheelchair leg strengthening exercises and wheelchair push ups. So the year was three months on leave at home with wheelchair, then up and out with four months in the evil orthotic boot, then four months and still counting with a medical shoe and brace. When those come off at home I am back in the wheelchair. I still can't drive. If your store doesn't provide mobility carts I haven't shopped there this year. I was really looking forward to ConFusion, the Detroit area science fiction convention being held in my neighborhood next month. I have just learned that the site does Not have mobility carts available but will let my handicapped assistant register for half price. I would pay big if I asked my husband to go with me. I think I will save those points for ALA in Orlando in June.
- Had one of those airport experiences once Jeff, your comment about the pregnant woman with small kids reminds me. After several hours waiting for a delayed flight I turned to the poor woman next to me and said "Give me that baby and you can run around with the other kids." She cheerfully handed her baby to this complete stranger and took the other two for a concourse run.
- I was disappointed that the guy who usually gives me a Heavenly Ham package gave me instead a very generous gift certificate to our new local Cheesecake Factory. My husband has no desire to go, he suggested I take my management team for a team building lunch. The remains of our cheap Kroger spiral ham is also about to become pea soup. Did every man get a drone for Christmas? He was finally checking his out this a.m. by flying it around the kitchen. Even better than a door knock for getting dogs excited.
- Alex, hoping your reference to cervical is some kind of spellcheck error.
- Icarus it seems at least possible that each ticket has some kind of unique identifier in its bar code.
- Because we are all bozoes on this bus.
- I'm with Bassett. SUrround the place and starve them out. I used to live near the beautiful Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge in southern Indiana. I believe that all of that land was acquired from farm failures/ tax defaults during the depression.
- Dorothy, from yesterday's discussion here at work everyone but me was watching Making a Murderer over the holidays.
- I'm with you Brian, give me a book. I never could color within the lines, don't expect to be able to start now. Adult coloring get togethers is a new trend for library programs. The debates librarians have had online regarding whether copying pages of a coloring book is fair use or a copyright violation are quite amusing.
- http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/06/health/adult-coloring-books-popularity-mental-health/index.html
- JoeK, my niece did the Disney marathon this morning, as part of some sort of group, in purple shirts, having to do with leukemia fundraising.
- While you were watching the President I was sitting through a three hour township board meeting, which started with fire dept promotions and ended with my agenda item. Today is supposed to be the final beam ceremony for my new library building. I am thinking it is too cold out, the high is supposed to be 17. Will a Sharpie marker write on a steel beam at that temp? If we do it there will be pictures on the facebook page for Commerce Township Community Library. Where there are already steel pictures if you are into that sort of thing.
- Sherri, I am looking forward to seeing John Scalzi this weekend at ConFusion, to which I am going even though the event and its venue are not very handicapped friendly. I had hoped for mobility carts but no such luck. I will be attending in my nasty orthotic footwear and bringging my own wheel chair. They did offer to let my wheel chair pusher in for half price. I can push myself. Doc says I will be walking on my own two feet by about April. Being handicapped for a year has been an interesting learning experience. Interesting, not pleasant. And I have planning on this event and darn it, I'm going.
- I will agree and emphasize what MichaelG says about cataract surgery. I was NOT in La-La Land, and it was like staring into a bright light for several minutes. Within two days all is back to normal. After being 20/200 for most of my life I am now 20/25 and wearing reading glasses. Jolene, the other part of the helper at the conference is the number of "marriage points" it would cost me to get my husband to go to the science fiction convention. Did I ever tell you about the time I hit the apple table at Trader Joe's with the mobility cart? The table turned out to be on wheels, it turned into quite the exciting show. Especially once it hit the dairy case and the apples started to go.
- It was a year and a half ago and the details have slipped away, but it was all eye drop prep. No IV.
- Nancy, I would be interested in your opinion on the Kettering University letter, which pretty much downplays the whole Flint water thing as over reacting to a tiny problem. http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/michigan/scope-of-flint-water-contamination-downplayed-calrified-in-kettering-university-presidents-letter In the years I dated my husband he lived in a series of rundown houses in Flint with a couple of guys. The house on 12th St. had the all concrete channels of the Flint River right next door. But the very first house, in a very run down neighborhood, a house with mushrooms growing in the shower stall!, has ended up virtually on the new Kettering University campus. WHich surprised us greatly the first time we saw it.
- I am back from a nice evening at the scifi con which worked okwith a boot cane wheelchair combo. I ended up at a table at the reception with a nice gentleman from LA who was originally from nearby W Bloomfield, and introduced me to his sister. It took me several minutes of conversation before I realized he was one of the guests of honor I had just heard speak at the opening session. Gordon Smith is a staff writer for Better Call Saul, spin-off of Breaking Bad. Earlier I had gotten caught up in a clump of people waiting for some doors to be opened. I asked the woman in front of me if we knew each other. Turned out she is John Scalzi's wife, and I was recognizing her from the pictures on his blog. In general people were friendly, chatty, and quick to introduce themselves. And those women selling corsets that just isn't natural. Deborah I have been counting carbs for a year now and have lost over 60 lbs. i get to eat some, just not a lot.
- Thanks beb, I had fun. People were friendly and extremely helpful to a person in a wheelchair. Have you.ever gone to Penguicon? i understand it is geekier and gamier. I saw quite a few guys in utilikilts, and a man in a lovely Regency dress. Lots of purple hair. Beautiful Steampunk leatherwork and goggles. Several free books. I'm glad I went.
- Brian, Rachel will be hosting a town hall in Flint on Wed. http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/flint-water-crisis/2016/01/22/flint-town-hall/79206030/
- Remember when I told you about enjoying the Detroit Institute of Art's Inside Out program when it was in nearby Wolverine Lake last year? I am delighted to tell that it is going to be in Commerce Township this Spring and at least two of the art works will be on my library's property. Very cool, I'm excited.
- Why is Trump still the headline rather than last night's arrests etc.????
- Message I got from the director of the Flint Public Library: the whole world is sending us water. You can also contribute money. Flintkids.org I watched Rachel and thought she did a great job. My husband grew up in a Flint suburb, and during the years we dated lived with two other men in several different rundown houses in so so neighborhoods in Flint, including one next to the concrete channel of the Flint river. I can't remember the last time I was in the city, but have a seminar at the Flint PL in a couple of weeks. I find going there somewhat jarring as it is an area called the cultural center, an absolutely beautiful neighborhood. My exUAW husband and UAW inlaws have also taught me a lot about Flint's role in the history of labor which is major. Including the great story of the red hat women during the Flint Sitdown Strike.
- Some years ago my best friend and husband bought a Staffordshire Bull Terrier puppy. Raised in a good household, Baxter was a lovely dog. Except he liked me so much he always tripped me on the stars. I never thought of him as a pit bull, though I knew his breed was considered such. Miss you, Baxter.
- Governor heckled at Old Town Tavern in downtown Ann Arbor http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2016/01/governor_heckled_out_of_old_to.html And photo of wanted flyer.
- Congratulations to Nancy and Bridge magazine. Newspaper of the year from the Michigan Press Association.
- First place, business and agriculture news, “Poverty in Paradise,” a series of stories examining the economic chasm between rich and poor in “Pure Michigan” up north, by Nancy Derringer, Roelofs and Mike Wilkinson. This project also took third place in the Herbert Spencer Best Writing category.
- Growing up there was ice everywhere, who needs to make their own rink? In the neighborhood we skated at Mr. Gilley's pond. At the beginning of every winter a crowd of kids in skates stood in his yard while the bravest one went up and knocked on his door to get permission for another year of skating. Mostly broom hockey and crack the whip. Some blocks away was the big pond behind the city ceremony which the city parks department kept shovelled clear and on weekends built a little fire nearby. Just outside of town at the Fish and Game Club there was also at least one big pond always shovelled. I never saw inside ice skating until college. My dad recently told a story about the city council voting to build an ice rink but voting against funding any snow clearing or ice care. So in high school, when his father was on the city council, he found himself getting dragged out of bed early on weekend mornings in order to go with his dad to shovel off the rink.
- I am surprised to say I loved Grease Live and watched it all the way. Vanessa Hudgens blew it away. Loved the ending.
- Nobody has good to say about Albom today. http://deadlinedetroit.com/articles/14180/reactions_to_albom_rape_case_coment_idiotic_awful_asshole_stop_talking#.Vq_BlrIrLq4
- The Daisy ad was Goldwater 1964. The Year my dad swore that if Johnson won we were moving to Australia. I believed him. It was terrifying. Don't say stuff like that to your gullible 8 yr old.
- My Trader Joes is never as bad as described in the article. My TJ go to is their chicken broth. I had my first Aldi visit after moving to the metro area and have just learned there is a new one going in near my office. Near the new Tim Hortons.
- I have always been the queen of spelling. The best thing I ever figured out about learning stuff when I was a kid was figuring out the magic of how to multiply by 9. Why didn't the elementary teacher teaching me multiplication ever tell me about that?
- Beb said: The sum of the two numbers in the answer always equals 9. I will add that the first number of the result is one number less than the number by which you are multiplying. 6 x 9 = 54.
- And I will add my voice to Alex's about fudge. Although as a child I didn't find it funny like you did. :-)
- Jolene, we shall have to share the title. I also have a compass in my brain, which many of my friends envy. Even when I am lost I know exactly where I am.
- Both my husband and my daughter, as well as my school superintendent late father in law, are/were totally hopeless at spelling. Which has made me think it could be genetic.
- Why make something like that when you can buy them at a 7-11? I have at least 4 7-11s within 5 miles of my house.
- Not that I have watched the Super Bowl or been to a SB party for years.
- During his working years, and since his twenty year ago retirement, my 84 yr old dad has eaten breakfast every weekday since 1960 at the same downtown restaurant, at the same round "downtown businessmen" table. The last driving he did as his vision went was to that breakfast. Now his wife drops him off every morning on her way to work, and the senior bus picks him up at the back door every day at 9:30 and drives him home for $2.00.
- On NPR, Renee Montagne chimed in, reporting that “before dawn on Sunday morning, dozens of the Globe‘s reporters and editors fanned out and delivered the papers themselves. They carried flashlights and GPS.” The above is copied from http://www.salon.com/2016/02/05/america_runs_on_undocumented_laborers_and_our_news_media_is_complicit_in_their_exploitation_partner/. Here's my question, especially for you writers. The reporter is quoting an audio report. How do you think Renee actually said GPS? Is it not plural in this sentence? Would she not have said GPSes? And no matter how she pronounced it what is the plural of GPS? I assume she meant gps units and apps. Or was there just one?
- Wasn't done. Last thing. The sentence just reads wrong wrong wrong to me. What am I missing?
- So did the bakery owner reveal the cake and the customer? And will she get any future business from people who value their privacy? I had the game on but didn't pay much attention. Best ad? Local ad for Art Van Furniture. One of the Vans is standing in front of the commercial they meant to run, then begins showing pictures of Art Van stores across the state filling up with water donations and trucks full of bottled water heading to Flint, then announced an expansion of water collections to their out of state stores. I have a seminar at the Flint Public Library on Thursday.
- I wonder who she talked to, and whether she wanted to get her cake in the news for pr for her, or for bad pr for snyder.
- Claims are being made by more than just Fox: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/beyonc-s-politically-charged-super-bowl-halftime-performance-n513621?cid=sm_fb
- Giuliani: Beyoncé's Super Bowl Performance Was 'Attack' On Cops. http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/giuliani-beyonce-super-bowl
- I saw a picture, it was orange, yellow and blue, how that makes a rainbow, ??????
- Papa John's is a major NFL sponsor.
- http://whatwouldjackdo.net/2016/02/hammers-and-nails-when-youre-a-homophobe-everything-looks-like-its-supporting-homosexuality.html The photo of the sooprbowl lights that rightwingers says is all about the gay agenda. I don't see a rainbow. Do you see a rainbow?
- Coming to you courtesy of the wifi at the Flint Public Library. The coffee at this workshop is clearly labelled as being made with Absopure water.
- My raised in the UP mother in law and her Flint suburban church group make 2,000 pasties once a month. They serve around half hot that day (church is tight next door to GM Partsheadquarters), and sell the rest frozen at $3.75 each.
- And the real pasty question: catsup or gravy?
- THis blonde has always thought blondes should not wear yellows/oranges. I figured out at a young age that if I wore peach my hair, my facial skin, and my clothing looked like they were all the same color. Turquoise is my best color, with purple and fuchsia right behind.
- Charlotte said: his ankle surgery turn me into an advocate for curb cuts, handicapped parking, and any other mobility aids anyone might need. It’s bringing out the former-Catholic in me, trying to offer up my crankiness and frustration to better social services. For the last year I have been in and out of wheelchair and orthotic boots. I'm with you. Just finding the curb cut from the parking lot to the building can be hard. It's not in the middle, it's down by the end. Or it's behind the handicapped parking place and thus blocked by a truck. Or the hair salon next to the store you are going to put out a bench and there is no longer enough width for a wheel chair, so back out (roll out) to the curb cut and find the other one if there is one. Tomorrow I am sending my medical footwear/brace in for adjustments, and will get it back Tuesday so I will be in the wheel chair until then. Wanna race? I've gotten pretty fast. I have just passed my one year anniversary of hospital, disability leave, wheelchair, orthotic boots, medical shoe and brace..... The work to be done on my brace will allow me to remove the brace and wear just the shoes on the rare occasion I need to do a little walking in my home. Like going to the bathroom at night.
- Ted Cruz Pledges Not to Provide Gluten-Free Meals to the Military. http://time.com/4225884/ted-cruz-military-gluten-free-meals/?xid=fbshare Or in other words, f you soldier with celiac. Ted thinks it is political correctness rather than an illness.
- My Dutch grandmothers called bacon grease Speck. Old Dutch canister sets occasionally seen at Holland area antique malls will often include a canister for speck.
- I have been plenty whiny. But you know, I have a foot, and in another couple of months I should be in just a medical shoe. Tomorrow through Tuesday in the wheelchair while the brace is refabricated. Could have done it in three next week, but on days that included an evening meeting and an out of town location morning meeting. Instead it is three days in my office and a weekend at home. I sat through several hours of meetings today on exciting topics like specifications for security cameras and alarms, keycard unlocking systems, video projection systems, video monitors in lieu of projection systems, and the wiring for all, and the conduit size for such, overhead speaker systems, auditorium microphone speaker systems. My favorite thing was learning that an employee entrance key card system can be programmed so that authorized cards unlocking the employee entrance automatically disarm the alarm panel. I did tell you that I am building a new library, right?
- Deborah my experience with travertine is that it takes a lot of maintenance to keep looking good. Including regular buffing. Just called a snow early closing.
- Headline on tpm: Ted Cruz is standing in the way of Flint water deal. I have not figured out how to copy urls since the latest safari/ios/ipad upgrade. Talkingpointsmemo.com
- Brandon, blueberries have a season, and right now in Michigan it is the season for snow. Only snow. Maybe asparagus in another month or two.
- I thought what Roger Miller said was "Can't roller skate in a buffalo herd."
- Worst car I ever owned: 1989 Pontiac 6000. Fits with what Alex says.
- “Jerry Ford would be heartsick about what’s happened to his party,” http://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/columnists/neal-rubin/2016/02/29/neal-rubin-gerald-ford-gop-marco-rubio-elaine-didier-thomas-defrank/81138788/
- UPS Guy told me they have stopped not turning left. Just sharing that odd fact.
- Detroit News Endorses Gov. John Kasich as GOP Nominee http://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/editorials/2016/03/03/editorial-endorse-ohio-gov-john-kasich-gop-vote/81238290/
- So in Michigan it is primary day and in my neighborhood all we have to vote for is presidential candidates. A very small ballot. Unless you live in the district's previously repped by Courser and Gamrat, where new state reps will be elected. Some areas will have local ballot issues. I will have a local ballot issue in the AUgust primary, a renewal of the tax millage that provides 70% of my library's revenue. Glad it is not on the November ballot where it would be the last thing on what is expected to be a three page ballot. First the primary, then the eight state ballot issues, then local ballot questions at the end.
- I was looking at the presidential primary returns for Michigan by county. It looked to me like the counties where Kasich got the most votes were counties with a large university presence. Which makes me wonder whether a lot of Democrats voted in the Repub primary just to vote for someone other than Trump. Much of my morning is to be spent in training on the new copy machines. We no longer have individual printers, we are all networked to two copy machines and one large printer. So I send print orders to the copier that is just outside my office door, and I always wait to hear it start. But now it is moving about ten feet farther away, and for some stupid reason I worry about hearing it. It works fine whether I can hear it or not.
- I just took a look at my own precinct vote breakdown. I live in Oakland County Michigan, one of the wealthiest counties in the country, which tends to vote Republican. I live in the sort of exurban part, where it is not all built up high end subdivisions like it starts to be just east of here. We have lots of public land, some farmland and 27 lakes in the township. Anyway, my precinct vote went: Trump 213, Kasich 203, Cruz 144, Rubio 39, Bernie 163, Clinton 96. My vet husband kind of surprised me when he told me he couldn't vote for Clinton, and couldn't or wouldn't vote for anyone who voted for the Iraq War.
- Well he was choosing in the Democratic primary where I am pretty sure one voted for and one didn't.
- In other news, Nancy, your community is looking for a Library Director. http://www.johnkeister.com/grossepointe/ Who wouldn't want to work for a library that has a million dollar Calder mobile?
- Must read, Ross Douthat's opinion column in the NYT today, " The Party Still Decides." Totally anti Trump. I can't believe I have recommended him. Sorry, no link.
- Douthat column is currently the top headline at http://huffington.com.
- Butler 71 Texas Tech 61 ! Go Dawgs! Hydrocodone is Vicodin and I have three unused expired bottles in the back of my cupboard. Three different strengths: 5, 7.5, and 10. Usually given to me by dentist, I rarely take any. Though I did get a brand new bottle of size 5 the other week due to a very odd and painful infection of my OUTER ear. Ever have your ear swell up and turn red? Hurt like hecky darn. :-)
- My husband is an amateur nature photographer, and is always looking for birds. He spent last spring and summer photographing an osprey nest on a cell tower near the library. We live close to Wolverine Lake which is a byway for migrating birds, where he regularly shoots pics of ducks that are just passing through. And just the other day I saw my first Redwinged Blackbird, always one of the first signs of the end of winter.
- OK you got me. Last night I finally added up all my 2015 medical expenses. Ready to do my taxes.
- Sue, I am that way about Criminal Minds. I got to where I couldn't bear to see the horrible crimes. I kept DVR'ing, then last deleted almost two seasons worth of unwatched episodes.
- Alex my Cajun ex sister in law took her first ever trip to northern Michigan and while there amused us all by asking the waiter if the shrimp were fresh. She was shocked to be told there were no shrimp in Lake Michigan. As well as not much fresh shrimp in Michigan.
- Hey Jeff, looks like your church is rejecting Indiana for an upcoming conference due to the so called "religious freedom" bill. Good for them. I don't say that about religious orgs very often. http://reverbpress.com/news/disciples-of-christ-church-moves-convention-out-of-indiana/
- Thanks ALex, I try to look for dates and sometimes they are just not there. Then there are the newspapr and tv news sites with no city names. In other news, today is supposedly National Hug a Newsperson day. I'm just not an acquaintance hugger, sorry.
- For the first time since January 2015 I am walking on my own two feet in shoes. OK, medical shoes, but no wheelchair, no orthotics, no brace. Wheee! OK,pretty slowly sometimes and usually with a cane. And with the brace gone I should be driving again. Last time I drove was Jan 11 2015. This whole thing wasn't fun and will probably never be completely over. I also have permission to take a shower standing up carefully for the first since that Jan 2015. Goodbye shower chair I'm glad to see you go. Goodbye wheelchair. I also have permission to walk on barefeet from bedroom to bathroom in the middle of the night as long as I use the walker to help support my weight. GOOD BYE COMMODE BY THE BED. Next project is to unhandicap my bathroom, which means putting stuff now on the counters back in the cupboard. I am no longer getting ready for bed from a wheelchair. I feel like I should go dancing but that might be overdoing it.
- Charlotte, I cannot claim not being whiny. But grumpy is more common.
- Columbia City trivia: Woodrow Wilson's vp, Thomas Marshall, was fron Columbia City.
- Thank you for all your kind words about my foot and mobility issues yesterday. Other firsts in the last 24 hours: Drove my car for the first time since January 11, 2015, and took a shower standing up. Went to CVS by myself! We had changed the insurance on the old van to storage while this was going on and we only had one driver. $120 a year was nice, but now we need to reinsure it, get it out, tune it up, and get it running so we can be a two vehicle family again.
- OK reporter folk, I just got interviewed by a Detroit Free Press reporter. Topic: new uses for old golf courses (my current library building). Watch for it in the Sunday Free Press.
- I watched the last episode of The People V O.J. Simpson last night. I was very impressed with how this show looked at that trial. And the actors truly were their characters. Who would have thought that David Schwimmer would be a perfect Robert Kardashian?
- Out of town visitors always want to go to Canton/Detroit Ikea, an easy shot down 275 from here. Our first trip to Ikea was Schaumberg in the late 90s. I remember two hours and 80 dollars. Now that Legoland has opened we have a new visitor destination to try. Must be accompanied by a child!
- My friend's retirement job is for Blue Mountain Dog Food. She spends each Friday, Saturday, Sunday, at a different big box pet store in greater Cincinnati, promoting Blue Mountain and handing out samples. She says it is a fun job but hard on the feet. Our first rescue dog and only mutt came with a starter grocery sack of generic dog food. We mixed it with our newly bought bag of Purina. That dog very carefully picked each piece of generic out of her food bowl and set it aside. When the Purina was eaten she ate the set aside generic. Awfully picky for a starving mutt that gained 10 pounds in her first few days with us.
- My daughter's big mutt dog is seriously allergic to most everything. Both his skin and his ears get inflamed and itchy. She has tried every hypoallergenic dog food out there, and is now currently paying through the nose for vet prescription dog food. Real trick was training two dogs not to eat from each other's food bowl. Little dog does not need expensive hypoallergenic dog food.
- I work in a public library and I was just visiting some of the volunteers in the Friends of the Library book sale sorting room. I couldn't help but notice that they had established a "Mitch Albom" labelled sorting shelf. Which means people are getting rid of a lot his books by donating them to the library. For the last year plus we have also been waiting for "Fifty Shades of Gray" series books to over take the "Twilight" series books as most donated book.
- Hey Dorothy "popular Pittsburg restaurant Primanti Brothers" is opening in my neighborhood. Can you give me a preview?
- You may recall me posting about having the Detroit Institute of Art's Inside Out program paintings in my neighborhood. Now they are coming to my township. Three are being installed outside my library as I post. I am looking forward to finding all of them various locations around the township. I have one on either side of the Library's front door, and one near the road by our blue bench.
- Thanks Jolene, I will add that my daughter puts potato chips on her ham sandwich.
- The Primanti's will be very close to one of our favorites, Pei Wei, which I would describe as PF Chang's downscale sister restaurant. Same food, order at the counter, no fancy statues. We will occasionally go there for take out, though it is a good twenty minute drive.
- Yesterday I went looking for local news about the journalism awards. The Detroit News had a nice article about awards won by their staff. Crain's had a nice article about the winners on their staff. Nancy made the Deadline Detroit winners list today. http://www.deadlinedetroit.com/articles/14728/flint_journal_writer_ron_fonger_honored_for_intensive_water_crisis_coverage#.Vw-df3q1U8I
- So Nancy, local reaction to lead in water at your schools? http://www.deadlinedetroit.com/articles/14766/tests_show_six_grosse_pointe_schools_have_elevated_lead_copper_levels#.VxY-XHq1U8I
- Strange lady at the library yesterday: Vobama is going to declare martial law in order to keep Trump from becoming President. I have connections in the ATF and they know. We need Trump to build that wall in order to keep Muslim rapists out. And he will make Ford bring auto factories back to the US from Mexico. I am still trying to wrap my head around a Mexican border wall keeping Muslim rapists out. One of my co-workers walked away leaving me the last person listening.
- I don't know Julie, in college I worked with Karla Hunsucker. She still wins for worst name. She was engaged to a Smith and was looking forward to changing her name.
- I am relieved that Ted anointed by god and his scary father are done. Unfortunately Trump is far scarier. I see stories about his supporters hassling people for various things and I have dark visions of what could come from that. I have been in despair about the state of my world since the Syrian refugee uproar and it just keeps getting worse. And unfortunately I did look at Alex's link to the Trump nude. That artist is now a target of the Trump thugs.
- I see Stutzman really lost badly. I will put in a word for the Dem candidate, Baron Hill, who Was my state house rep many years ago, and has done at least one term in Congress. Plus our daughters were om the same 6/7 yr soccer team.
- Menacing presence. Perfect description of my fear.
- What ROGirl said.
- My township has several new subdivisions going in, great big houses on little tiny lots, selling for around $500,000. I would prefer half the house and twice the privacy. DTE (Detroit Edison) has been totally trashing my green tree filled neighborhood with tree cutters. Our green leafy wooded dead end is now a stone covered hill. They warned us they were going to get serious and they have. They have yet to get to the back lot line which is also on the list. Not looking forward to the results.
- Librarian chiming in here. I don't do much organization of my own books though. Nonfiction grouped by category, ie, gardens, cooking, history.... As to fiction if it isn't autographed I probably don't keep it. I have about 400 autographed books. Very first was Susan Stamford. I can't imagine doing Dewey Decimal at home, but the ten big century groupings are pretty obvious. And keep all the oversized stuff together, with a shelf adjusted for their height. If you really want to catalog your home library I recommend Library Thing. https://www.librarything.com/ . And if you search using Dewey Decimal at home you will find all kinds of ideas. Wasn't much help was I.
- I have known a number of kids who did college classes in HS, and don't think it is that unusual. Especially for home schoolers. Our neighbors in Indiana were a blended family and the oldest boys were big trouble, having spent their early years in a violent household with their bio dad. The youngest of those three was attending Ivy Tech in lieu of high school and told us it was a state program for children from troubled households who had a parent in state prison for violent crimes. In a new subject this week begins the once every four years general conference of the United Methodist Church. My inlaws are very involved in Methodist governance and my brother in law has been a parttime or full time paid employee of the camping program for over 30 years. Jeff has been following this on facebook. So here's my question: Is the UMC going to survive this conference? This week over a hundred Methodist ministers came out as gay. Not allowed by the Methodist church. The American churches want to address same sex marriage and acceptance of homosexual members. Many of the international churches are vehemently opposed. I'm pretty skeptical about religion and church anyway and I wonder what's going to happen here. After all if my childhood Dutch Reformed Church (Reformed Church in America) can start talking about changing policies regarding such then any church can. Although when the Reformed fired and defrocked one of my old acquaintances some years ago for quietly going to Massachusetts to conduct the (legal there) same sex marriage of his daughter, they lost me even more and forever.
- Deborah, my daughter has two IU master's degrees and couldn't find a job in her field. She went looking for Christmas work in 2014 and as a result is now a full time assistant manager at Joanne's. Better than nothing. Way better than nothing.
- Turns out my my old acquaintance made Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_J._Kansfield I will note that Norm's wife was my HS German teacher, and I was the only student in year 4. When I returned to HOlland some years later as a librarian, I got to know Norm as Director of the Library of the RCA seminary there. According to the link at the bottom of the article he has been returned to his status as pastor.
- Julie, you are clearly not Missouri synod Lutheran.
- This article discussing the current UMC discussion refers to the Episcopal experience with the same issue. http://religionnews.com/2016/05/12/methodists-lgbt-general-conference/ Ya gotta love the headline: The Methodists gather to argue about gay people again
- Grey Poupon will now be manufactured in my home town. http://www.freep.com/story/money/business/michigan/2016/05/18/pardon-me-grey-poupons-move-mich-add-jobs/84552164/ I will note that the big outdoor pickle vats at Heinz are now plastic rather than wood. I wish I still had one of those pickle pins they used to hand out at the Tulip ime parade.
- This is the second year that my husband is following and photographing the osprey family with a nest on a cell tower near the library. He recently found another osprey cell tower nest in a nearby park. According to a newspaper article we read, cell tower employees are trained and careful to not disturb osprey nests on cell towers. TUrns out there are a lot of them.
- So do you have well water? Or are you assuming any water contamination occurs between the city water source and your house?
- We also get Detroit Water and Sewer out here in the suburban boonies, though at home I have very tasty cold well water.
- I watched about 45 minutes of Preacher last night, the new AMC series. Mad Men it is not. Gruesome and bloody it is. Part of the first episode is enough for me.
- Salon article lauding The Preacher. http://www.salon.com/2016/05/23/preachers_gleeful_gore_amcs_new_comic_adaptation_is_handsome_funny_and_really_really_violent/
- I recently cleaned out the stocking drawer and threw it all out. I had a still new in box pair of pantyhose that I purchased in 2010. As for long flowy skirts? Knee highs! I don't appreciate the no stocking look, just doesn't look right. I just figure I have become an old fuddy duddy. My shins are so covered with scars from having had pyoderma gangrenosum that I worry about scaring children at the beach.
- Dexter just described my hometown memorial day. Parade downtown, everyone follows to the cemetery for wreath laying, brief remarks at a small park on the way. My dad always came home from the cottage so he could go.
- Jeff, I have all kinds of things that were once a big deal that I have removed from my resume because they are now antique things. I have barcoded not one but two libraries from scratch! Who cares! A lot of it has to do with many years of managing technology.
- Despite my care, Windows 10 has taken over my home laptap.
- Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol said Sunday evening that efforts to recruit a third party challenger to face presumptive nominee Donald Trump have paid off and promised there's an "impressive" candidate with "a real chance" on deck. http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/bill-kristol-third-party-candidate So who could it be other than Romney? Or only Romney?
- Don't get to used to the empty nest, your child may also move home after two years of grad school and you will have to start remembering to close the bedroom door again.
- My birthday cake is almost always a peach pie. Because it is in season. Best fruit of all, a Michigan peach.
- Gordie Howe has died. Mitch was ready. See freep.com
- Deborah, I've been lurking. Thanks for noticing. In May I told you I had started driving again after a year plus of medical issues with my foot. In June my foot issues blew up again and it's been a tough summer. I've had lots of mental comments for you all, will have to start letting them out. I am so horrified by our political doings it has left me speechless.
- Our nearby county park has a cricket field, visible from the main drag, but not very identifiable as such. When we started our ESL conversation groups at the library we found the most common participants to be speaking languages from India and Pakistan along with Korea and several Indonesian languages. There are often cricket players among those groups.
- I wish I could *like* all of your comments. From the Texas school shooting story: "In the confusion that followed, numerous law enforcement officers rushed to the scene and a US marshal accidentally shot a Homeland Security agent, Brewster County Sheriff Ronny Dodson said."
- Saw pictures this week of trucks on Mackinac Island. Yes trucks. Supposedly due to road construction. Joe, spelled Mackinac pronounced Mackinaw. Everybody seems to make their own choice though.
- Here in the suburbs we recently discovered that a local downscale coney island had a secret Mexican menu. So now we go to Rudy's Pancake House and ask for the Rudy's Mexican Grill menu. Excellent food, both familiar and unfamiliar dishes.
- Dorothy, my despair began with the Syrian refugee uproar and continues due to the state of discourse in our country. I've only seen Trump signs here in one of the richest parts of one of the richest counties in the country.
- I've seen only Trump signs. That works better.
- Eyebrows? You forgot chin whiskers.
- Saw my first eagle just a few years ago at Kensington Park, have since seen several flying eagles, esp in the Cadillac area. My husband has learned that osprey often have a nest atop a cell tower. He has found two nearby that he visits regularly. I believe that Osprey are the only bird of prey that eats only raw fish.
- Trump is holding a rally Friday in my neighborhood. Note to self: Do not go to Novi on Friday.
- Just read an article on nbcnews.com that referred to a Miss USA as a reining winner. Journalists how does this happen?
- The Detroit News has endorsed Gary Johnson? Really?
- A different Connie: thank you for calling me normal. :-)
- And today is my 38th wedding anniversary, which means Dorothy's was just the other day. I will note that I forgot and had to email love to my husband after I got to work. Connie
- Sorry Dorothy. Must be birthdays we have together.
- USA does its first ever endorsment, an anti-endorsement. "This year, one of the candidates — Republican nominee Donald Trump — is, by unanimous consensus of the Editorial Board, unfit for the presidency."
- USA Today.
- My mother taught me and every kid in the neighborhood how to make chocolate chip cookies. Many of them came to her funeral visitation to tell me how much that had meant to them. My daughter's high school boyfriend was useless in the kitchen. Once she was making Kraft mac and cheese. She handed him the pan and told him to put three quarts of water in it. I found looking sad with a pan in one hand and a measuring cup in the other. He asked me how many ounces were in 3 quarts. I smiled and said Connor, the only thing you need to know is that you are holding a four quart pan. His face just lit up. BTW 96.
- Like Deborah said. I can't even. My husband has always been bearded, cheeks and neck razor trimmed. A couple of years ago he trimmed down to a goatee. It was the first time our adult daughter hadseen that much face, and the first time she really saw those dimples everyone says she has. Out here in the west edge of one of the richest counties in the country It is all Trump signs all the time. Plus flags. Don't tread on me. I see Hillary ads online that promise a sign in exchange for a 25 dollar donation. No point, I live on a dead end street with eight houses. My Obama sign was a ten dollar donation at their local office. Jeff you can take the signs and put them up on some crowded corner. At my last corner, no roundabout, before work the political signs have been joined by one that says, "not running for anything, just wanted to say Have a nice day. Raz." It makes me smile. My work life is nuts. I am moving to a new building in the new year. Must remove books from shelves, keeping in order and move to new shelving in new building keeping in order. Then disassemble, move, and reassemble existing shelving. Then spread the books out to their final locations, still in order. Our local shelving supplier will do all of this for $59,000. My part timers will be part of their crew.
- Just saw the ad for the yard sign. Https://shop.balanceofpower.com
- http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/13/upshot/the-savvy-persons-guide-to-reading-the-latest-polls.html?_r=0. Great article fantastic art.
- This is exactly what frightens me about this election. When Trump loses will there be bands of angry men roaming the landscape? Armed Trump Supporters 'Protest' Outside Virginia Dem's Campaign Office http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-supporter-armed-protest-dem
- Free Press story with pics about Theater Bizarre. http://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/2016/10/16/theatre-bizarre-best-of-2016/92209324/
- I just happened across this shot of both boobs and gloves. http://boingboing.net/2016/10/21/charity-roast-trainwreck-dona.html
- Beb, Kensington was where I saw my first eagle a few years ago. Several more since then.
- What Bitter Scribe said. Despair. My neck of the woods is full of Trump signs. My husband keeps reminding this county went for Wallace.
- My neck of the woods is filled with Trump signs. Yesterday we drove to and through Lansing and East Lansing and saw nothing but Clinton signs. It made me feel a tiny bit better. My work life is a mess. Got a nasty personnel issue about to blow up. Start moving to new library in December, opens January 17. This week I ordered $459,887 of furniture and shelving. While I always have a million dollar plus operating budget, spending that much money at one time always makes me stop and think. Thought, signed, mailed. Want to see construction pictures? Go to http://www.commercelibrary.info/new_library , the picture at the bottom will scroll through a couple more.
- On the rare occasion we get into downtown Detroit we tend to take Grand River back out to the suburbs (could take it all the way to East Lansing and beyond.) It is a lot like your description of 8 mile, except most of the strip clubs etc are boarded up as are most of the businesses along the first several miles. It also offers a view of side streets of falling down houses and overgrown abandoned neighborhoods.
- David c - as to second grade girls in the back seat. My husband once heard the one with a brother explain how sometimes you just had to kick them in the nards.
- I just bought a groupon to digitize 500 slides for $100. Way better than the very first quote of .59 per. Most of my life up to 18 ison those slides.
- At 7:37 a.m. I was surprised to see a long line out the door and down the sidewalk at the Oakley Park Elementary Precinct location. People are voting. Unfortunately in this township they are likely to all be voting for Trump. George Wallace won the 1972 Michigan Democratic primary in this county and this state. I turned in my absentee ballot last week.
- Beb, Indiana has cliffs. Down by Clifty Falls and other places along the Ohio River. Opposite end of the state from Alex though.
- So who gets to push a button like Brian? Or fill, in bubbles like me? I miss the clunk of the handle that closed the curtain door to the voying booth. My brother posted a picture of his polling place. Above the door it says Bingham Schoolhouse est. 1877. That would be Bingham township, Leelanau county Michigan.
- I actually carefully opened the already sealed envelope to my absentee ballot to double check. Then I took it to the township and double checked that a taped up envelope was ok. I am township management, and my boss is up for election. Which is weird.
- So Joe K always trashes us. But what did we do that made Cooz come out of hiding to trash us. My township supervisor boss (indiana, think mayor)) lost his election, so new boss for me. Lisa Brown got re--elected county clerk. My daughter quoted me on facebook as saying all Women in Michigan vote for Lisa Brown. All the county voters at work said of course, even the men. Nobody had to ask who she was. Lisa was my state rep a few years ago when she was punished by house leadership for saying the word vagina on the house floor. The conversation was about those vaginal sonar transduser thing that so many states were trying to pass laws requiring to make abortion even more difficult. Word is Macomb county gave Michigan to Trump. Macomb is just north of mine and Nancy's suburban counties. I was surprised mine went for Clinton. I am in a bad mood. I have been filled with despair since the Syrian refuge crisis began. I am sad and disappointed, but nowhere near as angry as so many of you seemed to be. I am going to grin and bear it and to keep working on keeping my politics off my facebook page, which I failed yesterday when I shared the I'm with her photo. And like some of you I would happily go full proressive, left of the,Dems. Heck, I'm more likely a Socialist. Forget climate change. My biggest fear is that he would be willing to push the button. Plus My life is nuts. I am perfectly healthy, but I am seeing two different physical therapists, specialists, at two different buildings for two unrelated things. Plus today I went to the dentist. My new library building opens on Jan 17. I was just there to admire but not walk on the new high tech linoleum flooring going in several back of house spaces. Moving a library is complicated. http://www.commercelibrary.info/new_library Feel free to admire my in process baby. And yes Suzanne wins.
- Judybusy I also lived in Minnesota when Ventura was elected. I remember how shocked my office gang was the next morning, far more so than my cohort of Hillary supporting librarians. We were more resigned this morning. (We're librarians of course we're for Hillary). And if I still lived in Indiana all of my candidates would have lost.
- I live sort of near Edsel and Eleanor Ford's summer home. House burned down, big volunteer org is trying to improve the property. https://havenhillproject.wordpress.com/ Joe, you only say mean stuff to us. Why can't you stop? If you dislike us all that much just go away.
- DavidC, I dont know if you knew commenter Ashley back in the day, but his call of anger was "fuck you you fucking fuck." Or for short FYYFF
- Very sorry LAMary.
- I just called my Dad to wish him a happy 85th birthday. He told me he couldn't talk because my nephew Sam was about to call him back and needed $5,000 right away to get out of jail. I told Dad this was likely a scam and he needed to make sure he was really Sam, perhaps by asking all four last names his mother has had. (Hoving Ozinga Vandenberg Willow) I then messaged Sam on facebook who immediately responded that he was about to call his grandfather. My nephew Sam makes more money than my generation, he is a corporate super hacker catcher! He used to be the hacker catcher for the FAA. He's the last one of us to be asking for money. So my Dad suspected something was wrong but wanted to help his grandson out. Learning experience for all.
- Jolene asked: Connie, is there a “not” missing from the last sentence of your first paragraph in @24?" What I meant that now the REAL Sam was going to call and straighten out his grandfather, who was being scammed.
- Sherri, we stayed near Union Station a few years ago. Georges Bistro.
- Bistro at the Hotel George.
- I haven't had time to think about the election, only that it made me very sad and with the appointments being made I just get sadder. Actually, feeling exactly what Alex just said in post above. But my work life is nuts. I need to stay focussed. The library at which I am the Library Director is moving to a lovely newly built building. And I need to review apps and set up interviews for a vacant manager position. (I fired a toxic employee a couple of weeks ago and all my employees are now happy people at work.) I need to finish release the RFQ for cleaning services. I need to eat lunch before today's move team meeting. Remember Deborah moving all her books? We are moving 90,000 of them and hope to keep them order. Starting next week you get 7 week checkout. Here's my question of the day: I learned afterward that there was an unvaccinated two year old at the Thanksgiving dinner I attended. Also present were my 95 year old mother and her 99 year old sister. If I had known ahead I would not have attended, and I would have said something - LOUDLY - about our beloved oldies being endangered. Am I out of line?
- In Michigan your library records are protected by a privacy law. We were talking about clearing library records when Bush' Patriot Act was passed. In fact we don't save your records. On purpose. The only thing we know right now is what books you have checked out and on hold. When you return them that record disappears. Privacy of your library use is a big issue for librarians, and we are pretty much determined to protect your privacy. And yes we are using a library book moving service, and six of our part timers will be part of their staff. The trick is keeping the books in order on their trip from old shelf to new shelf.
- I lived in Seymour Indiana for 14 years. People can show you the house on Lee Blvd that DC Stephenson used to live in. I studied the KKK in Indiana in an MSU class called American Radical Thought.
- Jakash, for the link to be highlighted it needs the http:// part added to the beginning of the link. Let's try it. http://trib.in/2hiYZDt
- I get a pile of corporate cards at work that are close to meaningless. And I get several large glass jars of nuts. And big things of Costco cookies. From architects and my cleaning company and my construction manager and on and on. Yesterday at home a huge Harry and David package and an Omaha Steaks box. Only the Steak box is a personal gift. I used to feel guilty about those corporate gifts. But I got over it. It is always from a rep or company with whom I already do business. The Omaha steaks box reminds me that I meant to tell you we are no longer cooking steaks on the grill. We are using the Omaha steaks sear and roast method and every steak turns out perfect. http://www.omahasteaks.com/servlet/OnlineShopping?Dsp=32&FID=sear_roasting_cookchart&title=Sear+Roasting+Cooking+Chart
- Also as to Congressman Bill Huizenga who waited to get his son's broken arm treated. I knew Bill as a little kid running around the neighborhood. His much older half brother and sister were very close friends of mine for many years. I knew his mother very well and she would never have made him wait to get his broken arm looked at. Just saying.
- We drove across the state and back yesterday so my daughter could visit her grandfather. Husband and I will do it again next weekend when my nephew and his kid get to town. We stopped for a last day before closing visit to our favorite farm market where we stocked up on winter squash and pie pumpkins at fifty cents per. And two big bags of deer apples. Stepmom laid out a snack spread of all my Dutch favorites: saucijenbroedje, (sp), aka pigs, krakelingen, a flaky crisp pastry cookie, and banket, an amond paste filled cookie. Today an hour up the road to the inlaws with the cheesy potatoes. We will take the alternate country road that takes us past the place with hundreds of Christmas blowups out front. One of our Christmas traditions. So Merry Christmas to all, hope you also have tomorrow off.
- Today we went north to Flint for a happy day with 17 inlaws. Always so noisy I just sit back and let the sound buzz around me. I am looking forward to tomorrow's day off, I am hoping for a quiet day off with no unexpected obligations.
- We've talked about this product, St. Ives Apricot Scrub. The Reddit vendetta against this product lead to court. http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2016/12/29/the_st_ives_apricot_scrub_vendetta_has_hit_the_courts_and_reddit_is_thrilled.html
- I so rarely drink that it wouldnt occur to me to take a break. Last summer we drove to a far away suburb to meet some friends and watch their son in a Young Americans show. Afterward we were at a nice restaurant that had a beer list that was five pages long single spaced, sorted into categories with which I was unfamiliar. As I pondered my choices, I heard my friend say "gin and tonic." With relief I said "the same." That was my most recent drink. I do have liquor and wine in the house. And I can actually make a few classic cocktails. My nondrinking stepmother regularly passes on bottles of wine she receives at work. Last week it was a Francis Ford Coppola Claret.
- This week and next is my big library move. I have a food fund. Tuesday we checked our neighboring pizza place. Yesterday I gave a couple of staff members a handful of cash and said go get us a lunch for 25. Have I ever told you I hate Subway? Bring on the Jimmie Johns. Our Subway order was half turkey and half vegetarian. I am becoming a big fan of Tubbys as well.
- Tubby's has lots of stores in the greater Detroit metro area. So far they are regional but you can buy a franchise. Any of their hot steak sandwiches will do.
- By the way, Go Butler!
- A traffic circle and a roundabout are different things and work differently. Enter the roundabout in the lane that shows the direction you want to go. Stay in that lane until you exit. People changing lanes in a roundabout is how accidents happen. And they are almost all side scrapes, as opposed to the t-bone crashes that kill. While I am in the midst of moving, for the last four years my window view has included a distant view of the largest roundabout in Oakland County. I am sitting in my new office where my view is trees. And trees. And trees. With the leaves gone I can kind of peer through and see a 7-11 sign. Screech owls: At 16 we moved to the country. After a couple of days I told my dad I couldn't sleep because of the horrible noises. He asked me what it sounded like. I told him it sounded like someone was killing a horse. He told me I was hearing a screech owl.
- 7.7. Or so says my new high tech wireless indoor outdoor thermometer system. Bassett, my niece posted pics of plenty of snow in Franklin. Usually she is bragging about wearing flip flops.
- http://www.salon.com/2017/01/07/drynuary-in-hell-garbage-garbage-everywhere-and-not-a-drop-to-drink/
- Vietnam: somewhere just above 58,000.
- OUr 03 Dodge Caravan has only just survived its encounter with a deer and is off to the junkyard.
- bassett, haven't you told us about exploring this tunnel? http://www.indianahauntedhouses.com/real-haunt/tunnelton-tunnel.html
- My schedule has been galloping for months and yesterday I opened my shiny new 35,000 sq ft library building. Whew, sit down Connie, take a break. It's not really done as a chunk of the furniture has yet to arrive. But we met the artificial deadline set by the politicians and we all survived. If you have any interest in pictures, https://www.facebook.com/CommerceLibrary/ . basset, people think that about library collections too. Just because your library has Ann Coulter's book doesn't mean the library or library staff approve of or are pushing Ann Coulter.
- Suzanne, I believe that Tom and Lorenzo swore they would not cover the fashions of Trump and crew.
- My latest crown was 3D printed in the back room while I waited.
- The wane. com story contains this: Law Professor at Indiana Tech told NewsChannel 15 this week: And all I could think was: couldn't this reporter find a real law professor?
- Buzz Aldrin at Fashion Week made me smile. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/buzz-aldrin-fashion-week_us_58939a47e4b09bd304ba58c7
- All 4 of my grandparents were the children of immigrants who arrived in this country in the late 1800s. They grew up speaking Dutch at home. I once asked my dad how it was his mother was born in New Jersey. Answer: They got off the boat, stopped for a weeks to have the baby, then continued on to their west Michigan destination. That was in 1898. I've just sent in one of those spit swab ancestry things so we shall see.
- Had an unfriendly town hall at my library last week. Was a staff person, not the congressman. I never expected to see banners about health care out front.
- Loved All the Birds in the Sky.
- OK, so I haven't been around to comment much, and have been meaning to tell you....... You may recall that two years ago I spent a couple of months home on disability due to medical issues with my foot. Then assorted orthotic gear to assist in healing. In May of 16 I shared with you that after 17 months I had started to drive again. That didn't last long. Things started to get worse and worse and worse and this past August I had my right foot amputated. And have been better ever since. After two years of constant sickness (infection)I have been well and healthy since that day. Especially now that I have mastered Prosthetic Leg 1 and been fitted for Prosthetic Leg 2(Ankle bends!). And have now been referred to a medical driving consultant. So that's my deal. No need to say sorry, as it was truly the right decision. About to move from walker to cane. And managed to move into my new library while all this was going on. And will again recommend All the Birds in the Sky, one of this librarian's favorite books of 2016.
- My knees hurt too. The Oakland County sheriff recently shut down all of the (few)dispensaries in Oakland County. Because they are not registered. Now the new state law doesn't take effect until October, and they can't get registered until October, but even so there is now a law and they haven't met it. Even though you can't until October. "His father now carries a naloxone dose with him at all times." This is one of the saddest things I have ever read.
- Speaking of knee pain, I am eligible for and considering knee replacement on my left knee. I have just been informed I need to wait until next year because my Blue Cross Plan only allows a total of 30 physical sessions a year. I have so far used 24 learning to walk with the prostheses and am saving the last six for my new prostheses. So if you fall down and break your hip, or get your new knee, and you have already used those 30 sessions this year, you are up the creek. Did you visit Iron Labs for the Bridge article? I work just up the street, we could have finally had that coffee.
- I know a couple of caregivers (growers) and have once attended a harvest party. At least one of them has converted her basement to growing. I think she is making her living that way.
- I meant physical therapy sessions.
- Today NBC is calling it Ryancare.
- IU lost, Butler won. A fine night of basketball. I fell for an April Fool's joke a couple of years ago, in which Steve Alford being spotted in the Indy airport late one night led to rumors of Krean's firing. Congratulations Brian. Do the other five attend board meetings as frequently as you do?
- So Steve Alford, whose program do you want to be part of? Be part of a long history? Wooden's or Bobby Knight's? My favorite Wooden story: the IHSAA paid for part of the construction of Hinkle Fieldhouse at Butler U to make it big enough for the State basketball champions to be held there. In the very first state HS championship game held there (1928 ?) Wooden was the Captain of the losing team.
- Thanks to every one for your kind comments about my amputation. From the initial doctor's suggestion to the surgery took three months of discussions involving what ended up being a total of four doctors. It is nice to be healthy. And one of those doctors is always on the regional lists of best infectious diseases specialists. Which is how I ended up with a picc line administering heavy antibiotics to myself at home for two different thirty day sessions.
- And thus the reason the Dutch wear orange on St Patricks Day, good old William IV of the house of Orange.
- We have a newish Aldi's in our neighborhood. I like their cheese. Just a little farther away- where they tore down a huge Ford Plant complex - we are getting another Aldi's AND a Duluth Trading Store, in outlots by the new super Menards. Getting a Duluth Trading is sort of a big deal - or so says my DDD colleague at the township. Who had wanted to get it for our under development lifestyles center.
- The discussion about chicken parts reminds me that back in my newlywedd days I learned how to debone a chicken. I don't think you could buy boneless skinless chicken breasts then, so I deskinned and deboned to make my own. Haven't done that in a long time. These days our chicken breasts come from the Milford butcher. As does Holiday Kielbasa and other sausagey meats. Their location is particularly convenient during farmer's market season as it is Thursday aft/eve on the street in front of the butcher shop.
- Pulitzer Prizes! Farenthold!
- Aldi's tip: bring a quarter for a shopping cart, and byob. Bags that is, or you will pay.
- I am something like 40 miles N/NW of Gross Point, just a few miles north of I96. And I have had lunch in Fort Wayne with both Alex and Brian.
- Wasn't able to read the obit because as always I have reached my Indy Star free articles limie.
- I knew that and.... SUCCESS!
- Don't do much Easter here. Since only my husband and one sib, the two locals, could have made it to a fancy dinner at my MIL's on Sunday, us locals are meeting at the halfway point for lunch on Saturday. So see you at Highland House at 2 p.m. Saturday. So my Dad told me all about the Easter lunch he was putting on at the finest restaurant in town, has reservations, my brother and my step and his family are coming. I will note that he told me all this on the phone but did not invite me. We rarely do holidays at his place but even so...... In other news my Dad's third great great was born earlier this week. Third boy named Ozinga.
- And btw, lamb for Easter. I was almost 30 the first time I ever had lamb. At a restaurant. And will order still when available. But Easter is ham or Pork loin roast.
- How long ago was that Connie? The dinner at which I had lamb - at a fine French restaurant in Dallas - was also my first ever bottle of White Zinfandel. My companion said I had this interesting new wine.......
- Lamary, I don't have relatives out there. There are about 600 people named Ozinga in the world, about half in this country so running into one is not an everyday thing.
- My husband has been invited to a nude midnight 5K this summer. It is part of a larger event near Pinckney. I don't think he plans to go.
- That's pretty much what he thought.
- I have paid so little attention to her that I don't know to pronounce her name. Me LAN ia? Me lan EYE a? Me lan eeeya?
- It's all your fault. I just found myself in an office with three managers all singing the Green Acres theme song together.
- Big big trouble. I haven't believed that nuclear war was so possible since the Reagan years. I have avoided television news since the election, and just the internet is hard enough. We are in big trouble with him in charge of the country.
- I'm two years older than Nancy. Birthdays are just not a big deal to me. Sparrow, one of my great books of all time. How did the author of one of the great sf novels of all time end up being a western writer? A writer of westerns?
- Dogs. Only dogs. I'll pet your cat while I'm at your house. THat's about all.
- I'm with Dexter. "I don’t want to know any more. It sickens me."
- Harking back to the last post's comments. Those of you who are Great Lakes ship watchers, If you see the Hon. James L. Oberstar wave at the captain, my old college friend Joe. He posts amazing pictures.
- Nice dress, nice couple. As we grow older, one of our goals has become to not have to get dressed up. We would never ever choose to get dressed up for dinner like your picture. My husband is two sizes smaller than he was during his working days and I am not sure he still owns a sport coat that fits. We have a big wedding this fall in Michigan's most upscale wedding location, perhaps we will have to go shopping. A wedding location that is nowhere near anyone's home, including the bride. We all have to do two hotel nights or a three hour drive to our free relative homes in Cadillac and Leelanau. I expected to have a wedding weekend in Cadillac, and I am somewhat aggravated to have to pay fall color season prices at a hotel in Charlevoix.
- Jeff (tmmo) your local library is in the library news this week for being the first Ohio location of an Envisionware 24 hour library. https://www.lickingcountylibrary.info/24hourlibrary . These freestanding giant library vending machines run around $200,000. We looked at these as a potential west branch before we decided to build our new library in a more central location.
- I love Excel. Except it makes me cross-eyed.
- I will agree with Scout regarding meditation techniques in the dental chair. I use the relaxation techniques I learned at LaMaze. In various chairs and stirrups. My dad was a dentist, I wouldn't miss that twice a year cleaning. Though I have had way too much major dental in recent years.
- Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on May 25, 2017 at 6:43 pm Editor to basset’s non-hypothetical reporter on Skype conference call from a distant city: “And Snapchat! You gotta Snapchat, I hear all the kids are on that.” I've been hearing exactly that from the youth and teen staff at the library.
- It is Jeff(tmmo)'s fault. I just bought a year's online sub to the Washington Post. I'd been thinking about it due to all of the cool articles I've been unable to read, and then I got the Mem Day special offer and sprung. I know you journalists think I should have long ago.
- I grew up not so far from Lake Michigan and our city parks dept made sure we had bus rides to other area pools for swimming lessons. My high school tried to pass a bond issue to expand the school including a pool. I have never forgotten the letter to the editor that said "I learned to swim in a ditch and so can they."
- I have huge issues regarding so called service dogs at the library I manage. There's this one guy .... And the last time he brought his nasty looking big dog into the library it was just as story time was letting out and all the kids ran over to pet the puppy. Safe? Mom? Then last week I had a young woman tie her dog right outside the front door where it could bark and leap at everyone coming and going. She was quite angry when we paged her to move it. Mind you I have two dogs of my very own.
- Dorothy, don't worry about it, there are free wheelchairs everywhere. I bet Jeff(tmmo) could give you several right now. So could any local senior center, they have closets full of stuff, I have a wheelchair and walker from My local center's closet of donated stuff.
- “you know the front ‘shelf’ of the cart where you probably put some things versus inside the bigger area of the cart? Yes. That is the purse holder.
- Previous comments included a Washington Post best summer books article. I will add my recommendation to the "Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley", and I will seriously UN recomment the Lehane book, with which I was seriously disappointed. Hard to believe it was from the same author as "Shutter Island" and "Mystic River." My latest summer recommendation, a big time mystery whodunnit: Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz. I particularly like novels with two story lines, of which the best in my opinion is "Swan thieves by Kostova." So, summer reading recommendations from your friendly on list librarian. Not your only librarian here, either!
- I am reading Mitch Albom's story of the Haitian girl who essentially became his daughter as he brought to her Michigan for some pretty serious medical treatment. Recommended. I really said that. http://www.freep.com/story/sports/columnists/mitch-albom/2017/06/11/chika-story-daughter-cancer-mitch-albom/322589001/
- As long as the language in these comments remains as foul as it has become I no longer find civility here.
- Having watched my kid do the lifeguard class thing, over 50 hours of it not counting the first aid, I is hard for me to believe you can possibly be qualified as a lifeguard after five evenings. It's way more than a basic swimming class with CPR. In fact the level of first aid certification required of her also qualified her to work as an EMT. And you do have to fight off and save a crazed fighting drowning person in order to graduate. I am curious how all of that fits into your class.
- Once you are at Lincoln's Birthplace you are almost to Mammoth Cave. We found Lincoln's birthplace amusing in an unfortunate way. There is a grand marble building, then you enter it and there is the totally beat up tiny log cabin.
- http://www.dogphotographeroftheyear.org.uk/2016-Winners-Gallery Best dog pictures ever. Click on the pics to see them all.
- I visited Niagara from the Canadian side, did not see the Niagara you describe. Then drove up to Niagara by the Lake, stopping at several wineries along the way. Ice wine!
- Those are my knees in that article complete with synvisc and arthroscopic surgery. The surgery let me sleep without pain. I have an upcoming apptment with a new surgeon, so we will see.
- I am reminded that Dorothy and I tried Synvisc around the same time, which led to a very goofy discussion here about whether we could refer to each other as friends when talking to our drs. Since we had never actually met. Its bone on bone here and as I consider new knees I have to balance the limits on physical therapy so I have enough for my various things. Next pt will be for bending ankle to replace blade foot on my prosthesis. I have one of those simple not a class reunion events in a couple of weeks, as we have not had a reunion in years. No dinner dance here. Instead a private Saturday night at the downtown coffee shop where we used to play pinball after school. My father has eaten breakfast at this place almost daily since he opened his office there in 1960.
- I wish I could wear any of your shoes! I am wearing prescription shoes, one on my good foot, one on my artificial foot. I wanted to change into sandals but my fake foot is truly a fake foot. A pink plastic fake foot. Over the high tech blade foot. Why? Because the fake pink foot holds your shoe on. I grew up in a culture that never wore shoes in the house and now I can no longer walk around my own house barefoot. Current learning projects: walking with cane indoors, walking with walker on lawn and bumpy surfaces. This learning to walk again stuff is very very hard. Coming next: another new orthopedic surgeon. I want help with my knee pain, not iffy therapies like cold laser treatments.
- Bought some blueberries at Kroger yesterday and was delighted to see they were from West Olive Michigan! Almost my home town! We celebrated with blueberry pancakes for supper. I have been so blissed out on local strawberries, moving on to raspberries and blueberries, and soon, the queen of Michigan summer fruit, PEACHES!!! I can hardly wait.
- For those who loved Lincoln in the Bardo, it is a finalist for an award: The Center for Fiction has released the long list for its 2017 First Novel Prize, “awarded to the best debut novel published between January 1 and December 31 of the award year.” Nominees of genre interest include: Spaceman of Bohemia, Jaroslav Kalfar (Little, Brown) The Lucky Ones, Julianne Pachico (Spiegel & Grau) Lincoln in the Bardo, George Saunders (Random House) Empire of Glass, Kaitlin Solimine (Ig) Temporary People, Deepak Unnikrishnan (Restless) The long list is selected from publisher submissions by a jury of writers. This year’s jury panel consists of Sonya Chung, Kia Corthron, Anne Landsman, Fiona Maazel, and Rick Moody, who will also choose the short list and winner. The short list will be announced in September 2017 and the winner will be announced during the Center’s Annual Benefit & Awards Dinner, December 5, 2017 at the Metropolitan Club in New York City. The winning author receives $10,000. Each shortlisted author receives $1,000. For more information, including a complete list of nominees, see the Center for Fiction’s website.
- Fair, freckled, blonde (OK middle aged dirty blonde) love to tan. Have had a few memorable sunburns but have always been a careful tanner. My HS friends used to line refrigerator boxes with foil to use when tanning with baby oil. I grew up near Lake Michigan so there was a lot of beach time in my younger years.
- For a previous issue we did discuss Prince Fielder's nude pics in the ESPN body issue.
- I love the red dress too. I have an upscale wedding in early September and need to go dress shopping. Why did my Cadillac niece decide to have her wedding in Charlevoix? It's like a destination wedding. It is years since I have been to a wedding this fancy. Not sure I know how to behave.
- I was planning on watching Atonement this weekend, which has a long one camera shot of Dunkirk that got mentioned in all the reviews. But that review was funny to me. "A USA Today review of “Dunkirk” is under increased scrutiny from industry peers for warning viewers that it lacks women and minorities." Somehow I doubt there were many women at Dunkirk, more likely they were on the various rescue boats.
- So here's my kid view of the Detroit riots from the west side of the state. I grew up in a quiet small town on the far west side of the state. A few weeks before the 67 riot the Detroit Free Press did a Sunday feature on my home town, emphasizing its peace and quiet and illustrating it with a large photo of an empty downtown on a Sunday. During the riots I overheard a group of men (including my dad) in the neighborhood discussing how now that the Free Press had given away our secret existence the rioters were surely coming here next. Really. 15 years later my then boss told me about his fear when his National Guard unit was called up and sent to the riots. His small town boy story was fascinating to me.
- So what does happen if you ask Siri about a silhouette of a little man?
- Oh Jolene, reminds me of the time I was 14 and my father made my mother and I hide M80 firecrackers in our bras as we walked back across the border from Tijuana.
- Add me to the list of those who can't bear to read the news.
- The women get credit from Slate. http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/07/28/mccain_got_the_credit_but_murkowski_and_collins_did_more_to_defeat_trumpcare.html Who said they couldn't bear to read Slate? Salon is worse. Honestly it is all I can do to come here and read you all discussing the state of the world.
- I have done 23 and me at the request of a cousin's kid. My grandfather was illegitimate and his teenaged mother never named the father. He was adopted by his mother's older sister. Cousin's kid thinks that if enough of us do this we might find relatives who could help us figure this out. There were not many close matches shown. And I am 100% European ancestry. It was not more specific than that. Seven of my greats were Dutch born or the children of Dutch immigrants. (My maternal grandmother was practically born on the dock after they stepped off the boat in New Jersey in 1898.) One is a mystery. So you go cousin Justin and figure this out for us. Nice to have something to talk about besides the news. I am in the office this a.m. and stopping at the art fair on the way home.
- Scarramuchi gone already????
- 75 to 275 gets you to Toledo.
- Whoops major detour somewhere on 75 south.
- We are heading west across the state today, family lunch, old friends dinner. And our usual eastbound route home is closed for construction. So country route or city route? How much of Grand Rapids do I want to see?
- Sherri, we are very happy with one of those freestanding inside air units in our bedroom. In up north news my brother ran into Mario Batali this weekend for the second time this summer. Brother lives in Suttons Bay, Mario lives summers nearby in Northport. First time was when brother took his early 60s mini cooper to the local car show and Mario came over to check it out. Yesterday brother went to the Northport airport fly-in and pancake breakfast and Mario was flipping the pancakes. Have to appreciate his involvement in his local community. He regularly donates a dinner at your home to the Leland Art Center fund raising auction. I say good for him.
- Sherri, as I understand it the vent actually brings in fresh outside air to cool, and if you don't hook it up you are re-circulating inside air. So it is optional for some units. Our windows are actually too narrow for window air units so this works nicely.
- The directions for the free standing air unit I own make it very clear that the only purpose of the vent is to bring in fresh air. If you are running it in ozonator mode only it does not need to be vented at all. Also, the wide skinny vent thing might fit vertically in your window opening.
- All I can tell you is what the directions say. It works fine for us. It says it is cooling outside air.
- Perfect, the words alone gave me the tune immediately and I was singing it.
- See boatnerds.com for more info and pics of the ship blocking the St. Marys, which is the Caledonia. I know this because my old friend Joe who is the captain of the Oberstar reports that he is fifth in line downbound waiting for the river to be unblocked.
- That lineup in Durham is straight out of Alinsky's Rules for Radicals.
- In junior high I babysit at the neighbor's where I read all the true confession magazines. I was quite sure at the time that they were dirty magazines.
- Sherri, Maxwell House is sold in various forms by office supply retailers like Staples and Quill. My office buys it in bags of pods. We are soon off to Flint for lunch where we are -at an I75 exit Coney- meeting my Baltimore nephew and family on their way to his mothers in Traverse City. I am looking forward to meeting my four month old grand nephew for the first time. From there it is a quick drive to visit my MIL. She and I will play cards while husband mows lawn. I am also pleased to learn that nephew's mother, my ex SIL, is new employee number 35 at the about to open Costco in TC.
- Congratulations. My husband ran in the Michigan senior olympics last week at Oakland U. He won a gold medal as the only runner in his age group in the 5K, and a silver in the 10K. As to the eclipse libraries across America have been driven nuts by the search for eclipse glasses. They are sold out everywhere. My library has 200 pairs to give away tomorow, and will be livestreaming it on the big Tv. We have received way more phone calls than we have glasses. NASA with the support of foundations gave them to 6900 US libraries.
- At the library. At 8:30 there were four people in line for the 200 pairs of eclipse glasses we will begin giving out at 1 p.m. I did see the sheriff make a swing through as well. I called them last week and warned them of the possibility of madness over here.
- Shit happens. Yesterday at my new library it happened 160 feet down the drain and killed every toilet in the place. You know those automatic flushers? Turns out they have to be low flow flushes. We had already ordered valve replacements to change the flushers in the kids room family restroom to standard flush, thus requiring you to flush manually. After two nasty blockages. We already had scheduled a camera tour of our sewer drain for next week. This building is eight months old. We are across the street from the sewer pump station. Thinking about joining the fitness center in a nearby HS because it has a lift to get one legged people into and out of the pool. It's the out thats the problem. Getting in is easy. Wheel chair to edge of pool, stand on my one foot, fall in. Assuming they actually run it for you. Actually the out is only hard if you prefer not to crawl in public. I am working on mastering the one footed walker hop. A few years ago I went to a meeting at a small town library in a historic home. To get to the meeting room from the lobby there was a grand staircase with one of those lift chairs for handicapped access. None of the employees on duty could find the key. Happy Friday.
- I've never heard that Alex. Although in Elkhart I had a nice restroom in which the sinks were a favored bath tub for the homeless population.
- Good for you Jeff. Numerous big city libraries are adding social workers to their staff and carrying that drug for overdoses. Actually the library in Bloomington IN has had a few overdoses and I believe have discussed carrying it. Ann Arbor PL has dealt with overdoses as well. Homeless, mentally ill, and just plain weirdos.
- I have been to one training session re live shooters in the library. We are taught to develop responses based on " run hide fight." Do you know your hiding place at work? There have been at least two open carry demonstrations that showed up at public libraries in the state. How would you feel if a bunch of guys with big guns showed up at story time.?
- Long ago after a flood in the ?1930s? the town of Leavenworth Indiana moved up the bluff from the river front. There's an excellent restaurant there with an amazing Ohio river view.
- OK details. "Old Leavenworth" (the original town, now practically abandoned) was almost completely wiped out by the huge 1937 Ohio River flood, as it was built directly on the floodplain. The actual move of the town was greatly assisted by the WPA.
- Some places have begun taxing those impermeable surfaces. In Elkhart County that storm water tax applied to buildings not usually taxed such as churches and the public library.
- So the Indy Star web page no longer looks "Gannett". The Free Press still does. Just wondering.
- http://www.theoaklandpress.com/general-news/20170830/back-to-school-shopping-scuffle-in-novi-wal-mart-ends-with-drawn-firearm Argument over the last notebook in school supplies results in hair pulling and a gun being pulled in Walmart. This is an upscale suburban part of the metro area, not too far from me. Best part of article? Writer is unsure who actually got the last notebook.
- Bassett, I'll be old enough the day after you are.
- Thank you for the well wishes. We are headed north to the land of no cell signal. We have IDd two restaurants where we can combine breakfast and wifi. We have been loaned a cabin in the woods near Sleeping Bear, we both have an odd lot of sibs, aunts and uncles in the neighborhood. My brother that lives up there is off on his Adobe sabbatical, and my other brother is house/pet sitting for him. Looking forward to hanging with him. Yesterday said brother sent me a pic of him having dinner with his ex, who lives up there. Sharing grand kid pics I suspect.
- My weekend was chilly and rainy, still is. We are up north using a friends cabin in the woods. This is coming to you courtesy of Empire wifi and breakfast at Joes Friendly Tavern. I have almost fifty years of memories of this place.
- We have just finished a chilly rainy week up north and are now ensconced in a hotel for tomorrow's niece's wedding. Hope you have better weather. I spent much of it reading under the porch overhang.
- Sherri, my hair stylist's mother immigrated from Iran at the age of five. The west Detroit Suburbs has a large population of Chaldeans, Catholic immigrants from Iran.
- When we headed north a week ago every thing was green. By the time we headed home yesterday color was beginning to change around the edge. I think it must be Fall.
- I am pleased to share that my Republican congressman, the foreclosure millionaire, will not be running for a third term.
- And my comment yesterday about seeing early signs of fall on our up north trip last week.
- In Michigan the current big tree disease is Oak Wilt Disease. Ash borers are still here too. Oak Wilt gets at the tree through damage on its exterior (including pruning) then spreads through roots to neighboring trees.
- Mitch is not so bad today. http://www.freep.com/story/sports/columnists/mitch-albom/2017/09/17/mitch-albom-disneyland-orphanage-haiti/669729001/ My Friends of the Library group has a special labelled spot for donations of his books. Always a good sized pile of Tuesdays with Morrie.
- Curious about your back to the mangle headline. That's not a phrase I am familiar. But I do own a mangle, which is a sit down ironing machine popular during the first half of the twentieth century. So back to the ironing machine? What am I missing? I bought my mangle for $50 at the Mennonite thrift shop in Goshen. My daughter just used it to iron a very very very long piece of fabric for the aisle at her friend's upcoming wedding.
- I spent a summer in Germany as a teenager and the laundromat had a coin-op mangle wide enough for sheets.
- Back to Kate Upton..... we have talked about her here before. As I recall I was the only one who thought they weren't real.
- Like Dorothy I have a large fabric collection. And an odd assortment of dolls wearing dutch costumes and wooden shoes. And some delft. And probably more, still packed since the quite a while ago last move.
- I also collect what I call my Christmas Village Libraries. They usually get put up at work for the holidays. I have only the library from dozens of different Christmas village sets. Several from Dept 56, including a bookmobile. One from Hummel. Most are miscellaneous anonymous makers and sold at inexpensive places like Joann's and Lowes. I have forty some total. It's a stupid collection, library people love it. I have had pictures on facebook.
- Oh! I still have two Barbie cases filled with dolls and clothes. Unfortunately Midge got a haircut. Have the original Skipper doll in there. I had the original Barbie but she didn't make it this far.
- Bummer. I hope others were laid off with you.
- That was kind of mean thing to say. I meant I hope you are not alone.
- Same here, when can I buy you lunch?
- Your Schvitz article is featured in Deadline Detroit today, you are quoted and named.
- Toast at 8 please. At restaurants I ask for whole wheat well done, in the hopes I can get bread that is beyond warm beige.
- https://whatever.scalzi.com/2017/10/02/2017-word-counts-and-writing-process/ John Scalzi says I'm not writing as much as I should, because it is just so hard to tune out.
- I have been wanting to go to the zoo. Want to go? I have coupons.
- Detroit Zoo. New penguin house.
- What Jakash and Andrea said.
- Kensington Metro Park is in my neck of the metro area, and the location of my first ever live eagle sighting. Great park, a little worn around the edges. My dad tells me baby Connie went to a grad school family picnic there when he was in grad school in Ann Arbor.
- My township has a major project behind because the contractor can't find enough carpenters. So the senior center is now located in the White Pine room at my library, until the end of the year. Fun thing to know: on week days Panera donates all its day old bread to a local senior center. Our day is Friday. Bout three quarters bagels, the rest assorted breads and buns. Plus scones, danish, and cinnamon rolls on plates scattered aroun the back.
- They do not include cream cheese, but if you know where to look there is a semi hidden container of whipped Philly in the lunchroom refrigerator. Feel free. Toaster, microwave, big coffee pot, and more. They are also receiving Meals on Wheels lunch, but due to us not having the appropriate commeial kitchen the lunches are sandwiches and salads, not hot. Curbed Detroit, october 5, ten best hiking parks in the metro area, includes Kensington MetroPark. Exit on the east side and turn left, which puts you on S Milford. Follow its various curves north through downtown Milford.
- I mixed up two messages, one was meant to refer to a oct 5 curbed detroit article about area trails including kensington metropark. The other about meals on wheels in my library, and cream cheese, which you may totally ignore.
- In sexual harassment news: Amazon studios head on leave due to harassment of Philip K Dick's exec producer daughter.
- 94 yr old Rose Marie also has sexual harassment stories.
- My family's photographic history is in boxes of slides. My husband has been converting them to digital files. And everyone is smoking! Patio parties, Christmas dinners, smoking while swimming. I also saw the photo version of a clear childhood memory of my first ever trip to Glen Lake. Dune buggy, grandmother, headscarf. I can hear her worrying about her hair and headscarf. And the only known baby photos of my youngest brother. They have all been great fun to see.
- Today I went to the metro Detroit book and author club and heard Claire Messud, "The Burning Girl," Heather Ann Thompson "Blood on the Water: the Attica Revolt" Pulitzer Prize in History 2017, and Chris Bohjalion, author of numerous wonderful books including the "The Midwives", promoting both his spring book "The Flight Attendant" and the pb of "The Sleepwalker." All very interesting. A sort of subtheme of teenage girls ran through the remarks. I just hooked up with an online org called Edelweiss thst lets me preview catalogs and download digital ARCs on my office computer, not a place I want to sit and read fiction. I have to reconfigure Adobe Digital to download to all designated devices, my reading device is my ipad. Point being I have the digital ARC of Bohjalian's upcoming book downloaded and read just enough to realize it is gruesome. I was surprised to see Adobe Digital, overdrive keeps that stuff hidden. Adobe Digital goes back to my first Kobo e-reader, purchased at Borders.
- I was coming back to the Radisson from the Lansing Convention Center only to see an Indiana State Police car in the dropoff space. Checked the football schedule. Yup. Then I pondered the likelihood of using valet parking. Then I imagined the joy of the valet who gets to drive it. And then I wondered what features he would want to try out, or whether he would go for speed? Today I learned that my walker and I can not cross six lanes of traffic within the 14 second countdown. Close but no.
- Julie, I was really determined. It was my fourth try and I was focussed and on my mark. It was like a challenge. So maybe the Indiana State Police car is an escort or even security for some VIPs. This is a nice hotel in a great downtown location.
- I am waiting to see Jack Lessenberry. Nancy, I assume you know him?
- I told someone I was going to see Jack Lessesberry's voice. Meaning until this morning I only knew him as a voice on the radio.
- Two big beautiful cauliflower bought on the side of the road. I am thinking roasted. Your suggestions?
- Always soak the cauliflower in salt water to get rid of the bugs.
- I am back at work after our "no water" snow day yesterday. I spent my first hour putting boil water advisory signs over all the faucets and drinking fountains. Much of far west suburban Detroit has no drinking water at this time due to a major line break.I am thankful for my well at home. And thankful for the employees who showed up with various jugs of home water in their hands. One of our pots of coffee this morning is actually made from Berkley city water. Supposed to have the line repair done today, then TWO days of assorted testing, they expect to declare the water drinkable Friday night. The water line at our local Costco made the news. Looked like it went around the building.
- I have always hated that song. For the ten years we lived south of Elkhart hearing that song outside meant the church down the street was about to shoot off fireworks and we needed to get the dogs inside.
- My husband did some caregiver work about ten years ago. He received ten dollars an hour and was treated as a subcontractor, paid his own soc security etc. we considered it to be equal to less than minimum wage. The caregiver is paid a fraction of the agency's rate charged to the patient. He originally did it to help someone out, and found out he was good at it. His agency used him for hospice care for ww2 vets, as a vietnam vet he was able to connect with them. And yes it was a small locally owned company.
- I am waiting for a veterans 5k race to begin at 11:11, I will be able to live track my husband. There is an instapot on the way for his upcoming birthday. I have the library copy of the book mentioned earlier, Dinner in an Instant by Melissa Clark. Not my kind of cooking. Recipes are multi step complicated, not what I've been led to expect from what I've read about the instapot. Long lists of unfamiliar ingredients. More than one recipe calling for saffron. Wine braised oxtails with fennel. Osso buco. Many of you would love it, but I am looking for fast and simple.
- 28:10
- I have been to mass shooting training. Essentially it all boils down to: Run, Hide, Fight. Have you identified the possible safe and lockable places at your work place?
- 23andme says I am 100% European. I wanted it to tell me I was Dutch.
- And my eternal question: Does your state have a Pulaski County? Indiana has a Pulaski County. Michigan only has a Pulaski township.
- Here in Michigan we have Pere Marquette as our version of Father Hennepin. Both early Jesuit explorers in the northwest.
- OK, mine are pretty basic, Washtenaw, Douglas (CO), Ottawa, Ingham, Washtenaw, Franklin, Ottawa, Jackson, Olmsted, Elkhart, Oakland. If I lived there at two different times do I get to count them twice?
- Just got the all clear for my two basal cell carcinoma spots and am about to get stitched up. Blacks were coloreds when I was growing up in my little Dutchy small mostly white.town. When visiting Grandma in Grand Rapids we saw lots of them. Yes to n...toe nuts, and a joke with a punch line that included "jump n... jump". I thought the GR parks were only for black kids as those were the only kids I ever saw playing in those very busy parks. I never had an actual conversation with a black person until I went to college. Same for Catholics.
- Rape jokes are never funny. They are even less funny when posted to the comments by men. Do I have to go away until next week to avoid them?
- Cooz' comment re Eurocentrism reminds me of the high school history teacher who told us over and over that the most important date in history was 1066. That was when the Normans invaded England. Not a very important date to most of the world.
- Sarah Silverman: ‘There are jokes I made 15 years ago I would absolutely not make today’ https://amp.theguardian.com/global/2017/nov/19/sarah-silverman-interview-jokes-i-made-15-years-ago-i-wouldnt-make-today
- My daughter had an amazing experience at Butler, whereas I was just a small town girl lost in the crowd at MSU. But her IU SPEA MPA and MSES seem to have brought her nothing but debt. Her Grad school statistics classes and grad organic chem would have been barely doable for me, the liberal arts grad. She is an assistant manager at the big box store where she took a Christmas job a couple of years ago. No librarians on that other job link. I am trying to work my prosthetic footed shelf past the part where my 96 year old mother-in-law was telling pegleg jokes yesterday. I don't think it connected for her, but it sure did for me.
- Did the Kochs buy Time magazine?
- My daughter had two and a half years of full tuition waivers when attending grad school at IU. I have no clue what the total value of that was, but man, I would hate to have to pay taxes on it. How do you get that tuition waiver? Well because she is the dependent of a veteran with a purple heart she is entitled to up to four years tuition waiver at any Indiana state university or college. Veteran has to have lived in Indiana for at least three years at some point in hiw/her life.
- Deggjr, if you call the library and ask what books your minor children have checked out I can't tell you. State library privacy law. I can tell you how to use their library card number to look it up. I can't allow you to pick up your spouse's holds unless said spouse has given permission.
- Bodice ripper fiction pretty much started when I was in high school. Everyone read The Flame and the Flower, which according to wikip was one of the first. In local news today's implosion of the Pontiac Silverdome is a failure.
- I just spoke to an employee about making fun of our customers on her facebook page. (they are always stupid.) She tells she me she can do anything she wants on her personal facebook page, stomped out, and immediately unfriended me. So I will never see them in the future. Clearly we need a better social media policy. I would be interested in your comments.
- Awesome choice for people of the year Time Magazine. The silence breakers. My friend says it should have included Anita Hill.
- This is a library. We tell our users they have an expectation of confidentiality in their library transactions. If an employee breaks confidentiality by telling stupid library patron stories on their facebook page, then I can no longer promise my users that expectation of confidentiality.
- It's been more than a year since I could bear to watch any television news. But happy to see this morning's headlines.
- Sherri, you have set it up as a very private facebook account. Followed your link to this: The link you followed may have expired, or the page may only be visible to an audience you're not in.
- I have never watched "a Christmas Story" and I greatly dislike "It's a Wonderful Life." So there's my bah humbug. I have the first season of "The Crown" home for the holidays, so there is that. Sorry for your troubles Dexter, sounds tough.
- I have been trying for years to make the Dutch Christmas pastry, krakelingen. Ingredients are flour and butter, than shapes are rolled in sugar before baking. It is supposed to be crisp and crackly, but mine tend to turn out like pie crust. This year's attempt will involve freezing the butter before mixing. Any tips from any pastry cooks out there? https://recipeland.com/recipe/v/krakelingen-or-dutch-pastry-coo-36740 Or perhaps I should just go to the bakery while we are in Holland on Saturday.
- Heather, if I were anywhere near you I would happily go to the sing along. Even though I can't carry a tune I do like to sing.
- Everyone I see going to yoga is young and thin. I need the class for klutzy old fat ladies.
- Mostly what bethb said. Our inlaws Christmas get together in the Flint suburbs was a no go for us, we made it about a third of the way when we turned around due to no visibility, and due to our daughter being at a total standstill on the freeway which we were soon to get on. And Alex I am at work.
- Harry and David pears are way better than every day pears. We got two assorted boxes this year and are slurping them down. We occasionally drive to the H and D store at the outlet mall just to buy those pears.
- I started this year learning to walk on my new prosthetic foot. My resolution is to run on a tread mill before the year is out. Which means I will be joining the Planet Fitness just down the road from my office. This resolution had to wait on my current year's resolution: to get my handicapped drivers license and hand controls on my car. So I can drive myself to Planet Fitness. I have completed my adaptive drivers training and will be getting hand controls on my car as soon as my doctor signs all the paperwork. I have been driving for 40 plus years, but this is a whole new world and way of driving.
- I second what snarkworth said.
- I am sorry to say that I have enjoyed the local news stories about Spranger. The woman is clearly nuts.
- And the dress matches a shower curtain https://www.facebook.com/groups/futrump/permalink/845015852357232/
- David c, I could immediately sing your lyrics, which makes them very successful, don't you think?
- 62 in Sept just like Bassett. Husband is six years older, retired. I am waiting for paperwork to be signed by my doctor before i can order my hand controls for my car. But anyday now. And sometime this year I will get a new prostheses with a bending ankle, which probably means learning to walk all over again. Someone asked me about physical therapy and the gym. When I start at the gym I will probably book a couple of trainer sessions to get started, which is way cheaper than physical therapy. My health insurance pays for a max of 30 pt sessions a year and I used all 30 last year. I am saving this year's sessions for the the new bendy ankle foot and for my next training step which is mastering walking on bumpy surfaces like my back yard lawn. So that is me in the new year.
- Oops. Posted this in wrong place. Here it is again. I am definitely a boomer. As a twelve year old I was a serious news reader, was so absorbed in Woodstock happening. As a very young teenager I found 1968 in general to be a very scary year. 62 in Sept just like Bassett. Husband is six years older, retired. I am waiting for paperwork to be signed by my doctor before i can order my hand controls for my car. But anyday now. And sometime this year I will get a new prostheses with a bending ankle, which probably means learning to walk all over again. Someone asked me about physical therapy and the gym. When I start at the gym I will probably book a couple of trainer sessions to get started, which is way cheaper than physical therapy. My health insurance pays for a max of 30 pt sessions a year and I used all 30 last year. I am saving this year’s sessions for the new bendy ankle foot and for my next training step which is mastering walking on bumpy surfaces like my back yard lawn. So that is me in the new year.
- A few days ago our hostess shared the story of Karen Spranger, the rather odd Macomb County Clerk. News today is that her attorney has quit due to non-payment. https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/macomb/2018/01/11/macomb-county-clerk-karen-spranger-lawyer-quits/1026535001/
- I have a Samsung Galaxy 3 mini.. They are currently up to 8, but hey mine was free. And honestly the only thing I ever use it for is as a phone. The mini is too small for me to see the screen, I certainly can't use it for internet. At home I mostly use an ipad, also have a laptop.
- Hey Dorothy, I'm going to Primante's tonight! Don't want fries on my sandwich, what should I order?
- So I had the margherita flatbread plus all the fries I wanted from the other three plates. And a beer. I found the women's room sort of oddly decorated with framed headshots of today's current actors. I don't think I have seen that elsewhere. Neal Patrick Harris etc. Or as my daughter said, Liam Neeson was watching me pee. I must assume the men's room is done with women's portraits.
- I have no desire to go to Vegas, and have never gone to a casino. Didn't go when ALA was there a couple of years ago. I toured Hoover Dam as a kid and found it interesting. I was at ALA in Chicago when the conference was going to be in Vegas the following year and everyday in Chicago they announced the temp in Vegas. I remember 117, and it struck me as a good reason not to go. I was ten years old on that trip and when we drove through Reno I was astonished that they had what I thought of as babysitting stores. Pay us to take care of your kid while you go going.
- The last word of my post above should have been gambling.
- So Free Press said it was all about black dresses with an occasional splash of red, green..... Your comments on that?
- Mitch Albom's version of that story. https://www.freep.com/story/sports/columnists/mitch-albom/2018/01/21/mitch-albom-jorge-garcia-deported/1050874001/
- Pretty in pink. https://www.freep.com/story/news/2018/01/26/michigan-hunters-pink-blaze-orange/1067562001/ Because allowing women hunters to wear pink will help them feel pretty?
- Herman Miller is located in my home town, Zeeland, Michigan. Not in Holland. I remember going to their outdoor summer sales and buying all kinds of things. I own eight Charles Eames fiberglass chairs, royal blue with black matte legs, and one white and chrome Eames table. The chairs spent many years in my father's dental office waiting room. Many of my school friends have workd there over the years, and many of them have been downsized, including from very high level positions. I was interested to learn some years ago that a grade school classmate was their technical illustrator, wonder if he is still there. And a high school classmate's family farm is now the Herman Miller chair seating plant.
- I have done that jug of pee test, and my daughter was quite upset that the jug was in the refrigerator when she was having friends over, what you refer to as a bowl was in my case something known as a cowboy hat serving the same function.
- I was horrified to hear that former governor Engler is to be appointed interim president at MSU. Turns out the faculty is as well and have promised a vote of no confidence.
- 12 year old had gun in back pack, dropped back pack, gun went off. She did not purposefully shoot anyone. Not that it makes much difference for her at this point.
- I never turned the TV on this weekend.
- Big news at my house are the new hand controls that were installed in my Chevy last week. I am driving myself for the first time since Spring of 2016. I went to handicapped drivers ed for this. Spent close to $1,000 on classes, and $1,849 for the controls. Next comes a new front bumper and then I start my million dollar dental plan. Even with dental insurance this two year repair plan is going to cost a couple thousand. Starting with an implant. My Dad is a retired dentist. I never had to actually pay a dentist until I was 35 years old! So I am driving myself and we are going to need a second vehicle, as we lost the old van to a deer in December 16. Another expensive thing.
- Put my comment on the last page, so am reposting it. Big news at my house are the new hand controls that were installed in my Chevy last week. I am driving myself for the first time since Spring of 2016. I went to handicapped drivers ed for this. Spent close to $1,000 on classes, and $1,849 for the controls. Next comes a new front bumper and then I start my million dollar dental plan. Even with dental insurance this two year repair plan is going to cost a couple thousand. Starting with an implant. My Dad is a retired dentist. I never had to actually pay a dentist until I was 35 years old! So I am driving myself and we are going to need a second vehicle, as we lost the old van to a deer in December 16. Another expensive thing Also, I caught my husband reading the Nancy Nall comments this am. Better watch what I say!
- I have always loved the oak cabinets like you have. Seems like everything new today is white. Give me some wood grain please.
- Deborah, my 23andme results said I was 100% European. I wanted it to say I was Dutch. Because 3 of my four grandparents were born to Dutch immigrants.
- Mine didn't give me any nationality breakdown, just 100% European. Yup white, you can tell by looking at me, I am fair and freckly. Although I have been feeling pink these days.
- The NatGeo kit traced only mitochondrial DNA, which is comes down from your mother. And her mother. And her mother. And on and on. My SIL did it a couple of years ago, they think of themselves as precolonial English, but the mitochondrial test had her (and thus her siblings)down as 60% Dutch. Which we all found amusing as I am the Dutchy one.
- I did 23andme because my cousin's son asked me to do it and give him my data, which I did. He is hoping to actually find my mysterious unknown greatgrandfather if he gets enough cousins to give him the data. My grandfather was the illegitimate child of a teen mother and was adopted by her older sister. Teen never named father. While I knew that grandfather was adopted I didn't know much more of this story until recently.
- I made it to work with no problems, but my parking lot plow crew has not yet shown up. Looks like five inches and growing to me. Most of the libraries in the metro area have closed, but not us.
- Figure skater for me as well, though I have not worn ice skates since college. My husband's cousin's son, Andy is the coach for the Mexico team's first ever cross country skier. That would be the happy guy carrying the Mexican flag in the parade of nations. Four years ago Andy was the coach for Peru's first ever cross country skier. Andy has also founded the only company in the US that makes ski poles. His are carbon fiber, made in Cheboygan, MI. http://www.usskipoles.com/about-us Andy told a great story on facebook about meeting his hero, who back in his winning days was a cross country skier know as Zorro. In other news at 10 a.m. the ALA media awards kick off, ending with the Carnegie and Newbery awards. I will be watching at ala.org.
- Jolene's link didn't work for me, so here is a different one: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/obama-official-portrait_us_5a81b0c4e4b044b3821fa637?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009 . I can never read the NYT links anyway. Personally do not think Mrs. Obama looks at all like herself in the painting.
- JoeK, facebook is sending me suggestions we should be friends. But that picture of you in a swimming pool that comes with it..........
- My brother used to be a webmaster and bigtime Adobe customer. Every year Adobe held a big customer event in Park City Utah, and at one of those he got the chance to ride the Olympic luge. He enjoyed it but said once is enough. And he is no longer an Adobe customer, rather an Adobe consultant assisting customers with the softwear he used to use.
- Dexter, I hate those bricks and I find them almost impossible to walk on with a prosthetic foot and cane/or/walker. They create a non level surface. I am working very peripherally with the development of a fully handicapped accessible playground which will be built in my library park location. When they started talking brick fund raising I spoke with the person in charge. After all, this million dollar playground for which she is raising the money is being built in honor of her handicapped granddaughter. And the decision has been made to use the memorial brick/blocks as borders to sidewalks and landscaping not as walk on surfaces. Thank you Scarlet's Smile Foundation, I may spend $200 on a block myself.
- Dexter, my now husband and I walked out of Barry Lyndon at the intermission. Yes a movie with an intermission. It was beautiful and boring.
- I also broke down and paid for WaPo, when they had a 39.95 Memorial Day special. And I blame it on Jeff(tmmo) for posting so many great links in facebook. NYT will prob be next. I am recovering from tooth implant surgery. My dad is a retired dentist. I hate it when I have to pay the dentist.
- Sherri this was the implant post surgery on the side where two teeth next to each other have been missing for several years.
- Judybusy my BIL and SIL have just started their annual mission month in Guadelupe, where they work at an orphanage/home for a couple of weeks, then do a week's vacation lake side there. So have fun on your trip.
- Sherri, yup Mexico. Not where you are going after all.
- Your local public library probably has a language learning app. My library uses one called Mango, popular and well used. The long list of languages available includes Pirate.
- Oh man. I just saw a facebook video of Sherri power lifting. Wow.
- Many moons ago I was in the hospital in Indianapolis for 77 days before my daughter was born. My husband drove some sixty miles back and forth to visit me and bring me work and books, almost daily. So Dexter, when I and the baby got home everything he brought home from the hospital was just in a pile. The house had not been cleaned. Mice had been wildly destroying the pantry contents. The changing table had been brought down from the attic but hadn't been cleaned. There was no place for baby to sleep. There was a dissassembled crib in the garage. Her room contained the dirty changing table and a table made from a door. The house was a mess. My co-workers showed up early on day 2 at home, with a crib mattress and a load of groceries bless their hearts. And husband says to me: "the ladies at church offered to come and clean but I knew you wouldn't them to see this mess." Show them the mess, admit that it is yours and let them clean. Next time. I will note that jeff(tmmo) have figured out that he was doing some kind of chaplain intern work at the same hospital at the same time. We know this because we were both at the hospital for the great Indianapolis earthquake.
- Speaking of racist as fuck. Had a complaint on my voicemail this morning about an upcoming music program with a jazz group, program related to the Michigan humanity commission's choice of a book about Malcolm X' childhood. Basically the message said she was going to give me a chance to justify holding a program celebrating Malcolm X before she wrote her letter to the editor. So I am assuming that she considers Malcolm some kind of bad guy. This however is the Great Michigan Read for this year, selected by the Michigan Humanities Commission. Our program info says this: One title, one state, and thousands engaged in literary discussion. This year's Great Michigan Read selection is "X: A Novel" by Ilyasah Shabazz with Kekla Magoon. This book explores the Michigan roots of Malcolm X, including the early life experiences, both good and bad, that molded him into one of the most prominent leaders of the twentieth century. Join us for an afternoon of 1940s jazz with The Spangler/Smith Quartet. Enjoy an all-star performance while getting to know the music that played such an important role in Malcolm X's youth. Open to Teens and Adults. The Great Michigan Read is presented by the Michigan Humanities Council with support from Meijer and the National Endowment for the Humanities. This concert is generously sponsored by the Jazz Foundation of America and the Friends of the Library. So, please explain to me what she would have against Malcolm X. Cause I don't have a clue. He's black? He was Islam? And btw lady, you are definitely racist.
- In response to your questions about the Malcolm X program lady. I returned her call and spoke to her voicemail. I told her about the Michigan Humanity Commission's Great Read program and gave her my direct line number. She has not called me again. I hope her letter to the editor is now about the STATE choosing a Malcolm X book.
- Also, I added the New York Times to my paid subscription list the other day. Supposedly at half price. So what comes after the NYT and the WASH Post? I have given some thought to Talking Points, but I have no idea what is behind their paywall and no one has ever sent me one of their links that I could not read. So not there. What do you pay for?
- Grandma Davis' woodburning stove had a nice warming drawer. She lived in the UP and kept the woodburner when she got a newer stove. She had one of those old houses that had obvious two story additions in the back where the owners had added an indoor bathroom on each floor.
- My freeway is two freeways north of yours. I rarely get down to 94, as my east west metro drive tends to be 696. Friday I did Walled Lake to Woodward, for a meeting in Ferndale. Instead of Lucky Place I get the Detroit Zoo sign. That was my second time driving with hand controls on the freeway. Going good. I even drove briefly in the nasty snow on Thursday, from body shop pickup to rental car return place. I have a shiny new bumper. We got to the car rental return simultaneously with another return. As we chatted inside she said " snow was never this bad in Japan." She stepped up to the counter, and the clerk (white guy with Britishy accent) began speaking Japanese with her. I was impressed. And I love my new purple glasses. Shiny new bumpers cost $752.
- Beb, I am exurban, west of West Bloomfield. If you have had cider at Longs Farm you have been in my neighborhood.
- I have the DVD for Three billboars at home, which is the closest I have gotten to seeing any of the nominees. I watched the Academy Awards for the first time in a couple of years. And just before that I watched Guardians of the Galaxy 2.
- I miss Joan Rivers too. It just seems wrong to not watch Fashion Police the week after the big awards shows. In other news I have paid for the NYTimes. I took the Feb. 50% off sale, while my WaPo purchase was the Memorial Day 39.95 special. I asked this before: What are you paying for in terms on internet news?
- Disappearing post. I will say my NYT cost is $8 month, and my post disappeared into the ether.
- Bassett, we don't keep the instant pot in our kitchen. There is a shelving unit at the bottom of the basement stairs that is big kitchen overflow. Instant pot, Kitchen Aid mixer, and such. I have to ask nicely for someone to haul them up for me when I need them.
- I just spent $477 for two pairs of glasses after vision insurance. Much of that is due to my husband's expensive progressive lens. I just have cheap bifocals. I had cataract surgery a couple of years ago, and after being almost blind since childhood, it is good to be able to see. I was 20/400 and I am now 20/25 plus bifocals. I can drive without glasses. I am quite sure that this is the first time in my live That I did not get a new stronger prescription after my eye exam. A few days after I made the appointment for an eye exam I sat on my glasses and busted them to bits. Lived with four weeks of duct tape by the time I had my exam and the glasses came in. I do love my new purple glasses.
- I lived not so far from Madison, the city of the sports and opiods story for many years. It is a lovely place to visit, both the old city, one time important river city in the Northwestern Territory, and nearby Clifty Falls State Park. And just a county or south of Austin, where Indiana's first needle exchange program was much talked about a year or so ago. I believe that program has lost it's state support.
- In 2008 Elkhart County had the highest unemployment rate in the country. Before I moved there they were advertising for help in Texas where the unemployment rate was then high. It is feast or starve there. Don't miss living there.
- The ancient program that originally funded country and small town telephones is still out there in a modern updated form. You pay it on your phone bill every month. My library gets a couple thousand dollars a year from that program, I suspect most schools and libraries get some of that money, it now funds broadband.
- Icarus: the big lake. Or as they say about TC. Live by the bay on half the pay. My brother is a very highly paid Adobe consultant who could locate his home office anywhere. He chose to move from South Bend to Suttons Bay, near Tc, a few years ago. And having a relative with a spare room in TC is a good thing.
- My eyes hurt.
- JoeK, haven't heard that rumor in the metro area. Ford is unlikely to leave Dearborn, even though it has a muslim population. Which is probably why the right wingers are claiming Ford wants to leave Dearborn.
- Used to take Grandma to the Schnitzelbank in Grand Rapids for ham hocks. We lost the Schnitz to a hospital parking lot expansion as I recall. One of my grad school professors took me on my first trip to Berghoffs in Chicago, there have been many more.
- I lived in Minnesota for three years in the late 90s. We had to arrive in Minneapolis early the next morning for an early meeting. So we met there for dinner and a show at the Guthrie. I told several people it was a play about Anglican angst. Grace v works?
- I meant that we had dinner at the Black Forest.
- So Brian, tell us the story about the dentist and the bakery.
- Newsweek covers the Spranger story, the Macomb County Clerk crazy lady that Nancy told us about a few weeks ago. https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/macomb/2018/03/26/newsweek-karen-spranger-macomb-county-clerk/458553002/
- Macomb county clerk Spranger was removed from office by a judge yesterday, due to non residency at the address used when filing to run. Latest chapter in a crazy story.
- Dexter, I sympathize with your wife. I have graduated to a cane instead of a walker. A few weeks ago I had what was to me a scary experience. I had to walk over about thirty feet of carved memorial fundraising blocks to get to the entrance. My prosthetic foot senses them as a very unlevel tippy surface. It was a slow walk. I should have gone back to my car and gotten my walker. Jeff(tmmo)I am always curious about how people believe. Why would a young man choose her church over yours.? What makes them different?
- I have seen JCS twice, first in high school, then a few years ago a Holland area mega church did a punk stage production starring my brother as the High Priest Caiaphas. As brother John, a long time local musical performer, always says, if you sing bass you are always the bad guy.
- So I DVDs JCS and last night I thought I would watch just a little of the beginning before going to bed. I ended up staying up way too late. The style of the production was very similar to the version in which my brother played Caiaphas a few years ago. The first time I saw a (sort of) performance was at a dinner theater in Grand Rapids when I was in high school. It wasn't so much a stage performance, rather a chorale kind of presentation, where key characters stepped up to a microphone. We had the sound track album and the sheet music. My brother still has that organ, I bet that sheet music is still in the seat. I could play all that music at some point.
- Our local county clerk deposed story just gets weirder. She has written an eleven page letter to President Trump and other officials,claiming corruption and other bizarre things. https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/macomb-county/2018/04/03/ousted-macomb-county-clerk-seeks-job-back/33520049/
- Twitter thread: describe yourself as a male author would. https://electricliterature.com/describe-yourself-like-a-male-author-would-is-the-most-savage-twitter-thread-in-ages-60d145d638d6
- Must read. Jack Lessenbury on Trump: https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/we-are-really-in-mortal-danger/Content?oid=10763784
- Yes to Suzanne. Worst recent thing: Trump calls the subpoena for lawyer records an "attack on our country."
- I am not a fan of digital fonts that try hard to look like a typewriter has been used. Let courier go people.
- Nor do I see any light blue as referred to above. dark blue for commenting list, tealish for search box, yellow fade for comments. Same on my ipad and pc. Am I seeing things? Am I not seeing things?
- I see the same colors on my PC at work as I do on my ipad at home.
- On another list where I hang out someone would have posted "first!" by now.
- This is going on in my neighborhood. They are about to tear down the old library on the property. Kind of cool, but a really bad traffic area already, so there are concerns. http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20180415/news/658211/first-major-retail-center-in-more-than-a-decade-planned
- Deborah, at least we have gotten to see grass between the snows. We keep reminding ourselves that 2014 was worse, there was snow on the ground until sometime in May.
- So I went to ready the Too Many Men story, and man that is weird and confusing formatting. Text rolling over charts. Story rolls down, story rolls left, huge white spaces in between sections. I kept getting confused. Sorry.
- Stormy was in town last night. https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2018/04/18/stormy-daniels-detroit-strip-club-trump/418402002/
- The other night we picked up one of those all ingredients ready to cook boxes now available at Kroger. You know, the ones where the parsley is all chopped up and in its own little plastic bag ready to use, like Blue Apron. It was easy prep, OK tasting, $16 for a dinner for two - we ate every little bit - seemed a bit pricy.
- I think I could have made a small meat loaf and four smashed red potatoes, two servings, for less than $16. The make your own artisan ketchup part was interesting and tasty.
- Meat loaf for two, four redskins, and the stuff to make "artisan catsup". Tomato paste, apple cider vinegar and brown sugar. Kroger has several less basic options available.
- Since moving to the metro area eight years ago I have now missed two earthquakes. I did experience the Indianapolis earthquake in 1987. I was on the suspended outside patio attached to the Methodist Hospital cafeteria and that thing did some serious up and downing. I believe it was an 5.0. And note that in previous discussions we have determined that Jeff(tmmo) was also in the Methodist Hospital complex for that earthquake.
- Indianapolis earthquake was June of 1987.
- Interesting list of books. I've read at least 65, and never heard of several. Current fave on that list? Looking for Alaska by John Green.
- Michigan GOP ponders legalizing pot Lansing — Some Michigan Republicans are considering legalizing marijuana through the Legislature rather than let an initiative make the statewide ballot this fall. The move would quell GOP fears the ballot measure would boost Democratic voter turnout in November since legislative approval would ensure pot legalization would become law. A January poll showed majority support for pot legalization among surveyed likely voters in November. https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2018/04/19/michigan-republicans-marijuana-legalization-vote/33999959/ Yes, give them pot to keep them home from the polls.
- I notice you were a winner at the Society of Professional Journalism awards the other night. For the Bridge. Best localization of a national news story First place: “Michigan Divided,” by Ron French, Nancy Derringer, Pat Shellenbarger and Jacob Wheeler Second place: Chastity Pratt Dawsey and Nancy Derringer on Michigan’s medical marijuana industry. I was particularly pleased to see you won for the marijuana story.
- Local decriminalization usually means that if you are charged with a pot related offense it is a misdemeanor.
- Waffle House was always a special place to go together for my husband and our daughter when little. And always sat at the counter to watch the waffles do their thing.
- I have also just done the first step of an implant. My dad was a dentist. I can handle dental stuff, it was the having to start paying for it when he retired that gets me.
- Good for you with the cpap Alex. I couldn't get by without mine. For new users I think it helps to have a nasal pillow set up like the Swift FX rather than a full face mask. My dentist invests in all the new technology. His latest is a water-laser drill which in certain instances means no novocaine. He also has a 3D printing style machine in the back room and can create your new crown in about 45 minutes while you wait. David C, your dental insurance limit is higher than mine.
- In other news....after driving since January with my new hand controls, this Friday I am commanded to appear for my driving test. I will either end up with a handicapped license or no license at all. Doing well, can't imagine not passing. I have not taken a driving test since my 16th birthday.
- I am also $1,000 standard on my dental plan. Several co-workers swear by the AFLAC dental plan, but there are waiting periods for several things. That plan just pays a chunk of cash after you are done with the dentist and any dental insurance.
- The best thing about having subscribedd to the Washington Post is that I get the Post Most email every day. Great small collection of the key articles.
- No signs of lilacs or forsythia yet, but I am about to have redbuds outside my kitchen window.
- I came over just now to post the link to the Ta-Nehisi Coates pieces. Too late. In other news I passed my hand control driving test.
- We used to live near Goshen Indiana, a city that was once concerned about Dillinger robberies in nearby cities. So much so that the city built a freestanding many windowed miniature police station at a location downtown that could view all the banks. http://www.goshennews.com/news/local_news/the-little-booth-that-protected-goshen/article_171e0a69-d001-5e3f-b0a8-e09298ec007d.html
- And a photo. It is still there. http://landmarkhunter.com/196896-goshen-police-booth/
- Oil prices soar: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/oil-prices-soar-after-trump-dumps-iran-nuclear-deal/ar-AAx0yVy
- Around here if you want to buy gas at Costco you have to wait in line for a pump.
- So Cooz is badmouthing nancy nall on his blog. Saying: what humorless white shitbricks are thinking, I just go out to Nancy Nall’s blog to see which black person has pissed them off today. Man, there’s a swath of dumb motherfuckers in the midwest who are so hungry for a Hitler sculpted out of mayonnaise they’ll eat a simulacrum made out of Maggie Haberman’s shit. I must have missed that part on this blog. I am thankful to no longer see his foul mouthed comments.
- Last comment on previous post, short version: Why is cooz badmouthing us?
- Back to the Indy 500. Some 30 years ago I spent a big chunk of my pregnancy in the brand new Methodist hospital. My room window looked west over I-65, and I saw everything that flew over th speedway, including the Goodyear blimp. Years ago I was frightened by the Goodyear Blimp. I was walking down a sidewalk in East Lansing, when I heard a strange sound. I looked up and screamed. In my memoty that blimp was just a few foot above my head, though I am Probably wrong.
- I got to hear Tom Wolf speak at the louis Sullivan auditorium during an ALA conference. They have just announced Michelle O will be this year's opening speaker. Perhaps I shall have to go as well.
- Oh Nancy, are the accusations against Jack Lessenbury a surprise? And since they appear to be all about language/speech issues, not actual sex, well I don't know what to think.
- once had guests get to watch me puke all over the dog puke while trying to clean it up.
- No hurricanes in Michigan either.
- https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/irish-times-exit-poll-projects-ireland-has-voted-by-landslide-to-repeal-eighth-1.3508861 Ireland has voted by a landslide margin to change the Constitution so that abortion can be legalised, according to an exit poll conducted for The Irish Times by Ipsos MRBI. The poll suggests that the margin of victory for the Yes side in the referendum will be 68 per cent to 32 per cent – a stunning victory for the Yes side after a long and often divisive campaign. See here for liveblog coverage of the count on Saturday.
- https://www.thedailybeast.com/mh370-didnt-just-disappear-it-was-caught-in-a-swamp-of-corruption Malaysian corruption and Birkin bags.
- Which made me think, added to the Kate Spade news, happiness has nothing to do with being rich and famous.
- I just overheard an interesting conversation at the library. Women said to young girl "it's ok if you look, everyone looks. I have a disease called neuroblastoma that makes my face like this. It doesn't hurt." They talked for a few more minutes, then she turned toward where I was standing, noticed my name tag, and started talking to me. She told me she always tries to have a non frightening conversation with kids who are unquestionably staring at her. So something interesting at work today.
- LB, using a wheelchair has given me biceps! Wheelchair pushups are a regular part of my PT focusses home exercisee program too. Remember you are pushing your own weight! Sort of like weightlifting. These days I only use a wheelchair for a short time before bed, after I have taken my foot off.
- Nancy, I think I bought those Frye boots. Leather lace-ups?
- My opinion? I would never waste my money on a purse that cost more than $50. What's the point? It just has to carry my stuff. Sure is hard to remember that I now have to fill in my name every time.
- So change in policy, families stay together. I get to hear ten minutes of NPR news on my drive to work every morning. This morning they were playing news bits from various sides of the story. Accusations of the children being child actors. Rivera and Hannity had some kind of screaming fight. Interesting story. There has been a turkey outside my office for the last couple of weeks.
- Jakash, facebook friends have been seeing pictures of the turkey. We have a big rafter living down the street by the fire station and I have assumed he just can't find his way back.
- https://www.villagevoice.com/2018/06/20/how-i-broke-and-botched-the-brandon-teena-story/ Author completely rethinks her original story about the murder of a trans man. Very interesting.
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/vote-against-the-gop-this-november/2018/06/22/a6378306-7575-11e8-b4b7-308400242c2e_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.73776bef79e9 George Will says vote against the Republicans.
- As a tween watching the news I found 1968 very violent and scary, starting with my evening news. Death and destruction: MLK, RK,VietName. The democratic convention in Chicago was the most horrible and frightening thing I had ever seen.
- Grosse Pointe Nancy? Do read Nancy's story on deadlinedetroit.com.
- I found breastfeeding very difficult and extremely boring. I did eight weeks until I went back to work.
- Overdrive also has a cool new app called Libby that you might like.
- A tip or two for those of you using your library's Overdrive service. Unless you have a relatively large local library, your library is part of a larger consortium. If the consortium is not on top of purchasing, they may have only one copy for the entire consortium. Overdrive makes it possible for consortium members to add additional copies for your own library card holders only. This is called an advantage plan. I spend an additional $1,000 a month on Advantage plan titles. If your library has an Advantage plan you will not see those titles unless you log in before your search. We mostly select Advantage plan titles to address those long waiting lists. Your library may have additional ebook services, not just Overdrive. Look for Hoopla, RBDigital, Axis 360 and other links on their page. If they have one of the new (card) catalog systems you will see Overdrive and other online access titles in your initial catalog search along with the in building hard copies. If they have one of the even newer card catalog systems your search result may have a live link in it. Our 50 library metro Detroit shared system went to a completely new system (catalog and checkout) some six weeks ago. Very complicated software changeover which we are still figuring out. Not all ebook and e-audio holdings have made it into our new catalog. Yet.
- I have no idea who this guy is, but in his Forbes piece visiting Detroit He goes to the Schvitz. https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisakocay/2018/07/12/claude-vonstroke-guide-to-detroit/#4598e25d5eb6;
- Not long ago some of you were amused when I told you there was a turkey outside my office. He's still around, here's his picture. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1770444566336562&set=a.152583048122730.26570.100001131077374&type=3&theater¬if_t=feedback_reaction_generic¬if_id=1531499907167589
- April Tinsley in the Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/07/16/i-been-watching-you-a-child-killer-taunted-little-girls-with-terrifying-notes-police-say-after-30-years-dna-led-to-an-arrest/?utm_term=.3da204f4d0d9&wpisrc=nl_most&wpmm=1
- So I got a message about my wordpress password being compromised. My reaction was huh? So turns out if you have an avatar from gravator you have a wordpress password and it got compromised. Only a few of us have gravatars besides the quilt blocks, but now you know.
- Julie, it is probably too late for you to get this for your freedom trail trip. When I did the Freedom Trail I thought the best thing was the tour of USS Constitution. Our longest still commissioned navy ship, order by George Washington. You actually get to go down into the deck levels.
- I see my neighbor Sergei is done at Chrysler for health reasons.
- The house complex supposedly belongs to Fiat Chrysler, so who knows who might live there. The sign out front says Oxonia House.
- Best discussion of the library vs amazon thing that I have seen has been on John Scalzi's twitter. Bigger issue being discussed by librarians: Tor publishers have announced they will not sell new books as ebooks to any library platforms such as Overdrive. Ebooks will be available only when they are four months old. Tor wants to figure out how much money they are losing from library ebooks. This year my library will spend about $30,000 on ebooks and a comparable amount on eaudio. Plus another 90,000 on hard copy. The library market in this country spends many millions. John Scalzi is one of Tor's top authors. Why aren't we talking about this on your twitter feed?
- Scalzi's comments on the tor ebook thing: https://whatever.scalzi.com/2018/07/22/that-tor-library-ebook-lending-thing/
- So I am thinking maybe your second part-time job has to do with Deadline Detroit. ??
- You told us about the second part time job without any details, but I've been seeing you there.
- It's his emotional support animal.
- And are you the CRC of Michigan twitter voice as part of your job?
- I do a McD's drive through breakfast once every week or so. I order something that is not on the menu: a biscuit with bacon and cheese. My closest place orders a sausage cheese biscuit/BACON SUB and it costs me under $2.00. The next nearest place will only order a bacon egg and cheese biscuit/HOLD THE EGG which costs me $4.00. The older woman who usually staff the pay window told me she has worked there for 17 years.
- I had Mohs procedure on my face last November and only had one go round for two basal cell spots. I took the giant bandage off for Thanksgiving which meant they all got to look at my stitches. Compared to the giant hole my local Derm dug in my back for one basal cell, and the giant scar my husband keeps admiring, I am thankful I was referred to a Mohs. My face looks pretty good, small vertical scar on lip.
- I just received an email from Booklist, a major source of book reviews for libraries. The subject line is: SF! Fantasy! Horror! Mitch Albom! Made me laugh hope it cheers you all as well.
- I have had a ridiculous number of Vicodin prescriptions in recent years, including each of the three times I've had a tooth pulled. I didn't even use any they gave me after having my foot amputated. So I do have a cabinet full of slightly expired various strengths. The first time I had a tooth pulled by this then new dentist I was given a prescription at checkout. I asked the receptionist what it was. She told me was medical tylenol. In fact it was Vicodin and I did speak to the dentist about the receptionist's potentially dangerous mistake.
- Alex, my flap surgery was done immediately following the Mohs procedure, by the same doctor.
- I drive by that DeVos house on a regularly basis. Couple more blocks, turn left, a couple houses down and you're at my friend's house. DeVos' have torn down or moved numerous classic lake front mansions to make room for their home and its guesthouse. They originally put in a helicopter pad, then had and lost a zoning war with the city over it. The DeVos/Van Andel crew also own the large complex once known as Point West, which means access to the Holland lighthouse is very limited. One of the Van Andel nephews has built a big ugly house just across the channel from the Holland State Park. You may be trying to see the lighthouse, but that house is awfully prominent in the view.
- From last post's comments. I would add that Betsy DeVos' house on Lake Macatawa in Holland may only have three bedrooms, but there is also a very large guest house on the property.
- Loved the Alcatraz tour. So the library at which I am employed is a minor co-sponsor of the Jewish Community Book Fair held at the very large Jewish Community Center in the next community east of us. We have received our list of authors from which we may choose the author we are sponsoring. This year the list includes Mitch Albom. Who has a new book out momentarily. Still talking in heaven.
- It has happened. No longer pre.
- I suspect this one was written ahead of time: http://www.deadlinedetroit.com/articles/20412/derringer_aretha_was_a_mic-dropping_mink-dropping_detroit_treasure_like_no_other#.W3WNccIpCUl
- The newspaper rack at the library today is almost all Aretha. Her face is on all the front pages, except the New York Times. Even the Wall Street Journal has her on the cover.
- I will have to check again Monday, we are sometimes a day or two behind with NYT.
- Julie, my fortieth is next month. So hard to believe we made it so far.
- Same to you!
- When I was first married we lived in Upper Arlington/Columbus for just less than a year. We were delighted to be present for the Woody Haye's firing. If OSU could survive firing winning Woody they would survive firing winning Urban.
- My husband and I have each taken a turn working at Sears. I spent a year in college selling extended warranties to new appliance buyers. Over the phone. Which makes me a former telemarketer. I always made my quota. My husband worked one Christmas in the department known as paint and automotive at the old downtown Sears in Holland. It was also the toy dept at Christmas time, he still refers to that as his Atari Christmas. And it only took a few days for him to become the guy who could fix the paint machine. I remember Sears as a good employer. We earned points for various things, that you could spend at an employee store. I got my first ever portable cassette player at that store, and between the two of us several pieces of our variously sized Corning casseroles also came from there. But then they screwed me as a customer. The $11 black skirt that I bought for the sixth grade band concert (Not for me, but the band kid) ended up costing me over $200 and a bad credit knock when Sears failed to process the address change I did while I was there to buy the skirt. And I never noticed that I wasn't getting a bill. So there Sears.
- I remember that the first day of freshman marching band camp required $25 for shoes.
- Facebook tells me it is Dorothy's bday today. Happy Birthday Dorothy! That must mean mine is next! When Dorothy posts her wedding anniversary in a couple of weeks, that will also mean mine is next. Just a coincidence.
- And do check out the hundred plus pink cadillacs at Aretha's funeral. https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/aretha-franklin/2018/08/31/fleet-pink-cadillacs-aretha-franklin-funeral/1155417002/
- So it's a comment run this morning. My less than two years old new library is having a problem with copper sulfate crystals blocking faucet screens. Supposed to be due to the hot water heater turning minute bits of copper into green crystals due to occasional highish PH in the water. We will be putting an outgoing water filter on the hot water heater. And yes, we have been told to run all faucets 15 seconds of cold water to clear the lines before using the water. I am also providing bottled water for staff. So Beb, this is water from Detroit Water and Sewer. And as part of this process it tested out as perfectly fine except for what is normally a minor issue. Feel free to share.
- Seems like it doesn't it, Julie.
- So I am on the road and just ordered at my first McDs kiosk. It was fast and easy. Now to see if my order actually comes to my table.
- David C, we had similar problems getting my husband a Michigan drivers license when we moved back to Michigan some years ago. All our utilities etc are in my name. So on our FIFTH visit to the license office we were able to get him a license showing our now almost 40 yr old marriage license, since his legal wife had met the proof of address requirements. As to the weather I have been shivering in my sleep for several nights now.
- My brother has always had to find a vehicle that will hold an upright bass, plus a bass guitar and some amps. Often what looks like the perfect vehicle just won't do it. Unfortunately last spring's bout with pneumonia has put an end to his performing career. It's hard to sing bass when you are on oxygen. We thought he was finally dying of his long time kidney cancer, and after after several weeks of serious sickness his oncologist sent him to the hospital where he was diagnosed with pneumonia. Pneumonia is better, but. So now on our once a month dinners in Lansing (coming from two different sides of the state to meet in the middle) he is accompanied by an oxygen tank. OTOH having medicaid has made a huge difference in his life. He raves about the hospital social workers that have helped him get support services.
- We went to my husband's 50 year high school reunion. I was a total outsider, knew no one. The food was good. Everyone was nice. I note that I met my husband's younger sister's best friend's older brother. I also note that the six year difference in age sort of makes us different generations. He had classmates killed in Vietnam. As seniors my class saw the end of the war.
- I went to one fraternity back in the day. We got so drunk we barely made it up to my dorm room where we both collapsed on a different bed. No debauchery that night. I did learn that the orange punch was vodka mixed with Tang powder, so not surprised.
- Responding to something Deborah said...... President Franklin Roosevelt threatened to add members to the Supreme Court when they kept finding his New Deal things unconstitutional. Somehow that got resolved without implementing his threatened court packing. But just saying adding Supreme Court members is not a new idea or threat.
- Yes, despair. I am going to follow Sherri's example and while I don't lift weights, I am still going to let this make me strong. Actually I do lift a set of 3 lb weights regularly. Between my wheelchair time and my little weights I now have little biceps. And I am now walking with just a cane, no more walker, and sometimes no cane at all.
- I went to college during the 18 years drinking age. We all drank. We all had keg parties. We often went to tequila shot night at the Brewery Bar. But I just don't drink much these days. I will occasionally order a drink but rarely drink at home. My last drink? Two weeks ago we checked out our local Irish Tavern, so I had a black and tan.
- Clippings in the stret is supposdly illegal around here. Grass clippings in the street can be particularly dangerous to motorcycle riders.
- Bitter scribe, most game consoles have internet access. Our netflix access is via our antique WII.
- Michiganders, tomorrow is the last day to register to vote in the November election. And, vote for Whitmer for gov.
- So I was first on the hold list for the Tana French book and just got my hands on. Will let you know if I agree with Mr. King.
- Dorothy, we had our 40th two weeks ago and all we managed to do was go to Benihana.
- I was a 9 year old for the 64 election. I heard my father say that if Johnson won we were moving to Australia. I believed him and was frightened all through the election cycle. But we didn't really move.
- Help! I can't get my wine bottle open! Removed the foil. Twisted off the wire thing. What's left? A white plastic bottle top with attached cork shaped bottle insert. I just heard a pop from the kitchen.! Anyway it didn't twist out, it didn't pull out, the cork screw wouldn't poke it. I have my own strong man and he couldn't pull it out. So, channel locks. It is a several year old bottle of Tabor Hill spumanti I don't even remember having. And is not what I was after. Wrong Tabor Hill, I wanted the semidec. But that explains the champagne like packaging. And it is open now so I guess I will drink it. If you like to visit wineries Tabor Hill is not far from the South Haven beaches and almost across the street from another winery, something barn winery which I remember for their fruit brandies.
- I had shingles so many times starting in 03 that I finally went on daily Valtrex to sort of permanently knock it down. Who knew Herpes meds would work on shingles. I was told that once you've had it it is too late for the vaccine. It would be nice to know thats wrong. It is a miserably painful disease. You've been warned. So my thoughts with you LAMary. In other vaccine news word is there are three cases of mumps on the U Mich campus. And if you never had chicken pox you won't get shingles.
- Well. Purdue beats Ohio State.
- Made sense to look for a bomb sent to Biden, looks like it has been found as well.
- 78%. No idea why.
- So Geraldo admits to his false flag stupidity: Geraldo Rivera is walking back comments he made this week suggesting the rash of bomb threats to high-profile Democrats may have been an “elaborate hoax” meant to “embarrass President Trump” ahead of the midterm elections. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/oct/26/geraldo-rivera-walks-back-false-flag-theory-i-outs/ While Candace Owens has deleted Her tweets saying same.
- This has not been a good week. My husband and I were out for lunch. I could see the television screens in the bar behind him. And I saw big ten football and professional soccer suddenly switch to live news in Pittsburgh. I could read the captions across the bottom and saw the number of confirmed dead go from unknown to eight before we finished and left. As we turned into our street we immediately saw one of our occasional confused drivers who didn't realize that it is a deadend not a through street, and there is no good place to park or turn around. By the time I was out of the car she was coming up the drive with a handful of Michigan Democratic Party flyers. She was maybe fourties, told me she was sort of my neighbor, and that she had never done this before but felt compelled this year. After a brief chat we explained how to go out and around the deadend to find the rest of her list of street numbers.
- Lena Epstein, who brought the Jews for Jesus rabbi to the Mike Pence event it the Republican candidate in my open congressional district, which has a major Jewish population. So I have been wondering if blaming her for the rabbi will lose her the Jewish vote. My absentee ballot and my League of Women Voters guide are both on my desk today to get finished.
- Bassett, if you call Uber in Nashville my niece Heather could be your driver. She drove Steve Tyler recently.
- Looks like my local Republican candidate Lena Epstein has lost herself the local Jewish vote. That's her own religious community. https://slate.com/human-interest/2018/11/lena-epstein-fake-rabbi-pence-michigan-jewish-voters.html
- So Nancy, Charlie LeDuff is now your co-worker. Seems like that would make for interesting meetings.
- Straight ticket is not currently an option in Michigan. That was a Republican decision. Not sure what to do about my local state rep, the one in Lansing. Unfortunately the dem Candidate has been charged with major embezzlement from the county treasurer's campaign committee. The Republican candidates mailings are pretty much just her mug shot. So probably not voting on this one. My absentee ballot is on my desk and will get turned in at the township hall on my usual Monday trip to turn in bills.
- Lena Epstein lost, and I believe it was the Jews for Jesus that lost her the election. And legal marijuana passed. Thought word is it will take a year or so to get the rules and regulations together.
- I came to post about the Lucy McBath victory over Karen Handel in Georgia, but Jolene beat me to it. You may remember Handel as the cancer org exec who decided to stop using their funds for mammograms at Planned Parenthood. It did not turn out to be a wise decision for her. Incumbent Rep. Karen Handel (R-GA) officially conceded Thursday morning, making first-time candidate Lucy McBath the congresswoman-elect for Georgia’s 6th District. https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/handel-concedes-mcbath-wins-georgia-6th
- I just bought Kanopy for my library, so glad to see your positive comment Charlotte.
- We just added a Chevy Traverse to our Chevy Cruze with hand controls. Being a passenger in the Traverse reminds me of our old Grand Caravan in terms of feel and space. We surprised ourselves by buying an SUV, and picked the specific used Traverse we did because it had running boards and I can actually get in it without a stool.
- Susan, exactly there, same thing.
- I can eat chili with or without beans, but that macaroni filled chili that is served all over southern Indiana never did it for me. We call it chili macaroni soup.
- Reading about Urban Meyer's retirement announcement wasn't near as fun as having moved from Ann Arbor to Columbus just in time to see Woody Hayes get fired.
- Interesting article about Flagstar Bank. About a year ago I spoke with a Flagstar bank rep at a local business expo type deal. I told him I only banked at local banks and/or credit unions. He went on to explain all the ways I could consider Flagstar Bank a local bank and swore they were a Michigan only bank. Though clearly they have at least added Indiana and Wisconsin. I stick with my local credit union.
- So my husband got a mystery package yesterday. It contained a bottle of Tabasco 150th Anniversary Diamond Reserve Red Sauce. So he's a hot sauce man and will be glad to have it. But nowhere on the box or included paperwork did it tell him who sent this gift. I pointed out that we visited the Tabasco factory twenty years ago and perhaps they remembered us and sent us this special gift. He pointed out that was three addresses ago. https://countrystore.tabasco.com/products/150th-anniversary-diamond-reserve-red-sauce?fbclid=IwAR3LpD6mm89PCJSjpmqJcFzzydsWG20SqLvfdxJbILprFGshMV2U8cyxtIo
- We have had a nice quiet Christmas. Christmas afternoon dinner at my 97 year old mother in law''s just an hour or so down the road. Tomorrow to my dad's on the west side of the state where my Baltimore great nephew's arrived yesterday. I just enjoy having the days off work and not doing much. Although I am hoping to get to the Henry Ford Museum while the Norman Rockwell Four Freedom paintings are still there, which give me until January 13. So Happy Holidays to you all. I still have a little wrapping to do. I hate wrapping.
- So Deborah it could be worse. That giant Con Ed transformer that blew up last night and made the sky blue means that the power is out at La Guardia. So how long does it take to drive to New Mexico?
- Large chunks of the country were without 911 service overnight due to the huge CenturyLink outage. I saw a map in one story and while it was mostly in the western half of the country it included not only Seattle but big chunks of Texas. Author John Scalzi live in rural Ohio and has CenturyLink at his home and hates it. But has no other options. He was down as well.
- My more exurban metro area library was also planning a Drag Queen Story time, so we have been watching the craziness on this subject happening at Huntington Woods. The largest opposition to this appears to be organized by an out of state right wing group. (Plus phone calls from Grand Rapids.) At the very large recent city council meeting there were a couple of hundred local people, all in support. Already mentioned books to which I will add my recommendation, Kowal's Lady Astronaut series, Uprooted was one of my favorites when it came out. Add The Goblin Emperor to the list.
- Will let you know when ours is scheduled Alex.
- My daughter was terrified of clowns. Screaming terrified. Clutching her nose terrified. Unconsolable terrified. It was sad but we had to work hard not to laugh at her protecting her nose. Heather, rice and beans is very carbohydrate heavy, which could raise your blood sugar. Maybe add a few leafy greens? Michigan’s historic library law did not encourage county libraries due to the organization of libraries by school districts. The district library law, not quite 50 yrs ago changed that. Many of Michigan’s county libraries do not include the largest city in the county which has its own library.
- This library director was going to say about the same thing as Linda. Nor as many quick questions, but questions that are more complicated and require complicated online resources which we purchase. And far more people in person, their device in hand. It started out as an effort to help you download e-books and turned into “book a librarian”. From Overdrive apps (go libby!) to Word questions on your laptop we are doing it all. This year we are also installing some digital media conversion stations, vhs and photos to digital formats, Back a ways Julie complained about waiting lists for e-books on Overdrive. My library is part of a large ebook consortium that as a group spends over 200,000 on ebooks. This just past year my library spent 1,000 per month on additional copies to serve the hold lists for eaudio and ebooks, available only to my resident patrons. When our hold rush is done we can release some of these copies into the shared collection. This year we are increasing that to $2,000 a month. Overdrive is a bookstore model. You buy one, you loan one. Check if your library has RB digital audio, Hoopla, or Kanopy, each of which allows for simultaneous downloads. They have large collections but may not have the newest stuff that Overdrive has.
- Won't be watching the speech either. I will be sitting in the town hall waiting for my agenda item to come up on the township board agenda. I am near the end of what looks like a long meeting.
- It is not often the morning news makes me happy. My first headline was Jayme Closs found alive. What a story.
- My Mom died at 57. My dad is still going at 87, but mostly blind. He had one of the first bypass operations done in Grand Rapids when he was 38 years old. He is the first male in his family tree for many years back to actually live past sixty. My mother in law just turned 97. And has two living OLDER sisters. Not long ago she told me sadly that most of her friends were gone.
- Mcmansion Hell had a gingerbread house contest. http://mcmansionhell.com/post/181789811736/2018-mcgingerbread-hell-competition-winners. I like the almonds and dried banana used for rock exteriors.
- I rarely remember dreams, but I remember several of those house dreams. Houses with rooms you hadn't found until after you've moved in. All of them interesting. The back side of one of those house included an unexpected canoe rental business on a river.
- Remember the expensive bottle of Tabasco sauce? Yesterday a veteran friend of my husband's fessed up to sending it, as he had a credit to use up. He had already sent us Omaha Steaks for Christmas, so we definitely owe him something.
- When I saw that Kirsten Gillibrand had announced for President 2020, my first thought was “only if Al Franken is your VP candidate.”
- I find it interesting that the US figure skating championships are going on in Detroit the same week as the Auto show. Which would you rather go to?
- My college car was a 1964 metallic turquoise Chevy Belair. It got a quart of oil every Friday. I was dismayed when my dad replaced it with an AMC Matador. Which I traded in on the first car I ever bought myself, a 1979 Chevette.
- When I worked in Seymour the Wiener Mobile once showed up in my parking lot. Somewhere there are pictures.
- We buy American, currently a Chevy Cruze and Traverse. Oh, and my husband is from Flint. I know the engine of my Cruze was made in Germany. I guess my goal is to keep the profits in my own country.
- Here in the metro area we not only have negative temps, we have a potentially dangerous natural gas shortage due to a fire yesterday at a processing plant. We are following the requests to keep heat turned down to 65, and have gotten out extra blankets. All of our township buildings are closed. They have made it clear that this is serious.
- It is so serious that GM has shut down entire plants.
- Sherri, most of the salt we use in the frozen midwest is actually calcium chloride which is much more environmentally friendly than salt. And much kinder to your concrete as well. Looks like we are getting another big freeze with ice and snow tomorrow.
- I lived in southern Indiana where the local communities are not well equipped to handle snow. It is not unusual for communities to dump cinders in the intersections to help with traction. It doesn't much help with traction though if it is still there when you are riding your bike come Spring.
- I thought cinders were the leftovers after you burn coal.
- Basset we are also considering a retirement home on family land up north. And I am thinking we would be sort of neighbors. Would you also be in Wexford county?
- Bassett, cousins sold the pizza place two years ago. I knew you visit Cadillac regularly, but Newaygo is cool. I could introduce you to a high school friend who is a realtor there!
- My around the country travels to big and biggish cities has been dependent on the various locations visited by American Library Association conferences. I would never have been to NYC, Seattle, Portland, OR, Boston, or many other places if ALA and PLA hadn't brought me there. I expect to visit Nashville in March 2020. (I've been there before.) Unfortunately in recent years ALA has been switching between New Orleans, Chicago, and DC. Two of those places are too hot to be comfortable at a late June convention. So I have been to NYC for ALA twice. The first time I was six months pregnant, brought my husband along, and spent several days afterward with one of my husband's veteran buddies at his home on Staten Island. High point? Lili Tomlin's one woman show, "The Search for Intelligent Life in the Universe." I ate in several then famous restaurants that no longer exist, including the Russian Tea Room, the Carnegie Deli and the Stage Deli. (Stage door deli maybe). The second time it was just me. I had tea at the plaza with a complete stranger librarian I had just met on the shuttle bus. Best moment? There were two. My sixth row center seat to see Julie Andrews in Victor/Victoria. And the fabric shoppers half day guided tour of the garment district, I spent a couple of hundred dollars that day. We are thinking of a long weekend out of town in the next month or two, but somewhere easy to drive. I am thinking Cleveland.
- I had arthroscopic surgery on my knee some years and it turned out to be an almost pain free solution to cleaning up the busted cartilage. I actually walked out to the car with crutches after the surgery.
- LAMary, I too am a Betty crocker Homemaker of Tomorrow winner. I took the test on a dare, and am a gifted test taker. That was one pissed off home ec teacher. One of her girls didn’t win. I have a winner’s charm on my old charm bracelet.
- I keep wondering about the Asian spa next exit billboards on the freeway. Are those places for me or the truck drivers?
- I did not expect the Methodist general conference to do anything other than what it just did. Not the church I would have expect to ban and keep banning gays, and I would put that decision on the international churches not the American churches. Circulation is down, but people in the library is way way up. Everywhere. And hard copy circ is down, but ebook and eaudio circ continue to skyrocket.
- Feeling stupid. It took me until last night to get the joke about pillows and pilot.
- Jeff(tmmo) On the continuing subject of churches....... I note in my news reading this weekend that there are stories of two big mega-church implosions. Is this a trend or just a bad coincidence?
- Suzanne the two I saw are Willow Creek, and Harvest Bible in the Chicago burbs. Congrats Scout, my daughter is currently the age at which I had her, but I have no expectations of grand kids.
- To many of us Lent is meaningless and we can eat Paczkis any days we want. I was raised so Protestant that I hadn't really heard of Lent, and most certainly had never heard of Ash Wednesday. I asked in the dorm cafeteria why all those people had dirt on their foreheads.
- The Dutch version of your Irish colcannon dish is Boeskool. (Farmer cabbage). Potatoes cooked with cabbage, throw in some cooked barley, mash it and serve with fried pork steak and dill pickles. As a kid I hated it. I have been seeing pictures in the news this a.m. of Nancy Pelosi with an ash smeared forehead.
- So I spent my day yesterday in live shooter survival training. It was really interesting. Some key points: No point in hiding, those big guns shoot through everything. Run or fight. One of the techniques we learned was for all of us together to swarm and disable the gunman. Leader says, you're probably going to get shot and killed. Might as well do it trying to stop the shooter instead of while you are running away. We two deputies in here trying to shoot us with giant nerf guns while we tried the techniques that had been discussed. This morning we have been talking about the various things we shared with our families, and the very serious discussions that were had at home last night with teenagers. And as a result of the training we are adding tourniquets to our first aid boxes.
- Continued from previous comments: My Maytag washer is 32 years old. My Maytag dryer is 5.
- Not my man. I used to get to say that more often.
- So remember I told you that I had this weird test taking ability? I took the PSAT and was a National Merit Commended Student. Which got me nothing but mail from every college in the midwest. My Dad had set limits though: any state university in Michigan or Hope College where he went. I must have taken the ACT because that was what you did in those days in Michigan, but I have no memory. I do remember the GRE and the GMAT in later years. So from all that college mail the one that caught my eye was McMurray College in Illinois. About which I knew very little then or now. Anyone ever heard of it?
- I would say the same as Heather about my years at Michigan State. I was a small town girl lost in the crowd. So why didn't I accept their offer to be in residential Honors College? I barely knew what they were talking about. OTOH I had a wonderful experience in grad school where all the students in the program were friends and we actually got to do things with the professors and administrators.
- I was raised Reformed. Calvin is Christian Reformed and way more conservative. If such a thing is possible. Plus my Dad had gone to Hope, commuting from home during an era when all students including commuters had to attend 8 a.m chapel daily.
- The egg question: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/life/wellness/2019/03/15/eggs-study-heart/39209263/
- Fix-it Fairs are a regular program at libraries in my area. I will also note that most senior centers usually have a free sewing repair day. Probably also not including zippers.
- We rarely go out to eat any more. As my retired husband says: "I would have to put my pants on." He has pants on, they are gym shorts or beat up sweats.
- Dyngus Days happens in the South Bend area and in Buffalo NY. We found it kind of weird when we moved to Elkhart and discovered it.
- I remember having measles, a year or so before the vaccination became available. And my memory includes doctor house calls. And I remember going to the high school I would one day attend and being lost in a wall to wall crowd of taller people as we all got our sugar cube polio vaccine. My daughter missed the chicken pox vaccine by about the same year I missed the measles vaccine.
- News from Deadline Detroit: Journalism Society Awards. Nancy Derringer, a staff member, won fourth place for a feature about radio station 910am, its owner and its roster of "notorious" program hosts. http://www.deadlinedetroit.com/articles/20125/are_you_notorious_in_detroit_when_does_your_show_on_910_start
- So Fort Wayne folk I have run into an assortment of news articles that tells me there is some kind of uproar going on with your library relating to books being removed and discarded. All kinds of accusations are being made. Anyone following this? I thought it was weird when Jeff Gill retired and they hired a new library director with almost no public library experience, rather years at the American Library Association offices. According to the article I read they were pleased to hire someone who knew all the important librarians in the country. If you go to the library web page you can see a document from the board that addresses questions on the issue.
- Jeff Krull. Got three letters right anyway.
- Thanks for the update on the Allen County Library situation. I read the many pages transcript of the questions and board answers and see lots of issues. Not knowing how many things you own? Very odd. The one that stuck out to me was that later this year they will replace their online catalog and checkout system with something called WISE, which is an online product from OCLC for which Allen County will be a beta tester. Having changed our system over last year to a well known system and having a myriad of issues, I have no faith in what is likely to be a troublesome product. But it makes her one of the big kids to hang out with OCLC. The questions contained a lot of questions about the potential use of RFID in the library system. My impression is that the questioners are opposed to rfid. I am an RFID library and I love it. It is an amazing efficiency tool for handling checkin and returns. My very first impression of Southard when she was hired was not a good one. This just reinforces that.
- That proposed Ohio abortion bill is nuts if they think an ectopic pregnancy can be transplanted into the uterus. My mom didn't even know she had an ectopirc pregnancy until her fallopian tube ruptured. I have decided that only women should be able to make rules about womens bodies because men are just stupic about women's bodies.
- So anyone else watching the Fosse/Verdun mini series? I am really enjoying it. I went looking for old clips of the two of them together and found and watched a number of dance clips featuring her or his work or both. You know what I discovered? In those days women in film didn't have boobs. Really, even when being felt up there wasn't anything in the bra cup. I actually found this almost immediately obvious in all of the clips. I mentioned it to my girlfriend and she said she thinks women in film began having boobs in 1990. Your thoughts?
- It applies to all the actresses in general, not just the dancers.
- And the Michigan legislature is trying but our new (female) Democratic governor has made it clear she will veto any and all such bills. Which leads to Right to Life putting together a ballot petition for signatures on a voter approved measure. john not mccain, I remember going to All That Jazz at the theater years ago (a newlywed). As we left we saw my parents standing in line and suggested they might not enjoy its weirdness. As for me, I have checked out the DVD for Damn Yankees.
- I got the Damn Yankee DVD from another library in our coop. Of the 50 libraries in our coop 4 had it.
- Dear David C, I was born and raised a West Michigan Hollander and I am not insane.
- In the midst of all the abortion discussion I have been pondering my own personal experience and thought I would share it with you. 32 years ago I walked into the hospital, seven and a half months pregnant, knowing I was about to give birth to a baby that had already died. My labor was induced and I gave birth to a four pound baby boy who is buried next to my mother in my home town cemetery. It is all a very dark period in my life. Today I would be considered to be having a late term abortion of a non viable fetus. Where did this come from? I can't imagine how much worse my already difficult experience would have been if those words had been used about it at that time. My co-worker's 38 year old son died unexpectedly a few months ago, and in some ways seeing her deal with that brought a lot of this back to me.
- So Jeff(tmmo) your local library has made the national library news. Drag Queen story time has been cancelled due to threats from a state legislator. Many are suggesting donations to the library, most particularly "in honor of Larry Householder and his closet."
- News story about cancelling drag queen event at Licking County Public Library, with a brief mention of the Delaware cancellation. Drag queen story times are a trend, going on in libraries around the country. Often supported by community, often opposed by right wing politicians. https://www.newarkadvocate.com/story/news/local/2019/06/01/licking-county-library-cancels-teen-lgbt-event-amid-public-backlash-hioh-house-representatives/1307042001
- Story from the Newark Advocate about local support and change of location referred to by Jeff above. https://www.newarkadvocate.com/story/news/local/granville/2019/06/03/canceled-lgbtq-teen-event-goes-forward-newark-denison-u-venue/1327573001/ Who everr dreamed that I would reach my monthly for free articles in the Newark Advocate!
- Sherri, teens are on Snapchat and Instagram according to my teen librarians. Facebook is for old people.
- I have been interviewing teen librarian candidates this week and they have all told me that in their interviews.
- Alex, with just your birth cert you can get a driver's license that works for both the Canadian, Mexican, and assorted Caribbean borders. I got one with my last renewal.
- I have the enhanced license. Appears to be available in border states only.
- Both Bassett and Dexter have mentioned how hard it is to buy houses in certain locations. That is definitely true here in the Lakes District Detroit suburbs. Anything under $500,000 will have multiple offers immediately. Anything under $300,000 will have multiple offers for up to 10% over the asking price. It is all just as nuts as Bassett has been describing in Nashville. As you know I work in a public library. This week is always the absolutely best library week of the entire year. Summer Reading has kicked off and the library is totally full of happy kids signing up and getting prizes. We've had the big raffle prizes in our display case for several weeks, and the Fortnite related prizes have caught the attention of all the little boys. Their mothers are having to drag them past the display case to get to the rest of the library. And two weeks before a really long weekend in Cadillac. I need some serious sunshine time.
- So my baby brother, who works for Adobe, sent his resume to a couple of the Democratic candidates. He has turned down a head of IT job with Buttigiege because they just couldn't come up with the money. He wants to beat Trump, but couldn't quite figure out doing it with a decrease in pay.
- I'm quite sure I didn't spell that name right, but you know who I mean. Brother lived South Bend for many years.
- Michiganders can get a free pass to Cranbrook and the Science Museum by checking their local library’s web page for the MAP link. The Michigan Activity Pass program provides free and discounted access to hundreds of Michigan attractions of all types. When I was a kid growing up in west Michigan we visited my uncle in Birmingham for a week in the summer every year. We always went to the Detroit Zoo. We always went to the Tigers game, usually on free bat day. I didn’t realize until I was older that we were sitting in GM seats. And the women and girls always went to a flower show at Cranbrook.
- I never herd of Cleveland Tennesee until it came up in comments the other day. Today in the Washington Post we see hundreds of people come to Cleveland for a weekend of free charity health care. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/the-clinic-of-last-resort/2019/06/22/2833c8a0-92cc-11e9-aadb-74e6b2b46f6a_story.html?utm_term=.76fec02567a1
- Indiana.
- Continuing in Dorothy's vein I always recommend this book: Code name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. A novel about two young women who start out as pilots and end up spies in Nazi Germany.
- Someone recommended Kate Atkinson's book Transcription. I just got my hands on her new release Big Sky, which brings back Jackson Brodie, the featured character in her earlier books. I'm glad to see him back.
- My high school graduating class had 176 students. That district has expanded to two high schools, each of which just graduated a comparably sized class. So twice the size now. I went to an old style township school, and while new kids came and went occasionally, I went to grade school with the same 29 or so kids from K to 7. And then consolidated into eighth grade at a shiny new middle school. My eighth grade class, half of the students had been the first sixth grade class there. The other half came from five consolidated country schools. Very odd year. So Nancy, I read somewhere that last year Gross Point schools had half as many kindergarteners as it had seniors. Does not bode well for the future.
- Julie, Kanopy is one of several products we now pay for based on usage, rather than buying an annual product. Hoopla is another. We control our costs by setting limits. At my library you may download three Kanopy items and five Hoopla items per month. Have No fear about using your library’s Kanopy, it is in the budget plan. I spend about $1500 a month on Hoopla, and the majority is e-audio downloads. We have all been talking about that NYPL Announcement, and we generally think that was poor budget planning.
- ROgirl,, for music see if your library has Freegal. Not only can you download music, you can keep it.
- My long ago maid of honor recently posted on facebook about going to the recent Trump rally in Florida and standing in line for five hours, and how wonderful it all was. I was dismayed. We only see each other every couple of years but I feel like my old friendship , well it's gone.
- There is a similar very large all partying boat event on the Fourth at Torch Lake. My niece and her husband will blow off this week's reunion picnic in order to go. A couple of years ago they came back with his dad's boat's upholstery covered with cigarette burns made by the crowd. Once they get back on Thursday the boat will be all ours for the rest of the weekend.
- Former governor Snyder, the governor whose government was responsible for the Flint water crisis, is going to teach for a year at Harvard. I would think they would prefer a successful governor. https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2019/07/01/backlash-ex-gov-rick-snyder-headed-harvard-fellowship/1617549001/
- I also started to walk out after the third time they didn't take no for an answer on the extended warranty purchase. I just spent several days in Cadillac (Home of Bassett's early reporter days). The first two were a somewhat boring family reunion of my husband's mother's side of the family. The third day a cousin from the other side of the family took us out on Lakes Mitchell and Cadillac for much of Friday afternoon. We had great fun. I learn more every day about living in the land of newly legal marijuana. There is a spot on Lake Mitchell where all the boats pull up to a beach to party and swim. There were joints being passed from boat to boat. Complete strangers! I also met Eric the former Marine, who had a large USMC brand on his chest. He told my husband it was not his choice, he was drunk and his fellow soldiers did it to him. It looked it really hurt. Today Eric is the ft stay at home dad of 3 small children.
- Bassett, we started out in Lake Cadillac. We took the channel through (under the road!) into Lake Mitchell, then made a right. The beach is right there, and while it is still State Park it is not very accessible from land. In all my months of the news making me depressed, well the Epstein thing DOES NOT make me depressed.
- Jeff, W
Connie on Unforeseen consequences.
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Connie on Two weddings.
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September 3rd, 2010 8:43 pm
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September 7th, 2010 8:21 pm
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Connie on Clone me next.
September 16th, 2010 6:07 pm
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Connie on Kwazy.
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Connie on Staying out late.
September 21st, 2010 2:39 am
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September 21st, 2010 6:02 am
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September 23rd, 2010 7:56 am
Connie on On the menu.
September 23rd, 2010 7:58 am
Connie on The power of graphics.
September 24th, 2010 1:38 am
Connie on The power of graphics.
September 24th, 2010 1:54 am
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Connie on Hard times.
September 25th, 2010 3:11 am
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September 25th, 2010 1:44 pm
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September 27th, 2010 4:42 pm
Connie on Deeds, good and otherwise.
October 6th, 2010 5:38 pm
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October 12th, 2010 6:41 pm
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October 18th, 2010 10:51 pm
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October 19th, 2010 8:44 pm
Connie on Please, tread on me.
October 26th, 2010 6:01 pm
Connie on Family limitation.
October 28th, 2010 2:06 pm
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October 31st, 2010 4:42 am
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November 1st, 2010 5:26 pm
Connie on Life's rich banquet.
November 5th, 2010 9:09 pm
Connie on One sweet hour.
November 8th, 2010 8:26 pm
Connie on The senior portion.
November 15th, 2010 7:26 pm
Connie on God save the marriage.
November 16th, 2010 5:43 pm
Connie on Adults like to fret.
November 17th, 2010 6:13 pm
Connie on Dash out.
November 18th, 2010 9:40 pm
Connie on Under the sink again.
November 23rd, 2010 8:32 pm
Connie on The countdown.
November 24th, 2010 7:14 pm
Connie on The countdown.
November 24th, 2010 9:00 pm
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November 27th, 2010 7:04 am
Connie on The countdown.
November 27th, 2010 7:08 am
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Connie on Saturday afternoon market
November 28th, 2010 5:13 pm
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November 29th, 2010 8:24 pm
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December 1st, 2010 5:10 am
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December 1st, 2010 5:55 pm
Connie on Who ARE these people?
December 1st, 2010 7:41 pm
Connie on Who ARE these people?
December 1st, 2010 7:44 pm
Connie on Who ARE these people?
December 1st, 2010 7:51 pm
Connie on Who ARE these people?
December 2nd, 2010 5:24 am
Connie on Who ARE these people?
December 2nd, 2010 5:33 pm
Connie on Older and still dumb.
December 3rd, 2010 12:28 am
Connie on Older and still dumb.
December 3rd, 2010 5:00 pm
Connie on Bad news on the doorstep.
December 3rd, 2010 7:35 pm
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December 9th, 2010 7:48 pm
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December 10th, 2010 7:35 pm
Connie on How it's done.
December 16th, 2010 5:25 pm
Connie on Gamesmanship, part 2.
December 17th, 2010 7:32 pm
Connie on It's just an expression.
December 21st, 2010 7:07 pm
Connie on It's just an expression.
December 21st, 2010 9:38 pm
Connie on It's just an expression.
December 21st, 2010 11:16 pm
Connie on It's just an expression.
December 22nd, 2010 12:28 am
Connie on It's just an expression.
December 22nd, 2010 5:12 pm
Connie on Don't look too close.
December 22nd, 2010 7:56 pm
Connie on Days ahead: Merry, bright.
December 25th, 2010 5:43 pm
Connie on For auld lang syne.
December 30th, 2010 12:32 am
Connie on For auld lang syne.
December 30th, 2010 5:31 pm
Connie on For auld lang syne.
January 2nd, 2011 5:21 pm
Connie on Movie nights.
January 3rd, 2011 9:49 pm
Connie on Movie nights.
January 3rd, 2011 11:16 pm
Connie on Movie nights.
January 3rd, 2011 11:31 pm
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January 4th, 2011 6:41 am
Connie on That stinks.
January 4th, 2011 8:10 pm
Connie on Leave the lights.
January 6th, 2011 12:06 am
Connie on Leave the lights.
January 6th, 2011 3:22 am
Connie on Leave the lights.
January 6th, 2011 4:11 pm
Connie on Leave the lights.
January 6th, 2011 5:47 pm
Connie on What am I doing here?
January 6th, 2011 8:08 pm
Connie on A house for the girls.
January 7th, 2011 5:26 pm
Connie on A house for the girls.
January 7th, 2011 5:29 pm
Connie on A house for the girls.
January 7th, 2011 11:17 pm
Connie on Fault lines.
January 11th, 2011 12:13 am
Connie on Mommy dearest.
January 11th, 2011 3:48 pm
Connie on Mommy dearest.
January 11th, 2011 9:31 pm
Connie on Kitchen purple hearts.
January 12th, 2011 5:43 pm
Connie on A dog's life.
January 13th, 2011 5:22 pm
Connie on A dog's life.
January 13th, 2011 8:07 pm
Connie on A dog's life.
January 13th, 2011 9:11 pm
Connie on A dog's life.
January 14th, 2011 5:21 am
Connie on The First Closet.
January 20th, 2011 7:07 pm
Connie on The First Closet.
January 20th, 2011 8:48 pm
Connie on Venison stew.
January 22nd, 2011 7:42 am
Connie on A bigger page to write on.
January 26th, 2011 7:20 pm
Connie on Snowpocalypse now. Er, Tuesday.
February 1st, 2011 5:43 am
Connie on Won't get fooled again.
February 1st, 2011 7:46 pm
Connie on Won't get fooled again.
February 2nd, 2011 1:24 am
Connie on Won't get fooled again.
February 2nd, 2011 6:12 am
Connie on Won't get fooled again.
February 2nd, 2011 7:03 am
Connie on Won't get fooled again.
February 2nd, 2011 8:41 am
Connie on Disappointment of '11.
February 2nd, 2011 7:02 pm
Connie on Severe. Clear. Cold.
February 3rd, 2011 6:50 pm
Connie on Severe. Clear. Cold.
February 4th, 2011 4:50 am
Connie on She's got the look.
February 4th, 2011 6:15 pm
Connie on Explication de texte.
February 7th, 2011 6:23 pm
Connie on Dull girl.
February 9th, 2011 9:28 pm
Connie on Dull girl.
February 10th, 2011 1:44 am
Connie on Day two of dullness.
February 10th, 2011 6:00 pm
Connie on Day two of dullness.
February 10th, 2011 7:10 pm
Connie on Day two of dullness.
February 10th, 2011 11:46 pm
Connie on Day two of dullness.
February 10th, 2011 11:50 pm
Connie on Day two of dullness.
February 11th, 2011 12:09 am
Connie on Day two of dullness.
February 11th, 2011 2:41 am
Connie on Day two of dullness.
February 11th, 2011 3:04 am
Connie on Harry Baals.
February 11th, 2011 11:03 pm
Connie on Harry Baals.
February 12th, 2011 12:59 am
Connie on Harry Baals.
February 12th, 2011 1:11 am
Connie on Harry Baals.
February 12th, 2011 1:14 am
Connie on Harry Baals.
February 12th, 2011 2:21 am
Connie on Fed up.
February 18th, 2011 6:26 pm
Connie on Fed up.
February 20th, 2011 5:53 pm
Connie on Late start.
February 23rd, 2011 11:03 pm
Connie on Thousands strong.
February 26th, 2011 8:24 pm
Connie on Thousands strong.
February 27th, 2011 10:03 pm
Connie on Thousands strong.
February 28th, 2011 3:21 pm
Connie on Pretty in pretty much everything.
February 28th, 2011 9:07 pm
Connie on Ruminations with eggs.
March 1st, 2011 8:07 pm
Connie on Ruminations with eggs.
March 1st, 2011 9:51 pm
Connie on Wild man.
March 2nd, 2011 9:51 pm
Connie on Wild man.
March 3rd, 2011 4:37 am
Connie on A 24-hour fly-by.
March 7th, 2011 6:37 pm
Connie on A 24-hour fly-by.
March 7th, 2011 7:34 pm
Connie on A 24-hour fly-by.
March 7th, 2011 8:25 pm
Connie on The new ethicist.
March 8th, 2011 7:52 pm
Connie on It's his money.
March 10th, 2011 7:12 pm
Connie on Even less.
March 14th, 2011 4:56 pm
Connie on Even less.
March 14th, 2011 6:35 pm
Connie on Even less.
March 15th, 2011 1:46 am
Connie on Nancy Whiskey? I'll take it.
March 17th, 2011 7:21 pm
Connie on Nancy Whiskey? I'll take it.
March 17th, 2011 10:15 pm
Connie on Friday.
March 20th, 2011 5:02 pm
Connie on Saturday afternoon birthday.
March 20th, 2011 5:07 pm
Connie on Virtual travel.
March 22nd, 2011 5:41 pm
Connie on Virtual travel.
March 22nd, 2011 10:21 pm
Connie on A girl and her bijoux.
March 25th, 2011 2:14 am
Connie on They keep us in the dark.
March 25th, 2011 5:30 pm
Connie on They keep us in the dark.
March 27th, 2011 2:03 am
Connie on They keep us in the dark.
March 27th, 2011 3:34 am
Connie on They keep us in the dark.
March 27th, 2011 5:44 pm
Connie on Housework for dummies.
March 28th, 2011 5:45 pm
Connie on Housework for dummies.
March 29th, 2011 2:03 pm
Connie on Among other things.
March 29th, 2011 6:02 pm
Connie on Dutchday, anyone?
March 30th, 2011 5:07 pm
Connie on Dutchday, anyone?
March 30th, 2011 6:04 pm
Connie on Dutchday, anyone?
March 30th, 2011 6:16 pm
Connie on Dutchday, anyone?
March 30th, 2011 8:53 pm
Connie on Dutchday, anyone?
March 31st, 2011 5:04 am
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April 2nd, 2011 9:12 pm
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April 2nd, 2011 9:18 pm
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April 3rd, 2011 3:30 am
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April 3rd, 2011 7:26 am
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April 4th, 2011 6:44 pm
Connie on A little foggy.
April 4th, 2011 9:32 pm
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April 5th, 2011 1:30 am
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April 5th, 2011 2:11 pm
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April 5th, 2011 8:14 pm
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April 7th, 2011 3:54 am
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April 8th, 2011 6:32 pm
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April 9th, 2011 3:51 am
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April 12th, 2011 5:27 pm
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April 13th, 2011 9:07 pm
Connie on Empty shelves.
April 13th, 2011 9:55 pm
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April 20th, 2011 8:55 pm
Connie on So what's new?
April 21st, 2011 4:16 pm
Connie on So what's new?
April 22nd, 2011 4:19 pm
Connie on Good Friday.
April 23rd, 2011 9:08 pm
Connie on He was just the stenographer.
April 25th, 2011 8:25 pm
Connie on A thin line, etc.
April 27th, 2011 5:59 am
Connie on A thin line, etc.
April 27th, 2011 2:29 pm
Connie on The wait is over.
April 27th, 2011 6:41 pm
Connie on Geronimo EKIA.
May 3rd, 2011 8:51 pm
Connie on Kremlinology for dummies.
May 6th, 2011 2:59 am
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May 6th, 2011 6:57 pm
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May 9th, 2011 5:37 pm
Connie on Repeal!
May 10th, 2011 5:25 am
Connie on King Robert, fleur de lis and rain.
May 16th, 2011 12:41 am
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May 16th, 2011 4:33 pm
Connie on No fleas here.
May 17th, 2011 1:04 am
Connie on Splitsville.
May 17th, 2011 11:45 pm
Connie on Sounds funny.
May 19th, 2011 9:15 pm
Connie on Sounds funny.
May 20th, 2011 2:53 pm
Connie on I can hear music.
May 20th, 2011 10:25 pm
Connie on Waiting out the rain.
May 26th, 2011 1:20 am
Connie on Third world city.
May 28th, 2011 5:54 am
Connie on I can see clearly now.
June 2nd, 2011 6:49 pm
Connie on I can see clearly now.
June 3rd, 2011 12:58 am
Connie on Trendy, trendy, trendy.
June 3rd, 2011 4:38 pm
Connie on Trendy, trendy, trendy.
June 4th, 2011 4:33 am
Connie on Faking a little blogging.
June 6th, 2011 10:15 pm
Connie on Faking a little blogging.
June 6th, 2011 10:58 pm
Connie on Battle of the bulge.
June 7th, 2011 10:28 pm
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June 8th, 2011 11:14 pm
Connie on Casualties.
June 9th, 2011 3:46 am
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Connie on Butt rock for beginners.
June 9th, 2011 11:00 pm
Connie on Butt rock for beginners.
June 10th, 2011 2:01 am
Connie on Butt rock for beginners.
June 10th, 2011 4:35 pm
Connie on The blaming of the shrew.
June 10th, 2011 9:07 pm
Connie on Authority problems.
June 14th, 2011 6:53 pm
Connie on Authority problems.
June 15th, 2011 7:04 am
Connie on Authority problems.
June 15th, 2011 4:43 pm
Connie on The thunder said, "That costs too much."
June 15th, 2011 6:02 pm
Connie on The thunder said, "That costs too much."
June 15th, 2011 6:04 pm
Connie on The thunder said, "That costs too much."
June 15th, 2011 7:25 pm
Connie on The thunder said, "That costs too much."
June 15th, 2011 10:02 pm
Connie on The thunder said, "That costs too much."
June 15th, 2011 10:20 pm
Connie on Insomnia.
June 16th, 2011 8:39 pm
Connie on Oops.
June 17th, 2011 4:51 pm
Connie on Shut UP.
June 24th, 2011 3:57 am
Connie on If it keeps on rainin', the sequel.
June 27th, 2011 5:04 pm
Connie on If it keeps on rainin', the sequel.
June 27th, 2011 7:27 pm
Connie on Writes too much.
June 28th, 2011 5:17 pm
Connie on What rough beast?
June 30th, 2011 5:32 pm
Connie on What rough beast?
June 30th, 2011 9:47 pm
Connie on Rules of the road.
July 1st, 2011 5:22 pm
Connie on Rules of the road.
July 1st, 2011 6:24 pm
Connie on Rules of the road.
July 3rd, 2011 8:53 pm
Connie on Rules of the road.
July 5th, 2011 3:41 am
Connie on The runaway bride.
July 5th, 2011 5:08 pm
Connie on The runaway bride.
July 5th, 2011 6:44 pm
Connie on The runaway bride.
July 5th, 2011 9:16 pm
Connie on A look back.
July 7th, 2011 5:34 pm
Connie on A look back.
July 7th, 2011 5:53 pm
Connie on A look back.
July 7th, 2011 6:43 pm
Connie on A look back.
July 8th, 2011 4:48 am
Connie on A look back.
July 8th, 2011 5:17 am
Connie on Fat nation.
July 8th, 2011 6:31 pm
Connie on I don't like Mondays.
July 11th, 2011 4:39 pm
Connie on I don't like Mondays.
July 11th, 2011 7:34 pm
Connie on The ongoing grind.
July 13th, 2011 6:08 pm
Connie on Your grill wants to kill you.
July 27th, 2011 6:36 pm
Connie on Your grill wants to kill you.
July 27th, 2011 7:15 pm
Connie on Planking squirrels.
July 28th, 2011 10:17 pm
Connie on Planking squirrels.
July 29th, 2011 4:40 pm
Connie on Saturday afternoon Maker Faire
July 31st, 2011 9:39 pm
Connie on Faire weekend.
August 1st, 2011 6:24 pm
Connie on Itching and burning.
August 2nd, 2011 6:42 pm
Connie on Itching and burning.
August 3rd, 2011 4:36 pm
Connie on Itching and burning.
August 3rd, 2011 5:28 pm
Connie on The expensive blue line.
August 3rd, 2011 7:26 pm
Connie on The expensive blue line.
August 4th, 2011 3:17 am
Connie on The expensive blue line.
August 4th, 2011 5:53 am
Connie on The slow spiral.
August 4th, 2011 9:52 pm
Connie on The slow spiral.
August 4th, 2011 9:59 pm
Connie on Bearded.
August 5th, 2011 6:27 pm
Connie on Bearded.
August 6th, 2011 9:42 am
Connie on Out of control.
August 9th, 2011 6:23 pm
Connie on Out of control.
August 9th, 2011 10:19 pm
Connie on Out of control.
August 10th, 2011 5:04 am
Connie on Help. (I need somebody.)
August 10th, 2011 5:37 pm
Connie on Help. (I need somebody.)
August 11th, 2011 4:44 am
Connie on Help. (I need somebody.)
August 11th, 2011 4:58 am
Connie on Help. (I need somebody.)
August 11th, 2011 5:14 pm
Connie on A new way to read.
August 11th, 2011 7:24 pm
Connie on A new way to read.
August 12th, 2011 1:43 pm
Connie on Who wants yesterday's papers?
August 12th, 2011 3:03 pm
Connie on Who wants yesterday's papers?
August 12th, 2011 7:11 pm
Connie on Who wants yesterday's papers?
August 12th, 2011 7:13 pm
Connie on Who wants yesterday's papers?
August 12th, 2011 7:54 pm
Connie on The Snyderman house.
August 15th, 2011 8:54 pm
Connie on Farewell, Joe.
August 16th, 2011 7:53 pm
Connie on St. Bobby of Bloomington.
August 17th, 2011 9:57 pm
Connie on Gotta light?
August 19th, 2011 3:56 am
Connie on Go for it.
August 19th, 2011 11:24 pm
Connie on Go for it.
August 20th, 2011 1:29 am
Connie on Go for it.
August 20th, 2011 4:20 am
Connie on Go for it.
August 21st, 2011 10:09 pm
Connie on Land of the raven and loon.
August 22nd, 2011 7:20 pm
Connie on Dumb by the numbers.
August 24th, 2011 2:58 am
Connie on The University of Insanity.
August 24th, 2011 7:05 pm
Connie on The University of Insanity.
August 24th, 2011 7:32 pm
Connie on The University of Insanity.
August 25th, 2011 1:41 am
Connie on Oops.
August 26th, 2011 1:54 am
Connie on The Reaper and the cutting-room floor.
August 27th, 2011 4:49 am
Connie on The Reaper and the cutting-room floor.
August 28th, 2011 5:07 am
Connie on Ed the knife.
August 29th, 2011 8:59 pm
Connie on Ed the knife.
August 30th, 2011 4:05 am
Connie on Animal-watching.
August 30th, 2011 9:23 pm
Connie on Animal-watching.
August 31st, 2011 4:13 am
Connie on Back to school.
August 31st, 2011 4:53 pm
Connie on Back to school.
August 31st, 2011 10:47 pm
Connie on Back to school.
September 1st, 2011 4:43 pm
Connie on Moms like who?
September 2nd, 2011 9:06 pm
Connie on Saturday morning market
September 3rd, 2011 9:32 pm
Connie on Saturday morning market
September 4th, 2011 9:15 pm
Connie on Saturday morning market
September 6th, 2011 4:02 am
Connie on Crazy talk.
September 6th, 2011 4:29 pm
Connie on Crazy talk.
September 6th, 2011 10:02 pm
Connie on Crazy talk.
September 6th, 2011 11:40 pm
Connie on Crazy talk.
September 7th, 2011 1:26 am
Connie on Rah rah monkeys.
September 7th, 2011 7:00 pm
Connie on Rah rah monkeys.
September 7th, 2011 8:54 pm
Connie on Rah rah monkeys.
September 7th, 2011 9:53 pm
Connie on School supplies.
September 8th, 2011 6:54 pm
Connie on School supplies.
September 9th, 2011 1:38 am
Connie on School supplies.
September 9th, 2011 2:07 am
Connie on Asking the big questions.
September 9th, 2011 5:06 pm
Connie on Asking the big questions.
September 9th, 2011 8:10 pm
Connie on Get well soon.
September 13th, 2011 8:46 pm
Connie on Get well soon.
September 14th, 2011 2:58 pm
Connie on Get well soon.
September 14th, 2011 3:58 pm
Connie on The last supper.
September 23rd, 2011 7:22 pm
Connie on Young love.
September 27th, 2011 7:02 pm
Connie on RSVP with regrets.
September 28th, 2011 5:15 pm
Connie on As seen here.
September 29th, 2011 7:26 pm
Connie on As seen here.
September 29th, 2011 9:17 pm
Connie on As seen here.
September 29th, 2011 11:28 pm
Connie on Wasted.
October 3rd, 2011 5:02 pm
Connie on Wasted.
October 3rd, 2011 6:52 pm
Connie on A little respect, please.
October 4th, 2011 5:24 pm
Connie on A little respect, please.
October 4th, 2011 11:00 pm
Connie on Schooled.
October 5th, 2011 5:22 pm
Connie on Leftovers, today.
October 7th, 2011 6:56 pm
Connie on Leftovers, today.
October 7th, 2011 7:22 pm
Connie on Rocktober.
October 11th, 2011 7:26 pm
Connie on Rocktober.
October 12th, 2011 5:38 pm
Connie on Spirit of 1576.
October 12th, 2011 6:56 pm
Connie on Spirit of 1576.
October 12th, 2011 11:37 pm
Connie on Clutch work.
October 17th, 2011 2:48 pm
Connie on The un-genius bar.
October 22nd, 2011 12:08 am
Connie on The un-genius bar.
October 22nd, 2011 3:08 pm
Connie on The un-genius bar.
October 23rd, 2011 2:15 am
Connie on The un-genius bar.
October 24th, 2011 5:21 am
Connie on Beef therapy.
October 28th, 2011 3:10 pm
Connie on Priest-killing' time.
October 29th, 2011 5:48 pm
Connie on Priest-killing' time.
October 30th, 2011 2:53 am
Connie on Priest-killing' time.
October 30th, 2011 3:06 am
Connie on Travel is very broadening.
November 1st, 2011 2:38 am
Connie on Travel is very broadening.
November 1st, 2011 4:45 am
Connie on Little cat feet.
November 1st, 2011 6:33 pm
Connie on Little cat feet.
November 1st, 2011 11:56 pm
Connie on Where is the love?
November 2nd, 2011 5:53 pm
Connie on Where is the love?
November 2nd, 2011 7:35 pm
Connie on Where is the love?
November 2nd, 2011 7:49 pm
Connie on Your moneybags, sir.
November 3rd, 2011 6:24 pm
Connie on Your moneybags, sir.
November 4th, 2011 1:16 am
Connie on Your moneybags, sir.
November 4th, 2011 1:39 pm
Connie on Details, details.
November 4th, 2011 6:29 pm
Connie on Another one.
November 7th, 2011 8:38 pm
Connie on E-day, fog day.
November 8th, 2011 7:39 pm
Connie on Not guilty.
November 15th, 2011 9:16 pm
Connie on Get over yourself.
November 16th, 2011 7:56 pm
Connie on Link salad.
November 17th, 2011 5:42 pm
Connie on Create the problem, sell the cure.
November 21st, 2011 6:02 pm
Connie on Create the problem, sell the cure.
November 21st, 2011 10:16 pm
Connie on Create the problem, sell the cure.
November 21st, 2011 10:41 pm
Connie on Create the problem, sell the cure.
November 21st, 2011 11:48 pm
Connie on This was this, but that was that.
November 22nd, 2011 7:19 pm
Connie on This was this, but that was that.
November 22nd, 2011 7:43 pm
Connie on Fatheads.
November 23rd, 2011 7:12 pm
Connie on Contents under pressure.
November 28th, 2011 5:58 pm
Connie on Contents under pressure.
November 28th, 2011 7:10 pm
Connie on We are not pleased.
November 29th, 2011 7:59 pm
Connie on Powerless.
November 30th, 2011 8:33 pm
Connie on Who are you?
December 1st, 2011 6:58 pm
Connie on Who are you?
December 1st, 2011 7:20 pm
Connie on Dried-plum face.
December 3rd, 2011 4:32 pm
Connie on Mostly cloudy.
December 5th, 2011 6:46 pm
Connie on Send friend request.
December 6th, 2011 7:12 pm
Connie on Send friend request.
December 6th, 2011 7:22 pm
Connie on Send friend request.
December 7th, 2011 2:47 pm
Connie on Beaten to death.
December 7th, 2011 11:18 pm
Connie on He looks so neat.
December 8th, 2011 8:57 pm
Connie on Don't stand by.
December 13th, 2011 6:35 pm
Connie on Don't stand by.
December 13th, 2011 6:39 pm
Connie on Ginger for the gloom.
December 14th, 2011 8:03 pm
Connie on The lead today is buried.
December 19th, 2011 8:26 pm
Connie on Cite, please.
December 20th, 2011 9:24 pm
Connie on Cite, please.
December 21st, 2011 5:21 pm
Connie on Darkest day.
December 22nd, 2011 4:06 am
Connie on Always check the film.
December 23rd, 2011 7:47 am
Connie on Festivus for the rest of us.
December 23rd, 2011 11:30 pm
Connie on Festivus for the rest of us.
December 24th, 2011 4:38 pm
Connie on Festivus for the rest of us.
December 25th, 2011 6:27 pm
Connie on Boxing Day.
December 26th, 2011 5:43 pm
Connie on Boxing Day.
December 27th, 2011 12:53 am
Connie on Boxing Day.
December 27th, 2011 6:31 am
Connie on FFL.
December 27th, 2011 8:06 pm
Connie on FFL.
December 27th, 2011 8:12 pm
Connie on FFL.
December 27th, 2011 10:53 pm
Connie on Hanging up.
December 28th, 2011 9:35 pm
Connie on Hanging up.
December 28th, 2011 11:20 pm
Connie on Hanging up.
December 29th, 2011 3:29 pm
Connie on And a parrotlet in a pine tree.
December 31st, 2011 7:24 am
Connie on The $30 chicken.
January 2nd, 2012 8:14 pm
Connie on The people speak.
January 4th, 2012 7:31 pm
Connie on From the East German judge, an 8.
January 6th, 2012 2:34 pm
Connie on Saturday morning WTF?
January 7th, 2012 9:56 pm
Connie on Drive.
January 9th, 2012 8:34 pm
Connie on Someone is watching.
January 12th, 2012 12:20 am
Connie on Nice shoes.
January 12th, 2012 8:09 pm
Connie on Nice shoes.
January 13th, 2012 12:01 am
Connie on End of a long week.
January 13th, 2012 4:11 pm
Connie on Car prom.
January 14th, 2012 6:14 am
Connie on Is that cheddar old enough to vote?
January 18th, 2012 6:20 pm
Connie on Is that cheddar old enough to vote?
January 18th, 2012 6:58 pm
Connie on Is that cheddar old enough to vote?
January 18th, 2012 8:27 pm
Connie on Is that cheddar old enough to vote?
January 18th, 2012 10:38 pm
Connie on Is that cheddar old enough to vote?
January 19th, 2012 6:14 am
Connie on Second opinions, please.
January 20th, 2012 9:41 pm
Connie on Second opinions, please.
January 21st, 2012 2:03 am
Connie on Second opinions, please.
January 21st, 2012 5:35 am
Connie on Second opinions, please.
January 22nd, 2012 9:06 am
Connie on A bit of a breeze.
January 24th, 2012 11:37 pm
Connie on Jane Winebox.
January 25th, 2012 7:52 pm
Connie on Jane Winebox.
January 25th, 2012 9:13 pm
Connie on Pink and red.
February 3rd, 2012 6:21 pm
Connie on Oh, grow up.
February 6th, 2012 3:52 pm
Connie on Oh, grow up.
February 7th, 2012 7:48 pm
Connie on Running on fumes.
February 8th, 2012 5:46 pm
Connie on Running on fumes.
February 9th, 2012 6:45 am
Connie on Writing in restaurants.
February 9th, 2012 3:21 pm
Connie on Writing in restaurants.
February 10th, 2012 4:42 am
Connie on Writing in restaurants.
February 10th, 2012 7:07 am
Connie on Have a heart.
February 14th, 2012 6:29 pm
Connie on What's your racket?
February 15th, 2012 4:43 pm
Connie on What's your racket?
February 15th, 2012 6:14 pm
Connie on What's your racket?
February 15th, 2012 7:52 pm
Connie on What's your racket?
February 15th, 2012 8:33 pm
Connie on What's your racket?
February 16th, 2012 5:06 am
Connie on And away we go.
February 16th, 2012 9:13 pm
Connie on Friday afterthoughts.
February 19th, 2012 8:54 pm
Connie on In da club.
February 20th, 2012 4:03 pm
Connie on In da club.
February 20th, 2012 10:35 pm
Connie on In da club.
February 21st, 2012 1:10 am
Connie on In da club.
February 21st, 2012 4:52 am
Connie on In da club.
February 21st, 2012 4:57 am
Connie on In da club.
February 21st, 2012 6:40 am
Connie on Cookies and nuts.
February 22nd, 2012 3:18 am
Connie on Thank you and goodnight!
February 22nd, 2012 6:28 pm
Connie on Thank you and goodnight!
February 23rd, 2012 3:12 am
Connie on Thank you and goodnight!
February 23rd, 2012 8:21 am
Connie on Waiting for whatever.
February 25th, 2012 9:59 pm
Connie on Waiting for whatever.
February 27th, 2012 4:32 am
Connie on Award season.
February 27th, 2012 7:08 pm
Connie on Sweeping up the confetti.
March 1st, 2012 1:46 am
Connie on Sown. Reaped. Etc.
March 2nd, 2012 3:38 pm
Connie on Monday's laundry.
March 5th, 2012 10:09 pm
Connie on A mixed grill.
March 6th, 2012 6:12 pm
Connie on A mixed grill.
March 6th, 2012 6:29 pm
Connie on A mixed grill.
March 6th, 2012 8:56 pm
Connie on Breakups are messy.
March 7th, 2012 7:35 pm
Connie on Breakups are messy.
March 7th, 2012 8:10 pm
Connie on Hump-tastic.
March 8th, 2012 7:15 pm
Connie on Hump-tastic.
March 8th, 2012 11:45 pm
Connie on Hump-tastic.
March 8th, 2012 11:46 pm
Connie on The soup-and-salad lunch deal is very nice.
March 9th, 2012 7:47 pm
Connie on The soup-and-salad lunch deal is very nice.
March 10th, 2012 4:20 pm
Connie on The soup-and-salad lunch deal is very nice.
March 11th, 2012 9:51 pm
Connie on A margarita to celebrate your independence.
March 13th, 2012 7:29 pm
Connie on A margarita to celebrate your independence.
March 14th, 2012 5:07 am
Connie on Dropping the top.
March 14th, 2012 10:25 pm
Connie on Beware the Ides.
March 16th, 2012 5:24 am
Connie on Beware the Ides.
March 16th, 2012 3:38 pm
Connie on Took shelter.
March 17th, 2012 2:55 pm
Connie on Saturday morning market.
March 19th, 2012 5:11 am
Connie on Saturday morning market.
March 19th, 2012 2:03 pm
Connie on Truth vs. facts, a continuing series.
March 19th, 2012 6:23 pm
Connie on Truth vs. facts, a continuing series.
March 19th, 2012 9:16 pm
Connie on The artists.
March 21st, 2012 6:05 pm
Connie on Thursday 'n' stuff.
March 22nd, 2012 2:25 pm
Connie on Thursday 'n' stuff.
March 22nd, 2012 10:37 pm
Connie on City of lights, city of magic.
March 23rd, 2012 3:58 pm
Connie on City of lights, city of magic.
March 25th, 2012 6:11 pm
Connie on City of lights, city of magic.
March 26th, 2012 2:15 am
Connie on City of lights, city of magic.
March 26th, 2012 5:27 am
Connie on The smell test.
March 26th, 2012 6:38 pm
Connie on Karma carries a gas can.
March 28th, 2012 4:37 pm
Connie on Dresses and feathers.
March 29th, 2012 4:15 pm
Connie on Luck. Or something else.
March 30th, 2012 6:17 pm
Connie on Luck. Or something else.
March 30th, 2012 6:21 pm
Connie on Divine? Not me.
April 2nd, 2012 5:01 pm
Connie on Short ends.
April 3rd, 2012 6:47 pm
Connie on Not from hunger.
April 4th, 2012 5:21 pm
Connie on Not from hunger.
April 4th, 2012 7:37 pm
Connie on Not from hunger.
April 5th, 2012 1:24 am
Connie on A diet plate.
April 6th, 2012 5:11 pm
Connie on A diet plate.
April 6th, 2012 5:56 pm
Connie on Peace and comfort, Moe.
April 13th, 2012 5:34 pm
Connie on I find correct usage optional.
April 16th, 2012 8:55 pm
Connie on Gusty. Calm expected eventually.
April 17th, 2012 10:31 pm
Connie on End of an era.
April 19th, 2012 4:33 pm
Connie on End of an era.
April 19th, 2012 8:49 pm
Connie on End of an era.
April 19th, 2012 10:57 pm
Connie on End of an era.
April 20th, 2012 2:53 am
Connie on My very own crow.
April 20th, 2012 7:41 pm
Connie on Headwinds.
April 23rd, 2012 2:40 pm
Connie on Headwinds.
April 23rd, 2012 9:00 pm
Connie on Headwinds.
April 23rd, 2012 10:42 pm
Connie on Getting (way) down.
April 24th, 2012 4:39 pm
Connie on Getting (way) down.
April 24th, 2012 6:02 pm
Connie on Getting (way) down.
April 24th, 2012 9:33 pm
Connie on Getting (way) down.
April 24th, 2012 10:32 pm
Connie on This week, this endless week.
April 25th, 2012 7:06 pm
Connie on This week, this endless week.
April 25th, 2012 10:13 pm
Connie on And is Ochocinco his real name?
April 26th, 2012 4:19 pm
Connie on And is Ochocinco his real name?
April 26th, 2012 4:21 pm
Connie on And is Ochocinco his real name?
April 26th, 2012 8:24 pm
Connie on And is Ochocinco his real name?
April 26th, 2012 11:46 pm
Connie on And is Ochocinco his real name?
April 27th, 2012 3:29 am
Connie on And is Ochocinco his real name?
April 27th, 2012 4:07 am
Connie on And is Ochocinco his real name?
April 27th, 2012 4:17 am
Connie on And is Ochocinco his real name?
April 27th, 2012 4:26 am
Connie on And is Ochocinco his real name?
April 27th, 2012 4:31 am
Connie on And is Ochocinco his real name?
April 27th, 2012 4:43 am
Connie on And is Ochocinco his real name?
April 27th, 2012 4:45 am
Connie on Justice, three ways.
April 27th, 2012 4:40 pm
Connie on Justice, three ways.
April 27th, 2012 7:10 pm
Connie on Justice, three ways.
April 28th, 2012 5:25 pm
Connie on Justice, three ways.
April 28th, 2012 7:31 pm
Connie on Saturday morning mystery spot.
April 28th, 2012 10:05 pm
Connie on Saturday morning mystery spot.
April 28th, 2012 10:14 pm
Connie on Saturday morning mystery spot.
April 29th, 2012 5:00 am
Connie on Saturday morning mystery spot.
April 30th, 2012 5:57 am
Connie on Saturday morning mystery spot.
April 30th, 2012 4:33 pm
Connie on Saturday morning mystery spot.
April 30th, 2012 5:21 pm
Connie on Saturday morning mystery spot.
April 30th, 2012 6:39 pm
Connie on Saturday morning mystery spot.
April 30th, 2012 8:09 pm
Connie on Saturday morning mystery spot.
May 1st, 2012 5:35 am
Connie on Madtown.
May 1st, 2012 6:51 pm
Connie on Madtown.
May 1st, 2012 9:36 pm
Connie on Madtown.
May 1st, 2012 11:30 pm
Connie on Oops.
May 2nd, 2012 5:29 pm
Connie on Oops.
May 3rd, 2012 3:19 am
Connie on The cheering section.
May 3rd, 2012 5:03 pm
Connie on The cheering section.
May 3rd, 2012 5:14 pm
Connie on The cheering section.
May 3rd, 2012 10:59 pm
Connie on The cheering section.
May 4th, 2012 12:39 am
Connie on Just the stenographer.
May 4th, 2012 6:25 pm
Connie on Don't primary me, bro.
May 7th, 2012 6:56 pm
Connie on Don't primary me, bro.
May 7th, 2012 10:06 pm
Connie on Farewell to a few.
May 9th, 2012 5:00 pm
Connie on The big news.
May 10th, 2012 7:00 pm
Connie on The big news.
May 10th, 2012 10:59 pm
Connie on The big news.
May 11th, 2012 12:44 am
Connie on Progress.
May 11th, 2012 4:14 pm
Connie on Slashed.
May 14th, 2012 2:20 pm
Connie on I dew.
May 17th, 2012 6:30 pm
Connie on Who's shooting who?
May 22nd, 2012 2:27 pm
Connie on Who's shooting who?
May 22nd, 2012 5:12 pm
Connie on Who's shooting who?
May 22nd, 2012 6:34 pm
Connie on Appalled, but not by this.
May 23rd, 2012 6:07 pm
Connie on Appalled, but not by this.
May 23rd, 2012 9:18 pm
Connie on Around the world.
May 25th, 2012 5:07 pm
Connie on Day one under the bridge.
May 31st, 2012 2:51 am
Connie on Day two under the bridge.
May 31st, 2012 8:07 pm
Connie on Day two under the bridge.
June 1st, 2012 10:40 pm
Connie on Day two under the bridge.
June 2nd, 2012 5:31 pm
Connie on Martinis on Mackinac.
June 4th, 2012 6:50 pm
Connie on Martinis on Mackinac.
June 4th, 2012 8:06 pm
Connie on Martinis on Mackinac.
June 4th, 2012 10:10 pm
Connie on Sick day.
June 5th, 2012 9:39 pm
Connie on Dulce et decorum est.
June 6th, 2012 6:20 pm
Connie on Dulce et decorum est.
June 6th, 2012 7:25 pm
Connie on Dulce et decorum est.
June 6th, 2012 8:15 pm
Connie on Extra-large.
June 7th, 2012 3:40 pm
Connie on Extra-large.
June 7th, 2012 7:15 pm
Connie on One more slacker.
June 8th, 2012 3:44 pm
Connie on One more slacker.
June 8th, 2012 4:52 pm
Connie on One more slacker.
June 8th, 2012 6:20 pm
Connie on One more slacker.
June 9th, 2012 6:23 pm
Connie on No showers, please.
June 13th, 2012 4:41 pm
Connie on No showers, please.
June 13th, 2012 8:01 pm
Connie on A bridge to somewhere.
June 14th, 2012 2:58 pm
Connie on A bridge to somewhere.
June 14th, 2012 5:11 pm
Connie on A bridge to somewhere.
June 14th, 2012 6:25 pm
Connie on A bridge to somewhere.
June 14th, 2012 8:49 pm
Connie on A bridge to somewhere.
June 15th, 2012 2:48 am
Connie on You can't say that here.
June 15th, 2012 6:43 pm
Connie on You can't say that here.
June 15th, 2012 9:29 pm
Connie on You can't say that here.
June 15th, 2012 11:23 pm
Connie on A couple dozen miles down the road.
June 18th, 2012 6:46 pm
Connie on A couple dozen miles down the road.
June 18th, 2012 6:55 pm
Connie on T, U, V.
June 19th, 2012 6:57 pm
Connie on Baked.
June 20th, 2012 7:28 pm
Connie on The early shift.
June 22nd, 2012 6:31 pm
Connie on I feel bad about Nora.
June 27th, 2012 4:49 pm
Connie on I can't look.
June 28th, 2012 11:21 pm
Connie on Who said that?
June 29th, 2012 4:36 pm
Connie on Steaming.
July 2nd, 2012 6:18 pm
Connie on A long, long time ago...
July 3rd, 2012 5:51 pm
Connie on Stars in his eyes.
July 5th, 2012 4:35 pm
Connie on Stars in his eyes.
July 5th, 2012 7:22 pm
Connie on Blown to bits.
July 6th, 2012 4:30 pm
Connie on Blown to bits.
July 6th, 2012 11:08 pm
Connie on Blown to bits.
July 7th, 2012 4:42 am
Connie on Blown to bits.
July 7th, 2012 5:25 pm
Connie on Too good.
July 10th, 2012 6:22 pm
Connie on Too good.
July 11th, 2012 4:40 am
Connie on Too good.
July 11th, 2012 6:35 am
Connie on Too good.
July 11th, 2012 2:26 pm
Connie on Too good.
July 12th, 2012 7:31 pm
Connie on Too good.
July 13th, 2012 4:22 pm
Connie on Too good.
July 13th, 2012 9:37 pm
Connie on Too good.
July 14th, 2012 1:46 am
Connie on Too good.
July 15th, 2012 8:29 pm
Connie on What the--?
July 16th, 2012 8:29 pm
Connie on Sunday night, again.
July 17th, 2012 6:16 pm
Connie on Sunday night, again.
July 17th, 2012 11:40 pm
Connie on Up and back. Repeat.
July 18th, 2012 2:25 pm
Connie on Up and back. Repeat.
July 18th, 2012 7:08 pm
Connie on Linky.
July 24th, 2012 8:21 pm
Connie on Oops, I did it again.
July 25th, 2012 6:03 pm
Connie on I hope the fishing's good.
July 27th, 2012 3:33 pm
Connie on Baseball been very very good to me.
August 6th, 2012 2:20 pm
Connie on Tyson Who?
August 7th, 2012 6:37 pm
Connie on Tyson Who?
August 7th, 2012 11:06 pm
Connie on Sunday on the road.
August 13th, 2012 7:08 pm
Connie on Monday on the road.
August 14th, 2012 4:00 am
Connie on Wednesday at home.
August 15th, 2012 5:40 pm
Connie on Wednesday at home.
August 15th, 2012 6:36 pm
Connie on Wednesday at home.
August 16th, 2012 2:41 am
Connie on Oh, you kids.
August 16th, 2012 5:44 pm
Connie on Oh, you kids.
August 16th, 2012 8:42 pm
Connie on Oh, you kids.
August 16th, 2012 9:48 pm
Connie on The angry-cycle.
August 17th, 2012 10:32 pm
Connie on Two musicals and a bleh.
August 20th, 2012 6:23 pm
Connie on Two musicals and a bleh.
August 20th, 2012 11:18 pm
Connie on Winter is coming.
August 22nd, 2012 6:18 pm
Connie on Winter is coming.
August 23rd, 2012 1:26 am
Connie on Saturday morning market.
August 26th, 2012 3:51 pm
Connie on First man.
August 27th, 2012 4:55 pm
Connie on First man.
August 27th, 2012 7:06 pm
Connie on First man.
August 27th, 2012 7:58 pm
Connie on First man.
August 27th, 2012 9:59 pm
Connie on First man.
August 27th, 2012 11:00 pm
Connie on First man.
August 28th, 2012 12:58 am
Connie on Night rolling.
August 28th, 2012 11:42 pm
Connie on Lance the imperfect.
August 29th, 2012 5:14 pm
Connie on Lance the imperfect.
August 29th, 2012 7:53 pm
Connie on Lance the imperfect.
August 29th, 2012 9:47 pm
Connie on Doing windows.
August 30th, 2012 5:42 pm
Connie on Doing windows.
August 30th, 2012 9:26 pm
Connie on Doing windows.
August 30th, 2012 10:27 pm
Connie on Conventional behavior.
August 31st, 2012 6:13 pm
Connie on Conventional behavior.
August 31st, 2012 6:31 pm
Connie on A nosegay of linkage.
September 5th, 2012 12:12 am
Connie on A nosegay of linkage.
September 5th, 2012 1:07 am
Connie on What went down.
September 5th, 2012 6:06 pm
Connie on That's very unwise.
September 10th, 2012 5:00 pm
Connie on That's very unwise.
September 10th, 2012 10:38 pm
Connie on Bow down. Then sleep.
September 11th, 2012 5:29 pm
Connie on Bow down. Then sleep.
September 11th, 2012 7:33 pm
Connie on Bow down. Then sleep.
September 11th, 2012 9:29 pm
Connie on Still Bob, after all these years.
September 13th, 2012 5:00 pm
Connie on Still Bob, after all these years.
September 14th, 2012 1:36 am
Connie on Saturday morning market.
September 17th, 2012 5:04 am
Connie on Old family recipe.
September 17th, 2012 2:54 pm
Connie on Old family recipe.
September 17th, 2012 4:29 pm
Connie on Who is in the 47 percent?
September 18th, 2012 5:25 pm
Connie on Who is in the 47 percent?
September 18th, 2012 11:12 pm
Connie on Who is in the 47 percent?
September 19th, 2012 6:32 am
Connie on Back to school.
September 19th, 2012 5:55 pm
Connie on The elephant in the room.
September 20th, 2012 5:52 pm
Connie on The elephant in the room.
September 20th, 2012 6:26 pm
Connie on Waiting.
September 22nd, 2012 5:49 am
Connie on Waiting.
September 22nd, 2012 5:50 am
Connie on Civic life.
September 25th, 2012 6:17 pm
Connie on Civic life.
September 25th, 2012 9:38 pm
Connie on Waiting for something.
September 28th, 2012 7:31 pm
Connie on Waiting for something.
September 28th, 2012 7:33 pm
Connie on Waiting for something.
September 28th, 2012 8:49 pm
Connie on Waiting for something.
September 29th, 2012 3:22 am
Connie on Saturday afternoon market.
September 29th, 2012 10:36 pm
Connie on Saturday afternoon market.
September 30th, 2012 6:25 am
Connie on Pixel-away.
October 1st, 2012 5:23 pm
Connie on When the news is fun.
October 3rd, 2012 5:54 pm
Connie on The chariot race.
October 9th, 2012 5:53 pm
Connie on The chariot race.
October 9th, 2012 10:11 pm
Connie on College night.
October 11th, 2012 4:49 pm
Connie on Pulptastic.
October 14th, 2012 10:13 pm
Connie on A long fall.
October 15th, 2012 6:41 pm
Connie on A long fall.
October 15th, 2012 7:30 pm
Connie on Day off.
October 16th, 2012 3:43 pm
Connie on Day off.
October 16th, 2012 7:46 pm
Connie on Day off.
October 17th, 2012 6:07 am
Connie on Day off.
October 17th, 2012 6:40 am
Connie on Dry all over.
October 17th, 2012 4:19 pm
Connie on Ring ring ring.
October 18th, 2012 5:40 pm
Connie on Ring ring ring.
October 18th, 2012 9:27 pm
Connie on Ring ring ring.
October 19th, 2012 2:35 am
Connie on Ring ring ring.
October 19th, 2012 2:46 am
Connie on Ring ring ring.
October 19th, 2012 2:51 am
Connie on Ring ring ring.
October 19th, 2012 2:51 am
Connie on Strange bedfellows.
October 19th, 2012 3:15 pm
Connie on Strange bedfellows.
October 19th, 2012 4:43 pm
Connie on Strange bedfellows.
October 19th, 2012 5:44 pm
Connie on Strange bedfellows.
October 19th, 2012 9:43 pm
Connie on Strange bedfellows.
October 20th, 2012 5:11 pm
Connie on The neighbors.
October 23rd, 2012 5:20 pm
Connie on The neighbors.
October 23rd, 2012 5:22 pm
Connie on Cerebral blockage.
October 24th, 2012 6:42 pm
Connie on Cerebral blockage.
October 24th, 2012 6:54 pm
Connie on Times a-changin'.
October 26th, 2012 7:06 pm
Connie on 'Twas a rough night.
October 30th, 2012 4:29 pm
Connie on We're watching.
November 1st, 2012 5:41 am
Connie on Whoop-whoop.
November 1st, 2012 2:12 pm
Connie on Pops and hisses.
November 5th, 2012 8:53 pm
Connie on Don't forget to vote.
November 6th, 2012 3:56 pm
Connie on Don't forget to vote.
November 6th, 2012 8:14 pm
Connie on Don't forget to vote.
November 6th, 2012 11:29 pm
Connie on Blame the weather.
November 12th, 2012 4:36 am
Connie on The mild west.
November 12th, 2012 5:57 pm
Connie on I deserved a break today.
November 13th, 2012 10:17 pm
Connie on I deserved a break today.
November 13th, 2012 10:54 pm
Connie on Braaaains.
November 14th, 2012 3:37 pm
Connie on Busy girls, birthday girl.
November 16th, 2012 3:42 pm
Connie on Busy girls, birthday girl.
November 17th, 2012 2:11 am
Connie on Light the fuse.
November 19th, 2012 5:38 pm
Connie on Light the fuse.
November 19th, 2012 6:23 pm
Connie on Light the fuse.
November 19th, 2012 11:12 pm
Connie on Light the fuse.
November 20th, 2012 2:05 am
Connie on Still the first week.
November 20th, 2012 7:49 pm
Connie on Still the first week.
November 20th, 2012 9:09 pm
Connie on Still the first week.
November 21st, 2012 6:48 am
Connie on Poor pups.
November 21st, 2012 6:43 pm
Connie on Poor pups.
November 22nd, 2012 3:12 am
Connie on Poor pups.
November 22nd, 2012 3:35 pm
Connie on Poor pups.
November 23rd, 2012 5:18 am
Connie on The lazy-weekend roundup.
November 26th, 2012 7:53 pm
Connie on Squeaky-clean.
November 28th, 2012 11:20 pm
Connie on Predictable.
November 29th, 2012 3:19 pm
Connie on Predictable.
November 29th, 2012 6:36 pm
Connie on White room, red hair.
December 1st, 2012 3:33 am
Connie on Saturday afternoon market.
December 2nd, 2012 7:43 am
Connie on Secrets of the industrial park.
December 3rd, 2012 6:47 pm
Connie on Secrets of the industrial park.
December 4th, 2012 5:20 am
Connie on The murk of Monday.
December 4th, 2012 5:14 pm
Connie on The murk of Monday.
December 4th, 2012 7:30 pm
Connie on Open thread.
December 5th, 2012 6:31 pm
Connie on Open thread.
December 5th, 2012 8:37 pm
Connie on Open thread.
December 5th, 2012 8:40 pm
Connie on The lame excuses.
December 6th, 2012 7:06 pm
Connie on The lame excuses.
December 6th, 2012 11:52 pm
Connie on The lame excuses.
December 7th, 2012 5:49 am
Connie on Fresh start.
December 7th, 2012 4:51 pm
Connie on Fresh start.
December 7th, 2012 5:33 pm
Connie on Fresh start.
December 7th, 2012 5:39 pm
Connie on Fresh start.
December 7th, 2012 6:26 pm
Connie on Fresh start.
December 7th, 2012 7:49 pm
Connie on Fresh start.
December 7th, 2012 8:07 pm
Connie on Fresh start.
December 7th, 2012 9:17 pm
Connie on Fresh start.
December 7th, 2012 9:23 pm
Connie on Fresh start.
December 7th, 2012 10:05 pm
Connie on Top-rack time.
December 16th, 2012 7:14 am
Connie on At our best.
December 17th, 2012 10:37 pm
Connie on At our best.
December 17th, 2012 10:38 pm
Connie on Drop it.
December 20th, 2012 3:45 pm
Connie on Happy holidays.
December 21st, 2012 4:14 pm
Connie on Happy holidays.
December 23rd, 2012 6:31 pm
Connie on Happy holidays.
December 23rd, 2012 8:46 pm
Connie on Happy holidays.
December 24th, 2012 9:11 pm
Connie on Hey.
December 27th, 2012 4:54 am
Connie on Hey.
December 27th, 2012 4:57 am
Connie on A little light reading.
December 28th, 2012 7:46 am
Connie on A little light reading.
December 28th, 2012 5:42 pm
Connie on A little light reading.
December 28th, 2012 7:25 pm
Connie on A little light reading.
December 29th, 2012 4:13 am
Connie on A little light reading.
December 30th, 2012 4:32 am
Connie on Three Fs for 2013.
December 31st, 2012 6:29 pm
Connie on Back to work.
January 2nd, 2013 5:45 pm
Connie on Back to work.
January 2nd, 2013 7:30 pm
Connie on Back to work.
January 2nd, 2013 7:31 pm
Connie on Back to work.
January 2nd, 2013 8:49 pm
Connie on Back to work.
January 2nd, 2013 8:52 pm
Connie on A doldrums day.
January 10th, 2013 4:10 am
Connie on The sickly season.
January 10th, 2013 6:56 pm
Connie on Shrinkage.
January 11th, 2013 6:39 pm
Connie on National Soup Month at midpoint.
January 16th, 2013 11:51 pm
Connie on National Soup Month at midpoint.
January 17th, 2013 4:33 am
Connie on A sad, sad song.
January 17th, 2013 9:38 pm
Connie on Sad, but sort of wonderful.
January 20th, 2013 4:56 am
Connie on Paddy, stand tall.
January 25th, 2013 6:41 pm
Connie on They (finally) did.
January 31st, 2013 3:17 pm
Connie on They (finally) did.
January 31st, 2013 9:17 pm
Connie on Bloody damn snow.
February 1st, 2013 5:16 pm
Connie on Bloody damn snow.
February 1st, 2013 6:25 pm
Connie on Bloody damn snow.
February 1st, 2013 6:27 pm
Connie on Bloody damn snow.
February 1st, 2013 7:13 pm
Connie on Bloody damn snow.
February 1st, 2013 9:52 pm
Connie on Bloody damn snow.
February 2nd, 2013 10:00 pm
Connie on Work will set you free.
February 6th, 2013 5:15 pm
Connie on Work will set you free.
February 6th, 2013 6:42 pm
Connie on Snowstorm eve.
February 7th, 2013 10:35 pm
Connie on Snowstorm eve.
February 8th, 2013 4:17 am
Connie on Drifting flakes.
February 8th, 2013 8:45 pm
Connie on Some complaints.
February 12th, 2013 6:12 pm
Connie on Some complaints.
February 12th, 2013 8:14 pm
Connie on Do that in a designated area.
February 14th, 2013 7:52 pm
Connie on Do that in a designated area.
February 14th, 2013 9:32 pm
Connie on Voyage to hell.
February 15th, 2013 6:42 pm
Connie on Tapped.
February 22nd, 2013 3:02 am
Connie on Tapped.
February 22nd, 2013 4:59 am
Connie on Oscars open thread, plus shoes.
February 25th, 2013 10:11 pm
Connie on Saturday morning market.
March 4th, 2013 4:53 am
Connie on Still chilly out there.
March 4th, 2013 6:05 pm
Connie on A good thrashing.
March 5th, 2013 4:01 pm
Connie on A good thrashing.
March 5th, 2013 8:19 pm
Connie on A good thrashing.
March 6th, 2013 1:37 am
Connie on A good thrashing.
March 6th, 2013 1:39 am
Connie on A good thrashing.
March 6th, 2013 3:37 pm
Connie on Love is in the air.
March 6th, 2013 6:30 pm
Connie on Love is in the air.
March 6th, 2013 8:03 pm
Connie on Handle at your own risk.
March 9th, 2013 4:27 pm
Connie on Handle at your own risk.
March 9th, 2013 5:41 pm
Connie on Dietary laws.
March 11th, 2013 6:13 pm
Connie on Dietary laws.
March 12th, 2013 4:18 am
Connie on The jury speaketh.
March 13th, 2013 1:07 am
Connie on The new guy.
March 14th, 2013 6:53 pm
Connie on EM Day.
March 15th, 2013 8:58 pm
Connie on A chill.
March 19th, 2013 6:02 pm
Connie on Marching guitars.
March 21st, 2013 9:52 pm
Connie on The 3.2 beer of maryjane.
March 22nd, 2013 8:02 pm
Connie on (Palm) Saturday morning market.
March 24th, 2013 11:55 pm
Connie on Shearling and shorn.
March 27th, 2013 6:05 pm
Connie on Shearling and shorn.
March 27th, 2013 6:27 pm
Connie on Semi-vacation day.
March 29th, 2013 3:56 pm
Connie on Saturday morning market.
March 31st, 2013 3:18 am
Connie on Saturday morning, early spring.
April 6th, 2013 10:04 pm
Connie on Saturday morning, early spring.
April 7th, 2013 7:11 pm
Connie on Picky, picky, picky.
April 9th, 2013 8:37 pm
Connie on Loose ends.
April 14th, 2013 11:17 pm
Connie on White birds and snow.
April 15th, 2013 10:48 pm
Connie on Sick leave, eventually.
April 17th, 2013 3:52 pm
Connie on Sick leave, eventually.
April 17th, 2013 7:13 pm
Connie on Sick leave, eventually.
April 18th, 2013 6:11 pm
Connie on Sick leave, eventually.
April 18th, 2013 9:13 pm
Connie on Sick leave, eventually.
April 18th, 2013 11:13 pm
Connie on The mystery men.
April 19th, 2013 2:04 pm
Connie on The mystery men.
April 19th, 2013 3:04 pm
Connie on RIP.
April 22nd, 2013 6:21 pm
Connie on Dogs on the grill. In the rain.
April 24th, 2013 2:31 pm
Connie on The bleary moon.
April 28th, 2013 5:03 pm
Connie on Farewell until whenever.
May 1st, 2013 6:36 pm
Connie on Farewell until whenever.
May 1st, 2013 6:37 pm
Connie on Farewell until whenever.
May 6th, 2013 2:04 pm
Connie on Farewell until whenever.
May 6th, 2013 3:34 pm
Connie on Convalescence.
May 7th, 2013 10:39 pm
Connie on Upright.
May 8th, 2013 5:35 pm
Connie on Upright.
May 8th, 2013 8:52 pm
Connie on Upright.
May 9th, 2013 3:00 am
Connie on In the steam bath with Dr. Joyce.
May 14th, 2013 2:34 pm
Connie on In the steam bath with Dr. Joyce.
May 14th, 2013 5:26 pm
Connie on The big test.
May 15th, 2013 9:34 am
Connie on A great weekend.
May 20th, 2013 6:17 pm
Connie on A great weekend.
May 20th, 2013 6:47 pm
Connie on Twister. Killer.
May 21st, 2013 5:11 pm
Connie on Namaste.
May 24th, 2013 5:04 pm
Connie on Namaste.
May 24th, 2013 8:50 pm
Connie on Dirty books.
May 29th, 2013 7:42 pm
Connie on Sorry about that.
June 5th, 2013 5:19 pm
Connie on She said woof.
June 6th, 2013 5:48 pm
Connie on Pulp fiction.
June 14th, 2013 3:55 pm
Connie on Pulp fiction.
June 14th, 2013 3:56 pm
Connie on The new girl.
June 24th, 2013 5:35 pm
Connie on Saturday morning market.
June 29th, 2013 9:05 pm
Connie on This just in.
July 3rd, 2013 5:21 pm
Connie on This just in.
July 5th, 2013 12:47 am
Connie on This just in.
July 5th, 2013 3:29 am
Connie on Fast and loose.
July 10th, 2013 7:43 pm
Connie on Stop going backward, Mercury.
July 12th, 2013 3:36 am
Connie on SHARKNADO.
July 12th, 2013 4:20 pm
Connie on Asking, but not.
July 18th, 2013 5:00 pm
Connie on We'll see you in court.
July 21st, 2013 3:47 am
Connie on A moment with the grammar nerd.
July 22nd, 2013 9:40 pm
Connie on A moment with the grammar nerd.
July 22nd, 2013 10:46 pm
Connie on On the rain-slick highway.
July 24th, 2013 5:18 pm
Connie on The summer slump.
July 26th, 2013 2:05 pm
Connie on The summer slump.
July 26th, 2013 3:54 pm
Connie on The summer slump.
July 26th, 2013 4:01 pm
Connie on The summer slump.
July 26th, 2013 4:04 pm
Connie on The summer slump.
July 26th, 2013 4:12 pm
Connie on The summer slump.
July 26th, 2013 5:23 pm
Connie on The summer slump.
July 28th, 2013 5:40 am
Connie on The long, cool summer.
July 29th, 2013 5:54 pm
Connie on One for me.
July 30th, 2013 5:21 pm
Connie on Fist, v.
July 31st, 2013 10:46 pm
Connie on The fat lady sings.
August 2nd, 2013 2:16 pm
Connie on The fat lady sings.
August 3rd, 2013 6:47 am
Connie on Year by year.
August 6th, 2013 3:08 pm
Connie on Year by year.
August 6th, 2013 7:42 pm
Connie on Laden.
August 18th, 2013 4:32 am
Connie on Laden.
August 18th, 2013 4:33 am
Connie on Laden.
August 18th, 2013 5:51 pm
Connie on Elmore Leonard, RIP, II.
August 21st, 2013 10:29 pm
Connie on Link salad.
August 22nd, 2013 11:14 pm
Connie on The chicken gaffe.
August 23rd, 2013 4:53 pm
Connie on The chicken gaffe.
August 23rd, 2013 5:49 pm
Connie on The chicken gaffe.
August 23rd, 2013 6:05 pm
Connie on The chicken gaffe.
August 23rd, 2013 9:39 pm
Connie on A crescendo to the finale.
August 26th, 2013 5:11 pm
Connie on Insert local reference here.
August 27th, 2013 10:02 pm
Connie on Insert local reference here.
August 27th, 2013 10:03 pm
Connie on The peaches are jealous.
August 28th, 2013 2:32 pm
Connie on The peaches are jealous.
August 28th, 2013 5:19 pm
Connie on The peaches are jealous.
August 28th, 2013 8:03 pm
Connie on The peaches are jealous.
August 28th, 2013 9:11 pm
Connie on The peaches are jealous.
August 29th, 2013 1:24 am
Connie on Glowing.
September 3rd, 2013 3:59 pm
Connie on Glowing.
September 4th, 2013 2:34 am
Connie on Glowing.
September 4th, 2013 2:36 am
Connie on Mystery truck.
September 5th, 2013 8:29 pm
Connie on Majoring in money.
September 6th, 2013 4:27 pm
Connie on That's out there.
September 10th, 2013 4:05 pm
Connie on That's out there.
September 10th, 2013 5:14 pm
Connie on That's out there.
September 10th, 2013 7:38 pm
Connie on Spotty service.
September 12th, 2013 8:51 pm
Connie on A day away.
September 27th, 2013 9:20 pm
Connie on Farewell, Albuquerque.
September 30th, 2013 9:55 pm
Connie on Farewell, Albuquerque.
October 1st, 2013 2:21 am
Connie on Farewell, Albuquerque.
October 1st, 2013 3:27 am
Connie on Farewell, Albuquerque.
October 1st, 2013 6:15 am
Connie on Farewell, Albuquerque.
October 1st, 2013 6:23 am
Connie on Walking and talking.
October 2nd, 2013 5:18 pm
Connie on Walking and talking.
October 2nd, 2013 6:15 pm
Connie on Walking and talking.
October 3rd, 2013 12:56 am
Connie on Question for the room.
October 4th, 2013 3:01 am
Connie on Question for the room.
October 4th, 2013 3:05 am
Connie on Phone call from Crazyville.
October 4th, 2013 7:31 pm
Connie on Phone call from Crazyville.
October 4th, 2013 7:38 pm
Connie on Nobody has a grammar.
October 9th, 2013 4:33 pm
Connie on Nobody has a grammar.
October 9th, 2013 5:18 pm
Connie on Listicle madness.
October 10th, 2013 6:17 pm
Connie on Listicle madness.
October 11th, 2013 4:16 am
Connie on Listicle madness.
October 11th, 2013 4:30 am
Connie on Arts and culture and obsession.
October 14th, 2013 5:11 pm
Connie on Arts and culture and obsession.
October 14th, 2013 6:37 pm
Connie on Arts and culture and obsession.
October 15th, 2013 3:12 am
Connie on Arts and culture and obsession.
October 15th, 2013 5:46 am
Connie on Link salad, again.
October 15th, 2013 11:27 pm
Connie on Barking at the mailman.
October 16th, 2013 11:45 pm
Connie on Not getting it.
October 18th, 2013 5:44 am
Connie on Gimme the keys.
October 25th, 2013 5:41 pm
Connie on Gimme the keys.
October 25th, 2013 9:02 pm
Connie on What you bought.
October 30th, 2013 6:51 pm
Connie on What you bought.
October 30th, 2013 7:51 pm
Connie on What you bought.
October 30th, 2013 8:52 pm
Connie on Hair today, and tomorrow.
October 31st, 2013 5:48 pm
Connie on Hair today, and tomorrow.
November 1st, 2013 5:56 am
Connie on A treat for you, ma'am.
November 1st, 2013 4:21 pm
Connie on What's it worth to you?
November 4th, 2013 9:15 pm
Connie on Open thread.
November 5th, 2013 9:04 pm
Connie on Bad men.
November 6th, 2013 5:20 pm
Connie on Bad men.
November 6th, 2013 7:23 pm
Connie on Bad men.
November 6th, 2013 7:24 pm
Connie on Home improvement.
November 8th, 2013 8:18 pm
Connie on New book, new day.
November 12th, 2013 10:06 pm
Connie on Sisters.
November 19th, 2013 7:12 pm
Connie on Sisters.
November 19th, 2013 7:15 pm
Connie on Sisters.
November 19th, 2013 7:56 pm
Connie on Yet another link salad.
November 21st, 2013 12:10 am
Connie on Yet another link salad.
November 21st, 2013 12:15 am
Connie on Yet another link salad.
November 21st, 2013 4:54 am
Connie on Yet another link salad.
November 21st, 2013 7:41 am
Connie on The broken hinge.
November 21st, 2013 9:36 pm
Connie on White knuckles.
November 23rd, 2013 2:11 am
Connie on The natal-day weekend.
November 26th, 2013 12:02 am
Connie on The cultural cornucopia.
December 3rd, 2013 6:38 am
Connie on Dispatches from the front.
December 3rd, 2013 7:34 pm
Connie on Dispatches from the front.
December 3rd, 2013 8:16 pm
Connie on Dispatches from the front.
December 3rd, 2013 11:19 pm
Connie on Dispatches from the front.
December 3rd, 2013 11:21 pm
Connie on Something you might not know.
December 4th, 2013 9:29 pm
Connie on Something you might not know.
December 5th, 2013 7:12 am
Connie on Stood it, by golly.
December 5th, 2013 7:02 pm
Connie on Stood it, by golly.
December 6th, 2013 5:25 am
Connie on Check local listings.
December 6th, 2013 3:33 pm
Connie on Check local listings.
December 7th, 2013 2:49 am
Connie on Play nice.
December 9th, 2013 6:28 pm
Connie on Play nice.
December 9th, 2013 6:45 pm
Connie on Play nice.
December 9th, 2013 11:56 pm
Connie on A tale of two appliances.
December 10th, 2013 5:13 pm
Connie on A tale of two appliances.
December 10th, 2013 5:21 pm
Connie on A tale of two appliances.
December 11th, 2013 2:26 am
Connie on A tale of two appliances.
December 11th, 2013 5:56 am
Connie on The week of socializing frequently.
December 11th, 2013 5:20 pm
Connie on Good stories, well-told.
December 16th, 2013 4:39 am
Connie on The blanket arrives.
December 16th, 2013 7:19 pm
Connie on Get-well cards.
December 19th, 2013 6:28 pm
Connie on Get-well cards.
December 19th, 2013 6:32 pm
Connie on Twice in one year.
December 20th, 2013 9:44 pm
Connie on Twice in one year.
December 21st, 2013 4:56 pm
Connie on Closet no. 1.
December 27th, 2013 6:52 pm
Connie on In my day, we were cold.
January 6th, 2014 6:57 pm
Connie on In my day, we were cold.
January 6th, 2014 8:49 pm
Connie on RIP, probably.
January 8th, 2014 4:50 am
Connie on The fat guy talks. And talks and talks...
January 11th, 2014 12:07 am
Connie on The fat guy talks. And talks and talks...
January 11th, 2014 3:50 pm
Connie on Big ears.
January 14th, 2014 7:59 pm
Connie on Big ears.
January 15th, 2014 3:10 am
Connie on Big Brother.
January 15th, 2014 6:25 pm
Connie on What's in yours?
January 16th, 2014 7:52 pm
Connie on Everything hurts.
January 17th, 2014 4:21 pm
Connie on Saturday morning market.
January 19th, 2014 5:30 pm
Connie on A good report card.
January 21st, 2014 6:40 pm
Connie on The great works.
January 24th, 2014 5:55 pm
Connie on The great works.
January 25th, 2014 12:24 am
Connie on The great works.
January 25th, 2014 10:50 pm
Connie on The great works.
January 26th, 2014 7:33 pm
Connie on A culture of deception.
January 28th, 2014 11:49 pm
Connie on A culture of deception.
January 28th, 2014 11:52 pm
Connie on One day at a time.
January 29th, 2014 2:58 pm
Connie on One day at a time.
January 29th, 2014 6:45 pm
Connie on One day at a time.
January 29th, 2014 6:46 pm
Connie on One day at a time.
January 30th, 2014 12:24 am
Connie on Sweetie.
January 30th, 2014 6:44 pm
Connie on Sweetie.
January 30th, 2014 11:54 pm
Connie on Sweetie.
January 31st, 2014 1:44 am
Connie on Car culture, with snow tires.
February 2nd, 2014 9:30 am
Connie on Old notes I can now trash.
February 4th, 2014 8:40 pm
Connie on Old notes I can now trash.
February 4th, 2014 10:09 pm
Connie on Old notes I can now trash.
February 5th, 2014 12:07 am
Connie on Old notes I can now trash.
February 5th, 2014 2:39 am
Connie on Old notes I can now trash.
February 5th, 2014 6:47 am
Connie on Don't drink the water.
February 5th, 2014 5:39 pm
Connie on Someone must have sang like a canary.
February 7th, 2014 4:55 pm
Connie on Someone must have sang like a canary.
February 7th, 2014 7:50 pm
Connie on Someone must have sang like a canary.
February 8th, 2014 5:43 am
Connie on The end of an overly perfumed era.
February 12th, 2014 8:01 pm
Connie on The singing dogs.
February 13th, 2014 5:42 pm
Connie on What's the matter with Kansas?
February 15th, 2014 7:23 pm
Connie on Photo op.
February 18th, 2014 11:25 pm
Connie on Photo op.
February 19th, 2014 8:43 pm
Connie on Someone was here.
February 20th, 2014 9:43 pm
Connie on Someone was here.
February 20th, 2014 11:54 pm
Connie on Someone was here.
February 21st, 2014 8:15 am
Connie on Someone was here.
February 22nd, 2014 9:57 pm
Connie on Return from Fat City.
February 26th, 2014 7:40 pm
Connie on Return from Fat City.
February 27th, 2014 1:21 am
Connie on The Louds.
February 28th, 2014 4:23 am
Connie on Meanwhile, back here...
February 28th, 2014 5:18 pm
Connie on Meanwhile, back here...
February 28th, 2014 7:40 pm
Connie on Meanwhile, back here...
February 28th, 2014 7:58 pm
Connie on Meanwhile, back here...
February 28th, 2014 7:58 pm
Connie on New devices.
March 5th, 2014 10:59 pm
Connie on New devices.
March 5th, 2014 11:00 pm
Connie on New devices.
March 5th, 2014 11:24 pm
Connie on Up and down the dial.
March 6th, 2014 7:18 pm
Connie on The old man.
March 8th, 2014 8:45 pm
Connie on Here we go again.
March 12th, 2014 3:37 pm
Connie on Phoned in.
March 13th, 2014 4:06 pm
Connie on Trolling.
March 14th, 2014 5:50 pm
Connie on Trolling.
March 15th, 2014 4:58 pm
Connie on Saturday morning market.
March 16th, 2014 4:19 pm
Connie on St. Frozen's Day.
March 17th, 2014 5:41 pm
Connie on St. Frozen's Day.
March 17th, 2014 9:45 pm
Connie on St. Frozen's Day.
March 17th, 2014 10:07 pm
Connie on Shopping for knowledge.
March 19th, 2014 2:23 pm
Connie on Shopping for knowledge.
March 19th, 2014 7:04 pm
Connie on These were a few of my favorite things.
March 22nd, 2014 12:20 am
Connie on The buzzards return.
March 25th, 2014 8:25 pm
Connie on Having a pour.
March 31st, 2014 4:57 pm
Connie on Having a pour.
April 1st, 2014 1:10 am
Connie on Here comes the fun.
April 1st, 2014 7:39 pm
Connie on Slide show.
April 2nd, 2014 5:43 pm
Connie on Slide show.
April 2nd, 2014 5:44 pm
Connie on Human relations.
April 5th, 2014 4:29 pm
Connie on Love, plus cheese sauce.
April 8th, 2014 4:13 pm
Connie on Love, plus cheese sauce.
April 8th, 2014 5:31 pm
Connie on He kneaded her.
April 9th, 2014 4:44 pm
Connie on Alas.
April 10th, 2014 1:43 pm
Connie on Monday, Monday, Monday.
April 15th, 2014 2:04 pm
Connie on That's *my* pie.
April 22nd, 2014 5:27 pm
Connie on Dogs and how they sleep.
April 23rd, 2014 4:15 pm
Connie on Dogs and how they sleep.
April 24th, 2014 5:41 pm
Connie on Back to Ohio.
April 25th, 2014 7:48 pm
Connie on Meet the DVAS.
April 28th, 2014 10:28 pm
Connie on Better living.
April 30th, 2014 5:19 pm
Connie on Better living.
April 30th, 2014 7:41 pm
Connie on Better living.
May 1st, 2014 2:42 am
Connie on Better living.
May 1st, 2014 2:44 am
Connie on Better living.
May 1st, 2014 5:35 am
Connie on One too many.
May 1st, 2014 6:02 pm
Connie on Eat the rich.
May 2nd, 2014 5:54 pm
Connie on Eat the rich.
May 4th, 2014 4:31 pm
Connie on Another sub-60 degree weekend.
May 5th, 2014 2:22 pm
Connie on Another sub-60 degree weekend.
May 5th, 2014 4:59 pm
Connie on Another sub-60 degree weekend.
May 5th, 2014 7:03 pm
Connie on Getting it, in writing.
May 7th, 2014 6:39 pm
Connie on Getting it, in writing.
May 7th, 2014 6:41 pm
Connie on The kids are back.
May 8th, 2014 4:55 pm
Connie on Measured out in coffee spoons.
May 13th, 2014 3:23 pm
Connie on Lean in and be beheaded.
May 15th, 2014 6:24 pm
Connie on The fire, still burning.
May 19th, 2014 4:58 pm
Connie on See-bus.
May 21st, 2014 9:51 pm
Connie on An assembly.
May 23rd, 2014 5:47 pm
Connie on An assembly.
May 23rd, 2014 7:56 pm
Connie on Eat the candy.
May 29th, 2014 12:44 am
Connie on Eat the candy.
May 29th, 2014 6:10 am
Connie on It figures.
May 29th, 2014 9:22 pm
Connie on A passing thing.
June 2nd, 2014 5:12 pm
Connie on Big doctor is watching.
June 3rd, 2014 4:58 pm
Connie on No! Sleep! 'til Warren!
June 5th, 2014 7:10 pm
Connie on Something God intended.
June 9th, 2014 9:33 pm
Connie on Something God intended.
June 9th, 2014 10:05 pm
Connie on Bad, bad people.
June 10th, 2014 8:00 pm
Connie on Down the drain.
June 13th, 2014 7:37 pm
Connie on Nuts to the flabby guys.
June 17th, 2014 4:57 pm
Connie on Nuts to the flabby guys.
June 18th, 2014 5:03 am
Connie on Summer.
June 23rd, 2014 7:06 pm
Connie on Vocab test.
June 24th, 2014 3:19 pm
Connie on Lessons to be learned.
June 25th, 2014 5:46 pm
Connie on Lessons to be learned.
June 25th, 2014 6:58 pm
Connie on Lessons to be learned.
June 25th, 2014 7:23 pm
Connie on Lessons to be learned.
June 26th, 2014 1:26 am
Connie on Cut the cake.
June 26th, 2014 7:55 pm
Connie on Oh, Ann.
June 27th, 2014 6:03 pm
Connie on What's that green stuff?
June 30th, 2014 5:29 pm
Connie on A chill Fourth.
July 7th, 2014 3:04 am
Connie on A short fuse.
July 7th, 2014 5:32 pm
Connie on Some housekeeping.
July 8th, 2014 5:24 pm
Connie on Some housekeeping.
July 9th, 2014 5:57 am
Connie on Come and sit by me.
July 10th, 2014 2:17 am
Connie on Come and sit by me.
July 10th, 2014 3:22 am
Connie on Cultural exchange.
July 21st, 2014 6:04 pm
Connie on Cultural exchange.
July 21st, 2014 11:05 pm
Connie on Back to the grind.
July 22nd, 2014 5:08 pm
Connie on One chilly day.
July 29th, 2014 5:38 pm
Connie on One chilly day.
July 29th, 2014 7:15 pm
Connie on Whining again.
August 1st, 2014 5:01 pm
Connie on Whining again.
August 1st, 2014 6:32 pm
Connie on Whining again.
August 4th, 2014 2:40 am
Connie on Whining again.
August 4th, 2014 2:42 am
Connie on What a wonderful weekend.
August 4th, 2014 5:13 pm
Connie on What a wonderful weekend.
August 4th, 2014 10:41 pm
Connie on What a wonderful weekend.
August 5th, 2014 12:55 am
Connie on The rogue.
August 6th, 2014 5:07 pm
Connie on The rogue.
August 6th, 2014 9:34 pm
Connie on The rogue.
August 7th, 2014 6:37 am
Connie on Seeing the forest, and paying.
August 8th, 2014 4:57 pm
Connie on The katydids of August.
August 11th, 2014 5:57 pm
Connie on Rounding up.
August 15th, 2014 4:10 pm
Connie on The throwdown weekend.
August 18th, 2014 9:34 pm
Connie on Fetch her.
August 22nd, 2014 4:04 pm
Connie on Fetch her.
August 22nd, 2014 6:59 pm
Connie on Fetch her.
August 23rd, 2014 7:23 am
Connie on Fetch her.
August 24th, 2014 5:51 pm
Connie on One too many.
August 26th, 2014 4:42 pm
Connie on One too many.
August 26th, 2014 6:52 pm
Connie on One too many.
August 26th, 2014 9:58 pm
Connie on A little ragged around the edges.
August 27th, 2014 8:16 pm
Connie on Disconnected.
August 28th, 2014 3:55 pm
Connie on Disconnected.
August 28th, 2014 7:25 pm
Connie on Disconnected.
August 29th, 2014 1:42 am
Connie on Scantastic.
September 3rd, 2014 3:32 pm
Connie on Scantastic.
September 4th, 2014 10:33 pm
Connie on Scant. Just scant.
September 10th, 2014 9:21 pm
Connie on Scant. Just scant.
September 10th, 2014 9:22 pm
Connie on Drenched.
September 11th, 2014 7:42 pm
Connie on Two days away.
September 16th, 2014 3:49 pm
Connie on Whew.
September 17th, 2014 6:22 pm
Connie on Whew.
September 17th, 2014 6:32 pm
Connie on Flying up front.
September 18th, 2014 8:40 pm
Connie on Flying up front.
September 19th, 2014 9:02 pm
Connie on Outta here.
September 25th, 2014 9:23 pm
Connie on A bad case of Pretty.
September 26th, 2014 5:03 pm
Connie on A bad case of Pretty.
September 26th, 2014 6:30 pm
Connie on A bad case of Pretty.
September 26th, 2014 8:31 pm
Connie on A bad case of Pretty.
September 28th, 2014 5:28 pm
Connie on The homestretch.
October 18th, 2014 3:44 pm
Connie on It's a tragedy, not a comedy.
October 20th, 2014 10:21 pm
Connie on It's a tragedy, not a comedy.
October 20th, 2014 11:48 pm
Connie on Bad boy.
October 27th, 2014 8:31 pm
Connie on Bad boy.
October 27th, 2014 9:54 pm
Connie on Counting it down.
October 29th, 2014 4:16 pm
Connie on Counting it down.
October 29th, 2014 9:23 pm
Connie on Counting it down.
October 30th, 2014 12:48 am
Connie on Boo.
October 31st, 2014 5:53 pm
Connie on Boo.
October 31st, 2014 6:58 pm
Connie on Amateur hour.
November 3rd, 2014 4:59 pm
Connie on Amateur hour.
November 4th, 2014 5:18 pm
Connie on Thank you, ma'am. Ma'am, thank you.
November 5th, 2014 4:56 pm
Connie on Thank you, ma'am. Ma'am, thank you.
November 5th, 2014 6:48 pm
Connie on Thank you, ma'am. Ma'am, thank you.
November 5th, 2014 8:58 pm
Connie on Thank you, ma'am. Ma'am, thank you.
November 5th, 2014 10:35 pm
Connie on Thank you, ma'am. Ma'am, thank you.
November 6th, 2014 6:28 pm
Connie on The mop-up.
November 7th, 2014 5:45 pm
Connie on Saturday afternoon market.
November 9th, 2014 4:06 am
Connie on The end of the tunnel.
November 10th, 2014 8:02 pm
Connie on A visit to the firehouse.
November 11th, 2014 4:35 pm
Connie on A visit to the firehouse.
November 12th, 2014 8:12 pm
Connie on A visit to the firehouse.
November 12th, 2014 11:21 pm
Connie on A visit to the firehouse.
November 13th, 2014 2:12 am
Connie on A visit to the firehouse.
November 13th, 2014 2:14 am
Connie on You just don't hear Li'l Kim much these days.
November 19th, 2014 9:58 pm
Connie on You just don't hear Li'l Kim much these days.
November 19th, 2014 10:05 pm
Connie on You just don't hear Li'l Kim much these days.
November 20th, 2014 5:45 am
Connie on You just don't hear Li'l Kim much these days.
November 20th, 2014 6:06 pm
Connie on Mike Nichols, RIP.
November 21st, 2014 7:52 pm
Connie on Mike Nichols, RIP.
November 21st, 2014 10:10 pm
Connie on Mike Nichols, RIP.
November 22nd, 2014 4:58 pm
Connie on Mike Nichols, RIP.
November 22nd, 2014 7:26 pm
Connie on America's very bad dad.
November 24th, 2014 7:54 pm
Connie on America's very bad dad.
November 25th, 2014 2:48 am
Connie on The gales of November.
November 25th, 2014 4:05 pm
Connie on The gales of November.
November 25th, 2014 4:07 pm
Connie on The gales of November.
November 25th, 2014 4:18 pm
Connie on The gales of November.
November 25th, 2014 6:52 pm
Connie on The gales of November.
November 26th, 2014 7:52 pm
Connie on The gales of November.
November 26th, 2014 8:48 pm
Connie on The gales of November.
November 27th, 2014 3:22 pm
Connie on Leftover turkey.
December 2nd, 2014 3:09 am
Connie on You're wearing that?
December 3rd, 2014 5:10 am
Connie on A pour.
December 4th, 2014 6:38 am
Connie on A pour.
December 4th, 2014 7:53 pm
Connie on A pour.
December 5th, 2014 4:22 am
Connie on A pour.
December 5th, 2014 5:05 pm
Connie on A pour.
December 5th, 2014 5:13 pm
Connie on Herd immunity.
December 17th, 2014 7:29 pm
Connie on The blur commences.
December 22nd, 2014 7:19 pm
Connie on The blur commences.
December 22nd, 2014 7:28 pm
Connie on Crumpled wrapping paper.
December 29th, 2014 6:42 pm
Connie on Cozy evenings.
January 6th, 2015 7:36 pm
Connie on 12 dead in Paris.
January 7th, 2015 5:34 pm
Connie on Catch up.
January 11th, 2015 4:36 am
Connie on Saturday night fire.
January 13th, 2015 5:42 pm
Connie on Alternate reality.
January 14th, 2015 6:53 am
Connie on Last of the week.
January 16th, 2015 5:29 pm
Connie on All the options.
January 18th, 2015 8:07 pm
Connie on The state of the union is chill.
January 21st, 2015 5:32 pm
Connie on The state of the union is chill.
January 22nd, 2015 3:31 am
Connie on The state of the union is chill.
January 22nd, 2015 2:25 pm
Connie on The state of the union is chill.
January 23rd, 2015 1:33 am
Connie on The lonely curator.
January 23rd, 2015 9:26 pm
Connie on The lonely curator.
January 23rd, 2015 10:43 pm
Connie on Linky salad.
January 27th, 2015 1:35 am
Connie on Linky salad.
January 27th, 2015 1:37 am
Connie on Linky salad.
January 27th, 2015 11:26 pm
Connie on Fortunately, there's a vaccine.
February 4th, 2015 12:16 am
Connie on Fortunately, there's a vaccine.
February 4th, 2015 4:12 pm
Connie on Troll.
February 5th, 2015 10:21 pm
Connie on Troll II: The entrollening, plus more.
February 7th, 2015 3:27 pm
Connie on Dirty.
February 13th, 2015 8:08 pm
Connie on Dirty.
February 13th, 2015 8:23 pm
Connie on Dirty.
February 14th, 2015 8:32 pm
Connie on Dirty.
February 15th, 2015 5:19 am
Connie on Dirty.
February 15th, 2015 5:55 pm
Connie on Your dirty uncle.
February 16th, 2015 2:08 pm
Connie on It was her party.
February 18th, 2015 7:57 pm
Connie on The eagle beagle.
February 19th, 2015 4:26 pm
Connie on Laundry plus links.
February 20th, 2015 6:44 pm
Connie on Laundry plus links.
February 21st, 2015 3:34 am
Connie on Laundry plus links.
February 23rd, 2015 4:51 am
Connie on How dumb?
February 26th, 2015 9:09 pm
Connie on How dumb?
February 26th, 2015 9:09 pm
Connie on How dumb?
February 26th, 2015 9:40 pm
Connie on 101-level.
February 27th, 2015 7:47 pm
Connie on Sun, with a promise of more.
March 4th, 2015 4:06 am
Connie on Dirty cops.
March 4th, 2015 4:10 pm
Connie on The wrap, nearly wrapped.
March 11th, 2015 2:29 pm
Connie on Blinded by the light.
March 13th, 2015 2:25 pm
Connie on We dance just as good as we walk.
March 24th, 2015 2:26 pm
Connie on We dance just as good as we walk.
March 25th, 2015 2:48 am
Connie on A day downtown.
April 3rd, 2015 2:39 am
Connie on Day off.
April 7th, 2015 2:48 am
Connie on Sockets.
April 7th, 2015 6:14 pm
Connie on Sockets.
April 7th, 2015 8:01 pm
Connie on Sockets.
April 8th, 2015 3:07 am
Connie on Sockets.
April 8th, 2015 4:21 pm
Connie on Like a dog with a deer leg.
April 10th, 2015 12:37 am
Connie on Wha gwan Internet?
April 10th, 2015 2:41 pm
Connie on The circle of Stones.
April 16th, 2015 7:00 pm
Connie on TV explains it all.
April 29th, 2015 4:00 pm
Connie on The new new thing.
April 30th, 2015 6:12 pm
Connie on The new new thing.
May 1st, 2015 6:17 pm
Connie on The new new thing.
May 1st, 2015 8:24 pm
Connie on Where I am today.
May 2nd, 2015 8:22 pm
Connie on Where I am today.
May 4th, 2015 5:47 pm
Connie on Where I am today.
May 4th, 2015 7:16 pm
Connie on Where I am today.
May 4th, 2015 8:35 pm
Connie on Snapshots.
May 5th, 2015 3:41 pm
Connie on No cold pizza here.
May 6th, 2015 7:37 pm
Connie on Some clippings.
May 7th, 2015 4:09 pm
Connie on You're going out in that?
May 13th, 2015 4:17 pm
Connie on You're going out in that?
May 13th, 2015 7:45 pm
Connie on You're going out in that?
May 15th, 2015 12:33 am
Connie on Sleepless nights, Part 7 zillion.
May 15th, 2015 7:16 pm
Connie on Another milestone, marked by food.
May 18th, 2015 8:57 pm
Connie on Honors.
May 19th, 2015 6:01 pm
Connie on Honors.
May 19th, 2015 7:54 pm
Connie on Honors.
May 20th, 2015 4:23 pm
Connie on Honors.
May 20th, 2015 7:04 pm
Connie on What do you press?
May 21st, 2015 2:12 pm
Connie on What do you press?
May 21st, 2015 9:25 pm
Connie on Clams on the side.
May 22nd, 2015 4:52 pm
Connie on What a lovely day!
May 26th, 2015 3:49 pm
Connie on What a lovely day!
May 26th, 2015 11:16 pm
Connie on Late night dues.
May 28th, 2015 3:44 pm
Connie on All about the feet.
June 3rd, 2015 3:57 pm
Connie on Full flower.
June 8th, 2015 3:53 pm
Connie on A long sit.
June 9th, 2015 4:21 pm
Connie on A long sit.
June 9th, 2015 10:00 pm
Connie on Brave new world.
June 10th, 2015 2:58 pm
Connie on Brave new world.
June 10th, 2015 3:38 pm
Connie on Brave new world.
June 10th, 2015 4:15 pm
Connie on Brave new world.
June 10th, 2015 4:16 pm
Connie on Punctuated.
June 16th, 2015 10:56 pm
Connie on Punctuated.
June 16th, 2015 11:36 pm
Connie on Punctuated.
June 17th, 2015 12:28 am
Connie on Watching the river flow.
June 17th, 2015 5:42 pm
Connie on Watching the river flow.
June 17th, 2015 5:59 pm
Connie on Bleak Friday.
June 19th, 2015 3:28 pm
Connie on Bleak Friday.
June 19th, 2015 6:18 pm
Connie on Bleak Friday.
June 19th, 2015 7:56 pm
Connie on Bleak Friday.
June 19th, 2015 8:50 pm
Connie on Bleak Friday.
June 19th, 2015 9:08 pm
Connie on Bleak Friday.
June 19th, 2015 9:09 pm
Connie on Bleak Friday.
June 20th, 2015 12:31 am
Connie on Hostess with the leastest.
June 22nd, 2015 3:33 pm
Connie on Hostess with the leastest.
June 22nd, 2015 8:43 pm
Connie on It won't go quietly.
June 24th, 2015 5:48 pm
Connie on Overcast.
June 26th, 2015 3:28 pm
Connie on Overcast.
June 26th, 2015 4:18 pm
Connie on Overcast.
June 26th, 2015 5:52 pm
Connie on Overcast.
June 26th, 2015 5:57 pm
Connie on Overcast.
June 26th, 2015 7:36 pm
Connie on We're gonna need a bigger news hole.
June 29th, 2015 5:57 pm
Connie on We're gonna need a bigger news hole.
June 29th, 2015 9:08 pm
Connie on I was so much older then.
July 6th, 2015 5:24 pm
Connie on The trench out front.
July 10th, 2015 2:11 pm
Connie on The trench out front.
July 10th, 2015 11:38 pm
Connie on Blueberries and blues.
July 13th, 2015 6:10 pm
Connie on Widely scattered.
July 15th, 2015 3:05 pm
Connie on Not what you think it is.
July 16th, 2015 9:32 pm
Connie on Not what you think it is.
July 16th, 2015 9:45 pm
Connie on Summer slowness.
July 21st, 2015 5:31 pm
Connie on Food over outrage.
July 22nd, 2015 5:23 pm
Connie on Break coming up.
August 3rd, 2015 4:29 pm
Connie on Having a lovely time.
August 7th, 2015 4:05 pm
Connie on And we're wrapped.
August 10th, 2015 5:04 pm
Connie on Remembering to remember.
August 11th, 2015 4:33 pm
Connie on Remembering to remember.
August 11th, 2015 5:13 pm
Connie on Remembering to remember.
August 11th, 2015 8:46 pm
Connie on The beginning of the slog.
August 12th, 2015 3:25 pm
Connie on The beginning of the slog.
August 12th, 2015 4:08 pm
Connie on The beginning of the slog.
August 12th, 2015 9:18 pm
Connie on Woolgathering.
August 18th, 2015 3:31 pm
Connie on Woolgathering.
August 18th, 2015 5:19 pm
Connie on Again? Really?
August 20th, 2015 5:18 pm
Connie on Again? Really?
August 20th, 2015 5:35 pm
Connie on The slush pile.
August 22nd, 2015 3:56 pm
Connie on Bloat.
August 25th, 2015 11:54 pm
Connie on Arachnophobia.
August 26th, 2015 3:29 pm
Connie on Pretty in purple.
September 1st, 2015 1:50 am
Connie on Pretty in purple.
September 1st, 2015 5:19 pm
Connie on She's leaving home, bye-bye.
September 3rd, 2015 7:12 pm
Connie on Still steamed.
September 8th, 2015 7:48 pm
Connie on A change is gonna come.
September 9th, 2015 3:45 pm
Connie on The queen of most of what she surveys.
September 10th, 2015 3:56 pm
Connie on The queen of most of what she surveys.
September 10th, 2015 5:57 pm
Connie on The queen of most of what she surveys.
September 10th, 2015 6:00 pm
Connie on The queen of most of what she surveys.
September 10th, 2015 7:32 pm
Connie on Notes.
September 11th, 2015 2:29 pm
Connie on Beanies, bandies and breezes.
September 14th, 2015 8:09 pm
Connie on Beanies, bandies and breezes.
September 15th, 2015 12:23 am
Connie on The dog park and the lozenge, and not much else.
September 17th, 2015 12:46 am
Connie on The dog park and the lozenge, and not much else.
September 17th, 2015 9:11 pm
Connie on The horror show.
September 18th, 2015 3:44 pm
Connie on The horror show.
September 18th, 2015 5:40 pm
Connie on A stretch of paradise.
September 23rd, 2015 4:07 pm
Connie on Once more, with feeling.
October 2nd, 2015 3:22 pm
Connie on Once more, with feeling.
October 2nd, 2015 3:26 pm
Connie on Too many shiny objects.
October 12th, 2015 4:31 pm
Connie on Too many shiny objects.
October 12th, 2015 8:51 pm
Connie on Too many shiny objects.
October 12th, 2015 9:30 pm
Connie on Too many shiny objects.
October 13th, 2015 12:15 am
Connie on The boat with the broken axle.
October 15th, 2015 3:22 am
Connie on No way to be safe.
October 16th, 2015 12:48 am
Connie on You're on camera.
October 18th, 2015 3:21 am
Connie on Snoozeville.
October 21st, 2015 6:06 pm
Connie on Snapshotting.
October 22nd, 2015 3:01 pm
Connie on Lucky me.
October 27th, 2015 5:57 pm
Connie on Lucky me.
October 28th, 2015 4:09 pm
Connie on A whirl, not a dervish.
October 29th, 2015 2:55 pm
Connie on A whirl, not a dervish.
October 30th, 2015 3:04 pm
Connie on Road notes.
October 30th, 2015 4:32 pm
Connie on No wifi, a problem.
November 2nd, 2015 10:34 pm
Connie on Mrs. Somebody.
November 4th, 2015 5:29 pm
Connie on Empty nurseries.
November 5th, 2015 4:31 pm
Connie on The toilet problem.
November 6th, 2015 4:24 pm
Connie on Ten November.
November 10th, 2015 6:29 pm
Connie on The visitor.
November 18th, 2015 4:26 pm
Connie on Caught in the rain.
November 19th, 2015 4:36 pm
Connie on Caught in the rain.
November 19th, 2015 4:58 pm
Connie on Caught in the rain.
November 19th, 2015 6:40 pm
Connie on Caught in the rain.
November 20th, 2015 12:15 am
Connie on Bait.
November 20th, 2015 6:22 pm
Connie on Bait.
November 22nd, 2015 4:11 am
Connie on Bait.
November 23rd, 2015 5:20 am
Connie on Bait.
November 23rd, 2015 5:49 am
Connie on The pace quickens.
November 23rd, 2015 8:30 pm
Connie on Sip Bacardi.
November 25th, 2015 9:59 pm
Connie on Sip Bacardi.
November 26th, 2015 3:31 pm
Connie on Dry turkey.
November 30th, 2015 10:40 pm
Connie on Weirdness here.
December 2nd, 2015 3:46 pm
Connie on Bad news on the doorstep.
December 3rd, 2015 4:33 pm
Connie on Bad news on the doorstep.
December 3rd, 2015 7:02 pm
Connie on No going back.
December 7th, 2015 4:32 pm
Connie on No going back.
December 7th, 2015 6:38 pm
Connie on Meta-work.
December 9th, 2015 4:13 pm
Connie on Meta-work.
December 10th, 2015 1:36 am
Connie on One long day, one wild night.
December 10th, 2015 2:57 pm
Connie on One long day, one wild night.
December 10th, 2015 6:57 pm
Connie on It's a tough town.
December 13th, 2015 2:53 pm
Connie on It's a tough town.
December 14th, 2015 2:12 am
Connie on It's a tough town.
December 14th, 2015 1:54 pm
Connie on Collapse.
December 15th, 2015 10:55 pm
Connie on West to Washtenaw.
December 17th, 2015 2:49 pm
Connie on How to read the news.
December 19th, 2015 2:30 pm
Connie on How to read the news.
December 19th, 2015 6:37 pm
Connie on Keep swimming.
December 23rd, 2015 2:09 pm
Connie on Keep swimming.
December 23rd, 2015 3:40 pm
Connie on Keep swimming.
December 27th, 2015 2:33 pm
Connie on Keep swimming.
December 27th, 2015 5:02 pm
Connie on Keep swimming.
December 27th, 2015 5:12 pm
Connie on The interregnum.
December 28th, 2015 5:35 am
Connie on The interregnum.
December 28th, 2015 3:16 pm
Connie on The interregnum.
December 28th, 2015 6:27 pm
Connie on This is this, and that is that.
December 29th, 2015 5:09 pm
Connie on The lazy train.
December 31st, 2015 4:14 pm
Connie on The lazy train.
December 31st, 2015 8:27 pm
Connie on The lazy train.
December 31st, 2015 10:34 pm
Connie on How we got here.
January 4th, 2016 6:31 pm
Connie on One day at a time.
January 5th, 2016 6:05 pm
Connie on A break from craving bread.
January 7th, 2016 5:37 pm
Connie on They still believe.
January 7th, 2016 11:10 pm
Connie on Our motley human family.
January 9th, 2016 8:48 pm
Connie on The state of the union is...
January 13th, 2016 3:00 pm
Connie on A whirl of a week, so far.
January 21st, 2016 2:39 pm
Connie on A whirl of a week, so far.
January 21st, 2016 7:48 pm
Connie on A whirl of a week, so far.
January 21st, 2016 9:10 pm
Connie on A grimy spotlight.
January 22nd, 2016 4:39 pm
Connie on A grimy spotlight.
January 23rd, 2016 6:19 am
Connie on A grimy spotlight.
January 24th, 2016 1:07 am
Connie on A grimy spotlight.
January 24th, 2016 1:26 am
Connie on Not covered in drivers ed.
January 27th, 2016 4:50 pm
Connie on Not covered in drivers ed.
January 27th, 2016 6:07 pm
Connie on Ask the sage.
January 28th, 2016 3:18 pm
Connie on Water, everywhere.
January 29th, 2016 4:38 pm
Connie on Water, everywhere.
January 29th, 2016 7:23 pm
Connie on Water, everywhere.
February 1st, 2016 6:40 am
Connie on Water, everywhere.
February 1st, 2016 6:43 am
Connie on January, now on ice.
February 1st, 2016 8:45 pm
Connie on January, now on ice.
February 1st, 2016 9:01 pm
Connie on January, now on ice.
February 1st, 2016 11:59 pm
Connie on Falafel is not an anagram of alfalfa.
February 3rd, 2016 9:26 pm
Connie on Try to remember.
February 4th, 2016 2:47 pm
Connie on Try to remember.
February 4th, 2016 4:37 pm
Connie on Try to remember.
February 4th, 2016 5:44 pm
Connie on Try to remember.
February 4th, 2016 5:44 pm
Connie on Try to remember.
February 4th, 2016 7:08 pm
Connie on Try to remember.
February 4th, 2016 7:34 pm
Connie on Dip?
February 5th, 2016 4:12 pm
Connie on Dip?
February 5th, 2016 4:27 pm
Connie on Dip?
February 5th, 2016 10:17 pm
Connie on Dip?
February 6th, 2016 5:13 pm
Connie on Dip?
February 6th, 2016 5:15 pm
Connie on Sooper.
February 8th, 2016 2:45 pm
Connie on Sooper.
February 8th, 2016 5:59 pm
Connie on Sooper.
February 8th, 2016 9:19 pm
Connie on Sooper.
February 8th, 2016 9:49 pm
Connie on Sooper.
February 8th, 2016 10:11 pm
Connie on Sooper.
February 9th, 2016 6:41 pm
Connie on Sooper.
February 9th, 2016 9:27 pm
Connie on A laff riot.
February 11th, 2016 6:32 pm
Connie on A laff riot.
February 11th, 2016 9:45 pm
Connie on A laff riot.
February 12th, 2016 12:38 am
Connie on His list of grievances.
February 12th, 2016 4:49 pm
Connie on Clearing the desk.
February 17th, 2016 8:29 pm
Connie on Clearing the desk.
February 17th, 2016 8:30 pm
Connie on Clearing the desk.
February 17th, 2016 10:41 pm
Connie on Clearing the desk.
February 18th, 2016 1:59 am
Connie on Toxic guys.
February 24th, 2016 11:15 pm
Connie on The think pieces.
February 26th, 2016 4:33 am
Connie on Horses, not zebras.
February 29th, 2016 4:19 pm
Connie on Horses, not zebras.
February 29th, 2016 8:08 pm
Connie on Horses, not zebras.
March 1st, 2016 4:52 pm
Connie on Super-duper Tuesday.
March 1st, 2016 5:23 pm
Connie on Super-duper Tuesday.
March 2nd, 2016 8:50 pm
Connie on Farther ahead at the halfway point.
March 3rd, 2016 4:59 pm
Connie on Naked brunch.
March 8th, 2016 4:46 pm
Connie on Super Tuesday, super tired.
March 9th, 2016 4:17 pm
Connie on Talk me down.
March 10th, 2016 6:23 pm
Connie on Talk me down.
March 10th, 2016 7:30 pm
Connie on Talk me down.
March 10th, 2016 7:31 pm
Connie on Cut from the same cloth.
March 13th, 2016 6:35 pm
Connie on Cut from the same cloth.
March 13th, 2016 6:36 pm
Connie on Early bird.
March 17th, 2016 9:51 pm
Connie on Birdwatching for lazy people.
March 18th, 2016 3:23 pm
Connie on Self-critical Sunday.
March 22nd, 2016 3:37 pm
Connie on Tuesday's roundup.
March 22nd, 2016 6:39 pm
Connie on Tuesday's roundup.
March 23rd, 2016 1:55 pm
Connie on A fighter.
April 4th, 2016 4:53 pm
Connie on A fighter.
April 4th, 2016 5:30 pm
Connie on Very, very successful.
April 5th, 2016 6:41 pm
Connie on Very, very successful.
April 5th, 2016 8:37 pm
Connie on Desperately seeking zzzz's.
April 6th, 2016 1:34 pm
Connie on Desperately seeking zzzz's.
April 6th, 2016 3:08 pm
Connie on Ghost, with bullwhip.
April 7th, 2016 8:42 pm
Connie on Ghost, with bullwhip.
April 7th, 2016 9:02 pm
Connie on Baby's first existential bleakness.
April 10th, 2016 4:47 am
Connie on Kibbles 'n' b.s.
April 12th, 2016 3:22 pm
Connie on Kibbles 'n' b.s.
April 12th, 2016 5:27 pm
Connie on Kibbles 'n' b.s.
April 12th, 2016 6:19 pm
Connie on Kibbles 'n' b.s.
April 13th, 2016 1:40 pm
Connie on Kibbles 'n' b.s.
April 13th, 2016 4:52 pm
Connie on Kibbles 'n' b.s.
April 13th, 2016 4:53 pm
Connie on Kibbles 'n' b.s.
April 13th, 2016 6:06 pm
Connie on Bringing home the paper.
April 14th, 2016 5:09 pm
Connie on Two glorious days.
April 19th, 2016 5:20 pm
Connie on Paddled.
April 20th, 2016 3:29 pm
Connie on Pounds, lost and found.
May 3rd, 2016 4:57 pm
Connie on Adios, Rafael.
May 4th, 2016 2:11 pm
Connie on Adios, Rafael.
May 4th, 2016 2:56 pm
Connie on Adios, Rafael.
May 4th, 2016 2:57 pm
Connie on Later, John.
May 5th, 2016 6:51 pm
Connie on An agenda full of OMG.
May 9th, 2016 5:05 pm
Connie on An agenda full of OMG.
May 9th, 2016 9:04 pm
Connie on The new secondary.
May 12th, 2016 3:27 pm
Connie on The new secondary.
May 12th, 2016 3:29 pm
Connie on The new secondary.
May 12th, 2016 3:37 pm
Connie on The new secondary.
May 12th, 2016 5:29 pm
Connie on The new secondary.
May 12th, 2016 9:42 pm
Connie on Deep water.
May 19th, 2016 3:26 pm
Connie on This way to the weekend.
May 20th, 2016 3:26 pm
Connie on Sampling.
May 23rd, 2016 6:34 pm
Connie on Sampling.
May 23rd, 2016 9:00 pm
Connie on Sampling.
May 24th, 2016 3:39 pm
Connie on Sampling.
May 24th, 2016 3:41 pm
Connie on Suddenly summer.
May 25th, 2016 3:50 pm
Connie on Moving. Forward.
May 27th, 2016 1:09 pm
Connie on Moving. Forward.
May 27th, 2016 3:01 pm
Connie on A few details.
May 31st, 2016 3:20 pm
Connie on A few details.
May 31st, 2016 3:30 pm
Connie on A few details.
May 31st, 2016 7:08 pm
Connie on Motel music.
June 1st, 2016 11:49 pm
Connie on Indoors and out.
June 11th, 2016 1:44 am
Connie on Several sunrises.
September 8th, 2016 5:42 am
Connie on Several sunrises.
September 8th, 2016 3:47 pm
Connie on Several sunrises.
September 10th, 2016 2:09 pm
Connie on Poor kid.
September 16th, 2016 10:52 pm
Connie on Indigestion.
September 20th, 2016 7:22 pm
Connie on Splitsville.
September 22nd, 2016 3:18 pm
Connie on Splitsville.
September 22nd, 2016 3:37 pm
Connie on A big bowl.
September 26th, 2016 1:24 pm
Connie on A big bowl.
September 26th, 2016 6:52 pm
Connie on Head to head.
September 27th, 2016 3:54 pm
Connie on Head to head.
September 27th, 2016 9:59 pm
Connie on Hoosier reppin'.
September 29th, 2016 2:07 pm
Connie on Rainy day.
September 30th, 2016 1:26 pm
Connie on Rainy day.
September 30th, 2016 3:29 pm
Connie on Rainy day.
September 30th, 2016 9:43 pm
Connie on Rainy day.
September 30th, 2016 11:13 pm
Connie on Rainy day.
September 30th, 2016 11:24 pm
Connie on Oh, grow up.
October 4th, 2016 7:48 pm
Connie on A little light reading?
October 8th, 2016 2:18 pm
Connie on A little light reading?
October 8th, 2016 2:50 pm
Connie on Turning the pack loose.
October 13th, 2016 10:23 pm
Connie on Turning the pack loose.
October 14th, 2016 6:30 pm
Connie on The red zone.
October 17th, 2016 4:06 pm
Connie on The mop-up.
October 21st, 2016 11:11 pm
Connie on Black reflections.
October 24th, 2016 5:53 pm
Connie on Raw powerless.
October 26th, 2016 5:58 pm
Connie on Raw powerless.
October 27th, 2016 7:15 pm
Connie on Signing out.
October 28th, 2016 3:20 pm
Connie on Signing out.
October 30th, 2016 4:02 pm
Connie on Men in dresses.
November 8th, 2016 12:16 am
Connie on Today's the day.
November 8th, 2016 4:21 pm
Connie on Today's the day.
November 8th, 2016 6:12 pm
Connie on Today's the day.
November 9th, 2016 12:08 am
Connie on Today's the day.
November 9th, 2016 12:13 am
Connie on Honestly...
November 10th, 2016 1:38 am
Connie on Honestly...
November 10th, 2016 1:46 am
Connie on Well, refilling.
November 10th, 2016 9:16 pm
Connie on Well, refilling.
November 11th, 2016 3:39 am
Connie on Well, refilling.
November 11th, 2016 3:21 pm
Connie on One long day.
November 16th, 2016 7:47 pm
Connie on One long day.
November 16th, 2016 10:52 pm
Connie on Cans to the curb.
November 29th, 2016 4:00 am
Connie on Cans to the curb.
November 29th, 2016 4:05 am
Connie on Soup and nuts.
December 1st, 2016 8:19 pm
Connie on Soup and nuts.
December 1st, 2016 9:41 pm
Connie on The year's homestretch.
December 6th, 2016 7:00 pm
Connie on The coast.
December 16th, 2016 10:00 pm
Connie on We meet again.
December 21st, 2016 5:23 pm
Connie on We meet again.
December 21st, 2016 10:08 pm
Connie on Ouch.
December 25th, 2016 5:17 pm
Connie on Ouch.
December 26th, 2016 5:48 am
Connie on Last days.
December 30th, 2016 4:45 pm
Connie on Sobriety doesn't suck.
January 4th, 2017 12:49 am
Connie on Winter is here.
January 5th, 2017 2:44 pm
Connie on Winter is here.
January 5th, 2017 8:04 pm
Connie on Winter is here.
January 6th, 2017 2:27 am
Connie on Owl in the 'hood.
January 6th, 2017 5:06 pm
Connie on Owl in the 'hood.
January 7th, 2017 5:10 pm
Connie on Owl in the 'hood.
January 7th, 2017 9:20 pm
Connie on Dribbled.
January 13th, 2017 3:41 am
Connie on This year's models.
January 16th, 2017 6:46 am
Connie on This year's models.
January 16th, 2017 6:11 pm
Connie on What's unspoken.
January 18th, 2017 5:07 pm
Connie on Last day/first day.
January 21st, 2017 5:02 pm
Connie on The alternative fact is, this is genius.
January 24th, 2017 3:18 am
Connie on The current situation.
February 2nd, 2017 8:03 pm
Connie on Trolled.
February 5th, 2017 5:02 pm
Connie on Laugh tracks.
February 9th, 2017 6:28 pm
Connie on Laugh tracks.
February 10th, 2017 2:26 pm
Connie on They're down, they're out, what's next?
March 13th, 2017 1:39 pm
Connie on They're down, they're out, what's next?
March 13th, 2017 6:01 pm
Connie on Trouble out there.
March 14th, 2017 6:58 pm
Connie on Trouble out there.
March 14th, 2017 7:08 pm
Connie on Trouble out there.
March 14th, 2017 7:11 pm
Connie on Trouble out there.
March 14th, 2017 7:24 pm
Connie on Trouble out there.
March 15th, 2017 2:26 am
Connie on The tape is broken.
March 17th, 2017 4:12 pm
Connie on The tape is broken.
March 17th, 2017 6:13 pm
Connie on The tape is broken.
March 17th, 2017 6:21 pm
Connie on The tape is broken.
March 18th, 2017 4:08 am
Connie on Frog music.
April 10th, 2017 7:08 pm
Connie on Frog music.
April 10th, 2017 9:19 pm
Connie on Frog music.
April 10th, 2017 11:06 pm
Connie on Frog music.
April 11th, 2017 5:14 am
Connie on So, this happened.
April 12th, 2017 5:22 pm
Connie on So, this happened.
April 12th, 2017 7:40 pm
Connie on So, this happened.
April 12th, 2017 8:48 pm
Connie on So, this happened.
April 13th, 2017 3:17 pm
Connie on So, this happened.
April 13th, 2017 3:18 pm
Connie on So, this happened.
April 13th, 2017 3:20 pm
Connie on We got married in a fever.
April 21st, 2017 1:45 pm
Connie on We got married in a fever.
April 21st, 2017 3:24 pm
Connie on We got married in a fever.
April 21st, 2017 4:35 pm
Connie on Top model.
April 24th, 2017 4:09 pm
Connie on Catching up.
April 25th, 2017 9:17 pm
Connie on Catching up.
April 25th, 2017 9:29 pm
Connie on Aging in a new place.
May 9th, 2017 3:56 pm
Connie on Aging in a new place.
May 9th, 2017 9:16 pm
Connie on The grind goes on.
May 11th, 2017 3:31 pm
Connie on Who is this man?
May 12th, 2017 3:17 pm
Connie on Whiplash.
May 15th, 2017 5:23 pm
Connie on Our speeded-up world.
May 17th, 2017 7:15 pm
Connie on Our speeded-up world.
May 17th, 2017 7:16 pm
Connie on Some words about birds.
May 18th, 2017 9:47 pm
Connie on Fisticuffs in Montana.
May 26th, 2017 3:21 pm
Connie on Death to the fascist insect.
May 31st, 2017 7:39 pm
Connie on No more drownings, if we can help it.
June 2nd, 2017 2:35 pm
Connie on Feverish morning.
June 7th, 2017 3:57 pm
Connie on Feverish morning.
June 7th, 2017 6:40 pm
Connie on Feverish morning.
June 7th, 2017 8:06 pm
Connie on Steamy weekend, plus fog.
June 12th, 2017 4:07 pm
Connie on That cabinet meeting.
June 13th, 2017 6:35 pm
Connie on In which I am doctor-shamed.
June 16th, 2017 7:09 pm
Connie on Drowning in...something.
June 19th, 2017 4:16 pm
Connie on Midweek. More week.
June 23rd, 2017 8:36 pm
Connie on Down days.
June 28th, 2017 9:46 pm
Connie on Desperate daring devils.
June 30th, 2017 3:08 pm
Connie on The slough.
July 5th, 2017 6:06 pm
Connie on The slough.
July 5th, 2017 6:30 pm
Connie on Blue collar.
July 11th, 2017 4:33 pm
Connie on Blue collar.
July 11th, 2017 6:52 pm
Connie on Fredo-gate.
July 13th, 2017 9:08 pm
Connie on Coppertone baby.
July 14th, 2017 6:27 pm
Connie on Coppertone baby.
July 14th, 2017 6:29 pm
Connie on Wooden stakes and garlic.
July 19th, 2017 4:18 pm
Connie on Pardon me.
July 21st, 2017 6:40 pm
Connie on Waiting for a miracle.
July 24th, 2017 3:25 pm
Connie on Waiting for a miracle.
July 24th, 2017 3:26 pm
Connie on Waiting for a miracle.
July 24th, 2017 8:16 pm
Connie on Off the map, through the looking glass.
July 28th, 2017 1:04 pm
Connie on Off the map, through the looking glass.
July 28th, 2017 3:52 pm
Connie on Off the map, through the looking glass.
July 29th, 2017 4:31 pm
Connie on 'Detroit.'
July 31st, 2017 9:55 pm
Connie on Too, too fast.
August 5th, 2017 4:01 pm
Connie on Too, too fast.
August 5th, 2017 4:01 pm
Connie on Too, too fast.
August 5th, 2017 4:06 pm
Connie on You otter be in the water.
August 7th, 2017 4:53 pm
Connie on You otter be in the water.
August 7th, 2017 7:38 pm
Connie on You otter be in the water.
August 8th, 2017 3:41 pm
Connie on You otter be in the water.
August 8th, 2017 6:24 pm
Connie on As the clock ticks closer to midnight...
August 9th, 2017 9:43 pm
Connie on Cricket time.
August 11th, 2017 3:53 pm
Connie on The word of the week.
August 18th, 2017 12:09 am
Connie on Who are these jerks?
August 18th, 2017 6:02 pm
Connie on Who are these jerks?
August 20th, 2017 4:29 pm
Connie on Just keep swimming.
August 21st, 2017 3:57 am
Connie on Just keep swimming.
August 21st, 2017 4:02 pm
Connie on Last weeks.
August 25th, 2017 1:02 pm
Connie on Last weeks.
August 25th, 2017 3:46 pm
Connie on Last weeks.
August 25th, 2017 4:47 pm
Connie on Saturday night, special.
August 29th, 2017 1:28 pm
Connie on Open your eyes and see.
August 30th, 2017 3:12 pm
Connie on Open your eyes and see.
August 30th, 2017 3:13 pm
Connie on Open your eyes and see.
August 30th, 2017 8:04 pm
Connie on Open your eyes and see.
August 31st, 2017 3:08 pm
Connie on The snapshots of summer.
September 1st, 2017 3:27 pm
Connie on The snapshots of summer.
September 2nd, 2017 12:31 am
Connie on The snapshots of summer.
September 3rd, 2017 5:35 pm
Connie on Fresh notebook pages.
September 6th, 2017 4:59 pm
Connie on All I ever wanted.
September 9th, 2017 5:09 am
Connie on All I ever wanted.
September 9th, 2017 10:24 pm
Connie on All I ever wanted.
September 11th, 2017 5:02 pm
Connie on It's heeeere.
September 12th, 2017 2:59 pm
Connie on It's heeeere.
September 12th, 2017 5:30 pm
Connie on It's heeeere.
September 14th, 2017 8:36 pm
Connie on Back to the mangle.
September 18th, 2017 3:29 pm
Connie on Back to the mangle.
September 20th, 2017 3:47 pm
Connie on Back to the mangle.
September 20th, 2017 5:46 pm
Connie on The good table.
September 21st, 2017 9:23 pm
Connie on May I borrow that pen?
September 22nd, 2017 7:57 pm
Connie on May I borrow that pen?
September 22nd, 2017 8:45 pm
Connie on May I borrow that pen?
September 22nd, 2017 10:00 pm
Connie on Breaking news.
September 25th, 2017 9:48 pm
Connie on Breaking news.
September 25th, 2017 9:53 pm
Connie on Breaking news.
September 25th, 2017 10:12 pm
Connie on New horizons.
September 28th, 2017 2:06 pm
Connie on Park bench notes.
October 1st, 2017 3:13 pm
Connie on A hash of it.
October 3rd, 2017 5:20 pm
Connie on Self-care.
October 12th, 2017 6:26 pm
Connie on Self-care.
October 12th, 2017 8:33 pm
Connie on Self-care.
October 12th, 2017 9:53 pm
Connie on Self-care.
October 13th, 2017 3:01 pm
Connie on The stories we tell each other.
October 13th, 2017 7:34 pm
Connie on The stories we tell each other.
October 13th, 2017 8:44 pm
Connie on The stories we tell each other.
October 15th, 2017 4:19 pm
Connie on The stories we tell each other.
October 15th, 2017 5:01 pm
Connie on The stories we tell each other.
October 15th, 2017 5:03 pm
Connie on The stories we tell each other.
October 16th, 2017 3:21 am
Connie on The stories we tell each other.
October 17th, 2017 12:52 am
Connie on Too much news.
October 20th, 2017 3:36 am
Connie on Too much news.
October 20th, 2017 4:11 am
Connie on Too much news.
October 20th, 2017 6:35 pm
Connie on Too much news.
October 20th, 2017 6:49 pm
Connie on The YouTube pitch.
October 21st, 2017 6:10 pm
Connie on The YouTube pitch.
October 22nd, 2017 1:46 pm
Connie on The call you don't make.
October 25th, 2017 7:05 pm
Connie on Bad moms.
October 27th, 2017 9:58 pm
Connie on Coalflakes.
November 4th, 2017 1:29 am
Connie on Coalflakes.
November 4th, 2017 6:05 pm
Connie on Coalflakes.
November 4th, 2017 6:50 pm
Connie on The survivors.
November 8th, 2017 5:52 pm
Connie on The list lengthens.
November 13th, 2017 7:48 pm
Connie on The defiant ones.
November 15th, 2017 5:29 pm
Connie on The defiant ones.
November 15th, 2017 7:45 pm
Connie on A loud chorus.
November 15th, 2017 10:37 pm
Connie on A loud chorus.
November 16th, 2017 6:16 pm
Connie on That's funny.
November 18th, 2017 6:01 pm
Connie on That's funny.
November 18th, 2017 7:04 pm
Connie on The gratitude attitude.
November 25th, 2017 7:56 pm
Connie on Piled higher and deeper.
November 27th, 2017 4:55 pm
Connie on Piled higher and deeper.
November 27th, 2017 5:02 pm
Connie on Piled higher and deeper.
November 28th, 2017 8:54 pm
Connie on Lights, camera, Fellini.
November 30th, 2017 3:11 pm
Connie on New post, in which I give up.
December 3rd, 2017 7:25 pm
Connie on Feeling less wondrous.
December 6th, 2017 4:59 pm
Connie on Feeling less wondrous.
December 6th, 2017 5:01 pm
Connie on Fast news day.
December 7th, 2017 5:09 pm
Connie on One woman and her big metal hat.
December 13th, 2017 4:13 pm
Connie on Fear of everything but God.
December 18th, 2017 7:09 pm
Connie on A 'Christmas Story' story.
December 20th, 2017 2:23 pm
Connie on A 'Christmas Story' story.
December 20th, 2017 4:22 pm
Connie on A 'Christmas Story' story.
December 20th, 2017 11:24 pm
Connie on A 'Christmas Story' story.
December 21st, 2017 8:13 pm
Connie on Happy holidays to all.
December 26th, 2017 4:09 pm
Connie on Happy holidays to all.
December 26th, 2017 9:19 pm
Connie on An MBA falls in the forest.
December 28th, 2017 4:23 pm
Connie on Into it we go.
January 2nd, 2018 6:46 pm
Connie on The wrong person for the job.
January 5th, 2018 5:17 pm
Connie on The wrong person for the job.
January 5th, 2018 8:07 pm
Connie on The wrong person for the job.
January 6th, 2018 6:50 pm
Connie on I'm not with her.
January 11th, 2018 5:56 pm
Connie on Always look ahead.
January 11th, 2018 7:20 pm
Connie on Always look ahead.
January 12th, 2018 4:09 pm
Connie on Rotten Apple.
January 16th, 2018 7:11 pm
Connie on Mixed signals.
January 17th, 2018 10:47 pm
Connie on Mixed signals.
January 18th, 2018 3:03 am
Connie on Mixed signals.
January 19th, 2018 5:16 pm
Connie on Mixed signals.
January 19th, 2018 5:44 pm
Connie on Let's take a spin.
January 22nd, 2018 3:59 pm
Connie on Let's take a spin.
January 22nd, 2018 6:38 pm
Connie on Little champs.
January 26th, 2018 4:01 pm
Connie on Little champs.
January 27th, 2018 8:19 pm
Connie on Testing, 1 2 3.
January 31st, 2018 2:22 pm
Connie on Testing, 1 2 3.
January 31st, 2018 3:44 pm
Connie on Testing, 1 2 3.
February 2nd, 2018 3:58 pm
Connie on Appliance heaven.
February 5th, 2018 7:10 pm
Connie on Appliance heaven.
February 7th, 2018 5:33 pm
Connie on Covered in dust.
February 7th, 2018 7:10 pm
Connie on Covered in dust.
February 7th, 2018 7:31 pm
Connie on Covered in dust.
February 7th, 2018 9:33 pm
Connie on Covered in dust.
February 7th, 2018 10:37 pm
Connie on Covered in dust.
February 8th, 2018 4:12 pm
Connie on Covered in dust.
February 8th, 2018 9:16 pm
Connie on Covered in dust.
February 9th, 2018 6:13 pm
Connie on In my other life, I skate.
February 12th, 2018 4:59 pm
Connie on In my other life, I skate.
February 12th, 2018 8:33 pm
Connie on In my other life, I skate.
February 13th, 2018 6:36 pm
Connie on In my other life, I skate.
February 13th, 2018 8:39 pm
Connie on Everyone's a critic.
February 15th, 2018 4:43 pm
Connie on Everyone's a critic.
February 16th, 2018 4:03 pm
Connie on Ten firehoses.
February 17th, 2018 3:12 pm
Connie on Ten firehoses.
February 17th, 2018 8:50 pm
Connie on Meatballs for lunch.
February 20th, 2018 5:38 pm
Connie on Meatballs for lunch.
February 20th, 2018 8:15 pm
Connie on Meatballs for lunch.
February 21st, 2018 12:49 am
Connie on Who are these people?
February 22nd, 2018 3:38 pm
Connie on Now we're cooking with gas.
February 23rd, 2018 6:17 pm
Connie on Anger and fear.
February 27th, 2018 8:32 pm
Connie on Anger and fear.
February 28th, 2018 5:25 pm
Connie on Anger and fear.
February 28th, 2018 5:30 pm
Connie on Warming up.
February 28th, 2018 9:56 pm
Connie on A few minutes on Lucky Place.
March 4th, 2018 5:34 pm
Connie on A few minutes on Lucky Place.
March 5th, 2018 6:32 am
Connie on A few minutes on Lucky Place.
March 5th, 2018 9:51 pm
Connie on The fashion show.
March 6th, 2018 5:38 pm
Connie on The fashion show.
March 6th, 2018 9:25 pm
Connie on The fashion show.
March 7th, 2018 4:59 pm
Connie on Quite a hump to get over.
March 8th, 2018 5:58 pm
Connie on Quite a hump to get over.
March 10th, 2018 7:44 pm
Connie on Another Tuesday in Bizarroworld.
March 14th, 2018 10:26 pm
Connie on Another Tuesday in Bizarroworld.
March 15th, 2018 5:20 pm
Connie on Bedford Falls vs. Pottersville.
March 16th, 2018 7:09 pm
Connie on Bedford Falls vs. Pottersville.
March 16th, 2018 9:05 pm
Connie on The lagging lug nuts.
March 21st, 2018 3:39 pm
Connie on From bad to wurst.
March 21st, 2018 8:09 pm
Connie on From bad to wurst.
March 22nd, 2018 7:39 pm
Connie on From bad to wurst.
March 22nd, 2018 8:11 pm
Connie on From bad to wurst.
March 25th, 2018 3:34 pm
Connie on March marching.
March 26th, 2018 7:25 pm
Connie on March marching.
March 28th, 2018 3:18 pm
Connie on Dander
March 31st, 2018 2:30 pm
Connie on The good china.
April 2nd, 2018 6:25 pm
Connie on Star of the show.
April 4th, 2018 5:55 pm
Connie on Star of the show.
April 4th, 2018 7:26 pm
Connie on Star of the show.
April 4th, 2018 7:44 pm
Connie on Medium rare.
April 10th, 2018 5:14 pm
Connie on Medium rare.
April 10th, 2018 5:44 pm
Connie on A powerful lift.
April 11th, 2018 4:50 pm
Connie on A powerful lift.
April 12th, 2018 2:59 pm
Connie on A powerful lift.
April 12th, 2018 8:27 pm
Connie on Still sprinter.
April 18th, 2018 8:05 pm
Connie on Still sprinter.
April 18th, 2018 10:07 pm
Connie on Still sprinter.
April 19th, 2018 1:30 pm
Connie on Still sprinter.
April 19th, 2018 3:15 pm
Connie on Still sprinter.
April 19th, 2018 4:02 pm
Connie on Still sprinter.
April 19th, 2018 6:25 pm
Connie on Still sprinter.
April 19th, 2018 7:58 pm
Connie on Still sprinter.
April 19th, 2018 10:06 pm
Connie on The earth moved.
April 20th, 2018 3:09 pm
Connie on The earth moved.
April 20th, 2018 5:00 pm
Connie on The earth moved.
April 20th, 2018 6:00 pm
Connie on The earth moved.
April 20th, 2018 6:54 pm
Connie on The earth moved.
April 20th, 2018 7:25 pm
Connie on The earth moved.
April 20th, 2018 7:46 pm
Connie on A wait for waffles.
April 23rd, 2018 9:53 pm
Connie on Terrible people, terrible enablers.
May 2nd, 2018 12:01 am
Connie on Terrible people, terrible enablers.
May 2nd, 2018 2:58 pm
Connie on Terrible people, terrible enablers.
May 2nd, 2018 3:00 pm
Connie on Terrible people, terrible enablers.
May 2nd, 2018 6:17 pm
Connie on All wet.
May 3rd, 2018 7:22 pm
Connie on All wet.
May 4th, 2018 5:23 pm
Connie on Two links and a snap for the weekend.
May 8th, 2018 9:27 pm
Connie on Slipping away.
May 9th, 2018 8:58 pm
Connie on Slipping away.
May 9th, 2018 8:59 pm
Connie on Slipping away.
May 10th, 2018 6:58 pm
Connie on Slipping away.
May 11th, 2018 4:43 am
Connie on Slipping away.
May 11th, 2018 6:06 pm
Connie on Yankee dollars.
May 11th, 2018 6:45 pm
Connie on Deplorables.
May 14th, 2018 1:27 pm
Connie on A few words about vomit.
May 15th, 2018 11:15 pm
Connie on A few words about vomit.
May 17th, 2018 6:52 pm
Connie on A few words about vomit.
May 17th, 2018 9:07 pm
Connie on Volcanos everywhere.
May 18th, 2018 4:31 am
Connie on Souvenirs.
May 26th, 2018 3:43 pm
Connie on Certifiable. And with a TV show.
June 3rd, 2018 3:42 pm
Connie on No more 'poise?'
June 8th, 2018 3:23 pm
Connie on Blame Canada?
June 12th, 2018 5:45 pm
Connie on Blame Canada?
June 12th, 2018 7:58 pm
Connie on A new bag?
June 15th, 2018 3:04 pm
Connie on A new bag?
June 16th, 2018 5:16 pm
Connie on It will rise from the ashes.
June 21st, 2018 3:03 pm
Connie on It will rise from the ashes.
June 21st, 2018 7:45 pm
Connie on It's not about the coat.
June 22nd, 2018 5:05 pm
Connie on It's not about the coat.
June 23rd, 2018 3:17 pm
Connie on Tired of this.
June 25th, 2018 9:33 pm
Connie on Cloudy with a chance of anything.
June 29th, 2018 4:03 pm
Connie on Substitute grandma.
July 9th, 2018 5:12 pm
Connie on Overnight sensations.
July 13th, 2018 1:27 pm
Connie on Overnight sensations.
July 13th, 2018 2:57 pm
Connie on Overnight sensations.
July 13th, 2018 5:12 pm
Connie on Overnight sensations.
July 13th, 2018 7:52 pm
Connie on Cold case cracked.
July 16th, 2018 6:42 pm
Connie on Literate men.
July 18th, 2018 9:29 pm
Connie on Literate men.
July 19th, 2018 8:02 pm
Connie on Literate men.
July 22nd, 2018 3:25 pm
Connie on Literate men.
July 22nd, 2018 6:27 pm
Connie on Phoning it in.
July 23rd, 2018 1:51 pm
Connie on Phoning it in.
July 23rd, 2018 1:57 pm
Connie on The 'Wolf rocks on. Me, likewise.
July 30th, 2018 7:10 pm
Connie on The 'Wolf rocks on. Me, likewise.
July 30th, 2018 8:09 pm
Connie on The 'Wolf rocks on. Me, likewise.
July 31st, 2018 1:11 pm
Connie on The 'Wolf rocks on. Me, likewise.
July 31st, 2018 5:42 pm
Connie on Slow food.
August 1st, 2018 6:14 pm
Connie on The 'Wolf continues to rock.
August 3rd, 2018 4:03 pm
Connie on The 'Wolf continues to rock.
August 3rd, 2018 4:08 pm
Connie on The 'Wolf continues to rock.
August 3rd, 2018 4:59 pm
Connie on Hot again.
August 7th, 2018 6:09 pm
Connie on Hot again.
August 7th, 2018 9:39 pm
Connie on Post-election cleanup.
August 9th, 2018 5:37 pm
Connie on The zombie newspaper.
August 15th, 2018 2:58 pm
Connie on Not dead yet.
August 16th, 2018 5:01 pm
Connie on Not dead yet.
August 16th, 2018 5:46 pm
Connie on Not dead yet.
August 17th, 2018 7:40 pm
Connie on Not dead yet.
August 17th, 2018 8:51 pm
Connie on Tickling the ivories, baying at the moon.
August 20th, 2018 6:51 pm
Connie on Tickling the ivories, baying at the moon.
August 20th, 2018 8:44 pm
Connie on Guilty, guilty, TBD.
August 24th, 2018 6:16 pm
Connie on Guilty, guilty, TBD.
August 24th, 2018 9:53 pm
Connie on So long, suckers.
August 30th, 2018 7:33 pm
Connie on So long, suckers.
August 31st, 2018 6:00 pm
Connie on So long, suckers.
August 31st, 2018 6:01 pm
Connie on So long, suckers.
August 31st, 2018 6:16 pm
Connie on So long, suckers.
September 1st, 2018 4:48 pm
connie on Memo from belowdecks.
September 8th, 2018 5:27 pm
Connie on Gray Sunday.
September 10th, 2018 5:03 pm
Connie on Self-governance.
September 12th, 2018 4:20 pm
Connie on Manhandled, men handling.
September 17th, 2018 4:43 am
Connie on A fast slide over the middle.
September 21st, 2018 4:34 pm
Connie on A fast slide over the middle.
September 21st, 2018 4:36 pm
Connie on You know...
September 28th, 2018 3:43 pm
Connie on Overserved.
October 3rd, 2018 7:16 pm
connie on Raw wounds.
October 5th, 2018 8:49 pm
Connie on Statement dressing.
October 8th, 2018 7:13 pm
Connie on Statement dressing.
October 8th, 2018 10:21 pm
Connie on Statement dressing.
October 11th, 2018 3:33 pm
Connie on Statement dressing.
October 11th, 2018 5:26 pm
Connie on What day is it? What are we upset about today?
October 12th, 2018 7:00 pm
Connie on What day is it? What are we upset about today?
October 13th, 2018 12:42 am
Connie on What day is it? What are we upset about today?
October 14th, 2018 1:41 pm
Connie on Pants ablaze.
October 22nd, 2018 4:00 am
Connie on Pipe bombs.
October 25th, 2018 4:13 pm
Connie on Pipe bombs.
October 26th, 2018 1:38 am
Connie on Pipe bombs.
October 27th, 2018 3:37 am
Connie on Pipe bombs.
October 28th, 2018 6:02 pm
Connie on The balm of b.s.
November 1st, 2018 3:19 pm
connie on The balm of b.s.
November 2nd, 2018 2:13 pm
Connie on The balm of b.s.
November 2nd, 2018 3:54 pm
Connie on The balm of b.s.
November 2nd, 2018 6:16 pm
Connie on The interview is not the job.
November 5th, 2018 7:07 pm
Connie on The interview is not the job.
November 7th, 2018 6:14 pm
Connie on Don't mourn. Organize.
November 8th, 2018 6:10 pm
Connie on It's all burning.
November 14th, 2018 4:05 pm
Connie on Tryptophan hangovers.
November 27th, 2018 7:19 pm
Connie on The gallop at midweek.
November 30th, 2018 4:06 am
Connie on The gallop at midweek.
November 30th, 2018 6:40 pm
Connie on Cleaning up. Everywhere.
December 4th, 2018 8:21 pm
Connie on A few days away.
December 10th, 2018 5:56 pm
Connie on A few days away.
December 12th, 2018 6:06 pm
Connie on The whirl.
December 28th, 2018 5:39 pm
Connie on The whirl.
December 28th, 2018 7:42 pm
Connie on The whirl.
December 28th, 2018 10:45 pm
Connie on Peace, quiet and books.
January 2nd, 2019 4:55 pm
Connie on Peace, quiet and books.
January 2nd, 2019 9:01 pm
Connie on Peace, quiet and books.
January 2nd, 2019 10:47 pm
Connie on Peace, quiet and books.
January 2nd, 2019 11:12 pm
Connie on Deleting in the underwear drawer.
January 8th, 2019 8:25 pm
Connie on Here for the avocados.
January 11th, 2019 4:39 pm
Connie on Here for the avocados.
January 11th, 2019 9:42 pm
Connie on Here for the avocados.
January 12th, 2019 12:01 am
Connie on At least no trains and tunnels.
January 14th, 2019 9:22 pm
Connie on At least no trains and tunnels.
January 14th, 2019 11:13 pm
Connie on At least no trains and tunnels.
January 16th, 2019 3:08 pm
Connie on What day is it?
January 20th, 2019 3:20 am
Connie on Sequins dead ahead.
January 22nd, 2019 5:54 pm
Connie on Sequins dead ahead.
January 24th, 2019 7:54 pm
Connie on The edge of NyQuil.
January 26th, 2019 8:08 pm
Connie on Beware the ice dragon.
January 31st, 2019 5:12 pm
Connie on Beware the ice dragon.
January 31st, 2019 6:33 pm
Connie on Slow down, short month.
February 5th, 2019 6:40 pm
Connie on Slow down, short month.
February 5th, 2019 8:12 pm
Connie on Slow down, short month.
February 5th, 2019 9:02 pm
Connie on Slow down, short month.
February 6th, 2019 2:05 pm
Connie on Slow down, short month.
February 6th, 2019 7:56 pm
Connie on Returned.
February 14th, 2019 9:47 pm
Connie on Pants, afire.
February 19th, 2019 7:03 pm
Connie on Dirty.
February 22nd, 2019 2:37 pm
Connie on Blustery day, eh?
February 25th, 2019 4:50 pm
Connie on Blustery day, eh?
February 27th, 2019 7:00 pm
Connie on The bottom below the last bottom.
March 1st, 2019 8:29 pm
Connie on Jacko.
March 4th, 2019 10:59 pm
Connie on Jacko.
March 5th, 2019 12:44 am
Connie on Jacko.
March 5th, 2019 11:06 pm
Connie on An earlier Lent.
March 7th, 2019 5:23 pm
Connie on An earlier Lent.
March 7th, 2019 5:42 pm
Connie on And now, the shadow.
March 9th, 2019 12:42 am
Connie on Radio sucks.
March 12th, 2019 6:20 pm
Connie on Radio sucks.
March 14th, 2019 4:05 pm
Connie on Radio sucks.
March 14th, 2019 5:35 pm
Connie on Radio sucks.
March 14th, 2019 8:43 pm
Connie on With the swamp-drainers.
March 16th, 2019 5:18 pm
Connie on 'Us.' And them.
March 25th, 2019 6:30 pm
Connie on Sunday again.
April 2nd, 2019 3:42 pm
Connie on Inferno.
April 22nd, 2019 2:36 am
Connie on Hello. I'm Johnny Cash.
May 2nd, 2019 5:13 pm
Connie on Hello. I'm Johnny Cash.
May 3rd, 2019 4:19 pm
Connie on Circles.
May 8th, 2019 10:00 pm
Connie on Circles.
May 8th, 2019 11:01 pm
Connie on Circles.
May 9th, 2019 4:10 pm
Connie on Circles.
May 9th, 2019 4:18 pm
Connie on Dumb guys.
May 16th, 2019 6:29 pm
Connie on Dumb guys.
May 16th, 2019 8:12 pm
Connie on Dumb guys.
May 16th, 2019 10:50 pm
Connie on Dumb guys.
May 16th, 2019 11:07 pm
Connie on Bad people.
May 24th, 2019 3:23 pm
Connie on Bad people.
May 24th, 2019 4:03 pm
Connie on Ducking (responsibility), goosing (geese).
June 4th, 2019 9:25 pm
Connie on Royalty and the family.
June 5th, 2019 4:28 pm
Connie on Royalty and the family.
June 5th, 2019 6:16 pm
Connie on Royalty and the family.
June 6th, 2019 11:31 pm
Connie on Royalty and the family.
June 6th, 2019 11:44 pm
Connie on Sunny skies, few clouds.
June 10th, 2019 3:41 pm
Connie on Sunny skies, few clouds.
June 10th, 2019 7:49 pm
Connie on Too much about vacuums.
June 19th, 2019 5:42 pm
Connie on Too much about vacuums.
June 19th, 2019 9:00 pm
Connie on Too much about vacuums.
June 19th, 2019 9:05 pm
Connie on A half-dozen items in search of a blog.
June 21st, 2019 9:23 pm
Connie on Of course he did it.
June 24th, 2019 4:05 pm
Connie on Of course he did it.
June 24th, 2019 5:04 pm
Connie on Of course he did it.
June 24th, 2019 5:07 pm
Connie on Shrinking pains.
June 26th, 2019 3:17 pm
Connie on Shrinking pains.
June 26th, 2019 3:21 pm
Connie on Shrinking pains.
June 27th, 2019 12:21 am
Connie on Yeah, sure.
June 28th, 2019 3:21 pm
Connie on Yeah, sure.
June 28th, 2019 4:22 pm
Connie on Yeah, sure.
July 1st, 2019 3:28 pm
Connie on Yeah, sure.
July 1st, 2019 7:37 pm
Connie on A grim holiday.
July 8th, 2019 7:01 pm
Connie on Could you repeat that? LOUDER?
July 9th, 2019 3:15 pm
Connie on Hot days, a little A/C and teevee.
July 11th, 2019 5:24 pm