Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

No Justins, No Peace

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

Spilling the end game before they can coat it in frankl luntz-approved dogwhistles.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Joe Lieberman disappointingly reemerged to remind us that he’s still alive.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Saturday Night Open Thread

Saturday Night Open Thread

by | 275 Comments

This post is in: 

The ribs and pork loin are about ready- making a peach/thai pepper chutney for the pork loin, making some jalapeno and bacon cornbread, cole slaw, beans, and some home made french fries:

All this, and football, too!

*** Update ***

The ribs and pork loin:

ribs

No, those are not granite, before you ask.

The plate:

dinner

It tasted better than it looked.

Reader Interactions

275Comments

  1. 1.

    JenJen

    My favorite part about the site rebuild? Clicking on “Consistently wrong since 2002” instead of the logo to get back to the homepage.

    Nice.

    ETA (oooh that was fun!): Any kind soul want to help me with my lineup tomorrow? I’m super-weak at QB, I’m benching Cutler against the Steelers (obvs), and now I’m trying to decide which scrub to start: Jason Campbell, or Kyle Orton. Blech.

  4. 4.

    John Cole

    @JenJen: The tag line is now editable, so whenever Palin or someone says something stupid, I can change it.

    @Alex: Clear your browser cache and it should be back. The only thing I did was get rid of the “John Cole’s” since there are now four front page posters.

  6. 6.

    General Winfield Stuck

    Put some pork chops in the oven about an hour ago and was all giddy about eating them with some fresh veggies and forgot to turn the oven.

    Always turn the oven on if you want to cook stuff.

  8. 8.

    Citizen_X

    @John Cole: whenever Palin or someone says something stupid, I can change it.

    Strunk and White called, John. They said, “Omit needless words.”

  9. 9.

    smiley

    It looks like competition in the SEC east is going to be as fierce as always. UF beat UT by only 10 points; 23-13. UF was favored by 30 points.

    John, I want to eat your menu. Mine is hot and spicy shrimp, pork-fried rice, and egg rolls. Not bad but not smoked meat products. Damn I miss living in the Carolinas.

  10. 10.

    Svensker

    @General Winfield Stuck:

    Always turn the oven on if you want to cook stuff.

    I once tried to cook some cornbread in the fridge. When the timer went off, I got up, looked in the fridge and said, “nope, not done yet”, walked about 5 feet into the living room before realizing the problem. Not that there were any illegal substances involved or anything.

  12. 12.

    JenJen

    @John Cole: Oh, that is beautiful. Michael Steele will probably provide you with a tagline or 2,000,000 as well. (#michellemalkinmath)

    @Crashman06: I know, right? I’m thinking Campbell too, but I may as well flip a coin and find something else to do tomorrow.

    Also, those ribs look so f’n good.

  15. 15.

    abo gato

    Holy moly, John….how many people are you feeding? Sounds like enough for a herd. We bought an Akaushi sirloin steak at a local meatmarket that has been in business since 1914. We were there last weekend and got some wonderful prime NY strip steak. Liked it so much we went back today and got sucked into the Akaushi just because it was only 8.99 a pound for Kobe beef. Had to try this.

    Got that marinating a bit and have a loaf of artisan bread in the oven and a garlic/tomato/okra thing going on on top of the stove. We also hit the farmer’s market today and got nice okra and tomatoes and corn. Thinking about maybe creamed corn instead of on the cob on the grill.

    That sirloin may be the best looking steak I have ever seen. Very lean and dark red.

  16. 16.

    JK

    John,

    Great to see the return of the fabulous formatting buttons.

    Equally great to see separate email contacts for Doug, Tim, and Anne Laurie.

  18. 18.

    JenJen

    @JK: CNN’s been running an ad all afternoon that calls out FNC as well: “Distorting, Not Reporting”.

    As much as I like to see CNN hit back at Fox News, I don’t know how useful this is, because Fox News knows full well that ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC and CNN covered Wingnut Woodstock. The point is… they don’t care, so why let that get in the way of a chance to kick their opponents? That’s who these guys are.

    It’s truly messed-up, if you ask me, and was actually a little shocked with the distorted numbers coming out of the 9/12 March; this mythology being built around it, and here comes Fox News to throw a log on that fire with that bullshit ad. They are audacious in the most obnoxious way.

    And now Chris Wallace is whining that he didn’t get a sit-down appointment during POTUS’ media blitz tomorrow. It’s quite the side-show, isn’t it?

  20. 20.

    trollhattan

    Dawgs are back (however briefly)! First win against a ranked team since (gulp) 2003.

    Now, about those Seahawks….

    Those are some fine ribs, and we’ll be the judge of just what those countertops are crafted from, sir. Wolverines!

  21. 21.

    Svensker

    Hey, John, I got nothing against The Cars, but can’t you put back that James Brown vid? I just came back for a second look — that shit was hot! — and it’s gone. Now my groove thang haz a sad.

  22. 22.

    smiley

    @abo gato:

    garlic/tomato/okra thing going on on top of the stove.

    That’s always been a regular in my family. I still make it my own self. In my version there’s more onion than garlic but garlic, and corn, are always included. Oh yeah, include the corn… and some chili powder.

  23. 23.

    JK

    @JenJen:

    In the long run, it won’t matter much, but I’m glad to see someone giving Fox pushback for their nonsensical claim about media coverage of the Million Moron March.

  24. 24.

    General Winfield Stuck

    And now for some cheerful news from the “Oh Noes, we’re all gonna die” files.

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States and Europe face a new health threat from a mosquito-borne disease far more unpleasant than the West Nile virus that swept into North America a decade ago, a U.S. expert said on Friday.

    Chikungunya virus has spread beyond Africa since 2005, causing outbreaks and scores of fatalities in India and the French island of Reunion. It also has been detected in Italy, where it has begun to spread locally, as well as France.

    “We’re very worried,” Dr. James Diaz of the Louisiana University Health Sciences Center told a meeting on airlines, airports and disease transmission sponsored by the independent U.S. National Research Council.

  25. 25.

    Linkmeister

    I thought those bottles contained booze, but no. Two (two?) open bottles of olive oil. Been there, done that.

    They are good-lookin’ ribs, no question.

  26. 26.

    Citizen_X

    Not to bring down this event by talking about politics or anything, but you might check out this report from the BBC on the Values Voters Summit. Among other things, it brings international attention to my idiot Congressman, Mike Pence. (Shown in a horribly-fitting suit; dude, can’t you find a tailor or something?)

    It’s got this priceless bit, attempting to translate wingnutese for the rest of the world:

    From the podium, Virginia Congressman Eric Cantor stoked the audience’s fears with a joke about a man who goes to sleep in America and wakes up, after a year of Obama, to find himself living in Sweden.
    To many foreign ears, the thought of waking up in Sweden might seem rather appealing, but to this fiercely patriotic crowd it would not have made much difference if Mr Cantor had substituted Sweden for North Korea.

    It finishes with this:

    the boldness of the Obama agenda has rekindled their passion, and Vin Weber believes that if national security and the economy move away from centre stage, then the “values agenda” will once again reassert itself.

    I think the Onion put it much better, shortly after 9/11: “A Shattered Nation Longs to Care About Stupid Bullshit Once Again.”

  28. 28.

    Mark S.

    @eemom:

    He wrote that Mr. Edwards once calmed an anxious Ms. Hunter by promising her that after his wife died, he would marry her in a rooftop ceremony in New York with an appearance by the Dave Matthews Band.

    Ugh. Granted, I never really cared for the guy but what a sleazeball.

  30. 30.

    Splitting Image

    Speaking of the Cars, I’d be very happy if they did a DVD release of their Heartbeat City VHS collection, preferably with their other videos included as extras.

    Maybe they’re holding out for blu-ray, but it’s a shame that one of the more inventive groups of the era is off the market when a lot of other groups are easily available on DVD.

  32. 32.

    Ken Jackson

    @<garlic/tomato/okra thing going on on top of the stove. :

    I would die for some okra rite about now, I would like to grow some, but haven’t found any seeds down here, and so it goes… Perhaps on one of my runs to the big city (Papeete) next week I might run into some… Garden time gettin close, I am going to plant cukes, zuchinni, tomatoes, diakon, and some other stuffs that will grow decent in the tropics without bolting, or going off on some crazy tangent’

  34. 34.

    Joey Maloney

    When I view the site in Safari 4 all I see in the banner is the blog motto “Consistently wrong since 2002” in bolded grey type. The title and the little man in the boat balloon are gone. It looks normal in Firefox.

    ETA – Pork loin, the perfect meal for the first night of Rosh Hashana!

  41. 41.

    MikeJ

    Down goes USC! terrorist fist jab

    I was at the neighborhood produce stand. Shouts of glee filled the store, and if you were near the door, ringing up and down the streets of Seattle.

  43. 43.

    freelancer

    @Linkmeister:

    We won that game and were leading it since the 2nd quarter. Got completely fucked by the refs just before half, and it continued. I watched it in a bar on a projector screen bigger than the one in my living room and VT was holding 2x as much as us but never got called on it. Won by one point, it was so much bullshit. It felt like the ’93 orange bowl where we lost the National Championship to Florida State because of a touchdown callback on some made up penalty.

    Argh.

    We were underdogs who obviously outplayed them. Look out Big 12. We’re good, and we’re pissed off.

  44. 44.

    RedKitten

    Those ribs look awesome.

    Fuck, I’m tired. It’s not even 9pm, and I’m already nodding off. I really, really, really hope Samuel sleeps well tonight, ’cause I’ve just been a complete zombie for the last few weeks.

  45. 45.

    Martin

    Wow, the neighborhood must be near-suicidal. Half the homes here have USC pennants out front. I’ll have some good fun mocking people at work next week.

  46. 46.

    Laura W

    @AhabTRuler: I am so happy for you and your SO and especially Momo and Henry! He’s got the total black cat look of disdain already! (“Tie).

    C’mon now. Fork over the long-winded backstory. You know you just don’t show up here with an adoption announcement. Give the emos something to tear up over.

  47. 47.

    JenJen

    @eemom:

    Ms. Hunter gave her daughter the middle name Quinn, and people who have spoken with her said its resemblance to the Latin prefix for five was to proclaim that the baby was Mr. Edwards’s fifth child.

    That was one Juicy-Lucy, stomach-turning article. It’s even worse than I thought, the whole Edwards imbroglio.

    To this day, it just infuriates me that John and Elizabeth, hiding this enormous secret, still pursued the Democratic nomination. Can you imagine how much fun the convention would’ve been if he was the nominee? My mind just reels, that anyone could be so power-hungry and so devoted to this thing they must have, that they would be willing to screw the Democratic Party, and the entire country, for it.

    John Edwards is a pig.

  50. 50.

    MikeJ

    that they would be willing to screw the Democratic Party, and the entire country, for it.

    To be fair, it wouldn’t have been screwing the country had he been elected. It would have been screwing the party had it come out before the election.

    I still don’t give a shit about politicians cheating on their wives. Abandoning their offices to run around is a different thing, of course.

  53. 53.

    Craig

    @freelancer:

    Suck it (that game was goddamned insane. Sorry. Nebraska fans definitely live up to their reputation for traveling, this place was swarming with them for the last couple of days.)

    I can’t believe no one’s mentioned Phoebe Cates’ breasts yet. Um, Phoebe Cates’ breasts. Hell yeah.

  55. 55.

    JenJen

    @Splitting Image: I would love to see the long-form Warhol-directed “Hello Again” video, I really would; it’s been forever!! Pretty sure it was the first time I ever saw Gina Gershon, too. Now that I think of it, I believe I had that VHS.

    The Cars! More than a lot of bands, they always make me feel young again when I listen.

  56. 56.

    Dream On

    And to think, Edwards said in a debate he opposed decriminalizing pot because “it would send a bad message to kids.”

    Offering his girlfriend a private performance by the Dave Matthews Band? Come on!

  58. 58.

    mcd410x

    Um, not to be a dick, but to those Husker fans out there: Don’t give up an 80-yard pass with a minute left and you win.

    lex parsimoniae

  59. 59.

    Zzyzx

    I drove by Husky Stadium right before the half. USC had the ball inside their own 20, and I rolled down the windows and listened to the crowd noise, loud from street. Impressive. I’m not into college sports but I watched the rest of the game.

  61. 61.

    dr. luba

    @Joey Maloney: Empty the cache, and then reload the page. I was getting odd results (both what you have and the old banner with extra lines of text) until I did.

  62. 62.

    Fulcanelli

    That chow sure does look good. I hope you brought enough for everybody Mr. Cole or there will be hell to pay… Hell, I said!

  63. 63.

    eemom

    @Dream On:

    Hell, I’m gullible too, but how were we supposed to know?? It took the freakin National Enquirer to blow that slick slimeball’s cover.

    I’m a lawyer, and I REALLY don’t subscribe to the wingnut “trial lawyers BAD” mantra, but I work with someone who said he always knew Edwards was a fraud because he knows his rich ass lawyer cronies, including the one who helped buy off “Rielle.”

    Poor Elizabeth. And those kids.

  66. 66.

    Dream On

    @eemom,

    I think the situation for me was I recognized that Edwards was… slick, and I knew his rhetoric didn’t match his voting record, but I hoped that maybe he had some sort of Road to Damascus conversion to progressive ideas. Plus, unlike Hillary and Obama, he specifically tailored his words toward a progressive ideal. So while I SAW he was slick, I liked what he said. And nobody else was saying it, except for one guy. Who I wish I had thrown caution to the wind and supported.

    (Paul Harvey voice) “…and that man was….. Dennis Kucinich!”

  68. 68.

    Comrade Luke

    You know, I’m not trying to slime Elizabeth Edwards, because she seems like a nice person and I totally admire her fight against cancer…

    …but…

    …if she knew about it and kept it quiet, and I believe I read that she did, doesn’t this show how much both parties crave the power of the presidency? Both EE and HRC knew full well what was going on but kept their mouths shut because saying something was worse.

    Or do you think they both kept quiet for the sake of the kids? I suppose that’s possible, but if so that’s a pretty big whopper to keep secret, amirite?

    Also:

    For her grand jury appearance on Aug. 6, Ms. Hunter took her daughter to the federal courthouse in downtown Raleigh. As she walked in, she seemed to turn the girl’s face toward the local television cameras.

    Classay…

  69. 69.

    demkat620

    John, those ribs look so good, I’m cooking my own tomorrow.

    It was a beautiful day here in SEPA. Almost perfect.

    @RedKitten: Sorry RK, the first months are the worst and the first time he sleeps all night you’ll be up anyway worried that something is wrong.

  70. 70.

    General Winfield Stuck

    That plate kind of looks like Klingon food. Though it’s hard to tell if any thing is moving with a still.

  71. 71.

    Zuzu's Petals

    I’m always impressed when people who live alone cook up nice tasty meals for themselves and make a lovely presentation on the plate.

    I guess I’m just burned out from all the years I cooked for others. Then as an empty-nest working woman I got in the habit of bringing home deli take out from the natural foods coop…which let’s face it, is much tastier than anything I could cook.

    Now that I’m retired I don’t really have an excuse, but … nope, not much interest. If anything, I might go towards a raw food/juice thing.

  72. 72.

    asiangrrlMN

    YUM. YUM. YUM. Food looks YUM.

    I love that the tagline is editable (though I first read that as edible, and I thought, only with Dijon mustard on it!).

    My Twins are bugging the shit out of me by making a late season run again. Damn it. They’ll get my hopes up and then they’ll cruelly dash them and then the owners will be convinced that we are only one or two players away from a playoff-winning team.

    Sigh.

  73. 73.

    Gina

    @Laura W: I was thinking it was either persimmon or tangerine, it’s hard to tell on my monitor. I love Fiesta, it’s held up very well. Since I couldn’t decide on one color, I’ve gone all KrAzY LaDy and have several to mix and match – persimmon, heather, sunflower, peacock, sea mist, turquoise, cobalt, shamrock, and on and on.

    I want to take a road trip to the factory some day soon, and hit the outlet store.

  74. 74.

    Dream On

    The sad thing is the feeling that part of my campaign donation possibly went to pay off someone about as classy as Octo-Mom.

    Ever get the feelin’ you’ve been cheated!?!

    Paul Theroux once wrote that “politicians are always inferior to the people they represent.”

    And when I think how that applies to people like Tom Coburn, Tom Delay, Sarah Palin – that’s quite a scary thought.

  77. 77.

    gnomedad

    @JenJen:

    John Edwards is a pig.

    I’m increasingly convinced that a lot of politicians are alpha males literally ruled by their gonads. The behavior is just surreal.

  78. 78.

    abo gato

    OMG, I had to come back and tell you that the Akaushi sirloin steak was the BEST steak I have ever had…..no comparison to any at any top end steak restaurants, this was unfreaking unbelievable. Medium rare, over natural wood charcoal, with a bit of seasoning (which next time I am leaving off, completely unneeded)…..the best freaking steak we ever ate. If you think sirloin might be chewy, not with this stuff. It was as tender as any prime filet I have ever had.

    Amazing.

    Bolnersmeatmarket.com

    That’s all I’m going to say.

  79. 79.

    CynDee

    Dear John,

    What happened to the old logo and the little tiny “consistently wrong”? I liked it little-tiny. It makes such a good statement that way.

    Because — seems to me, this site and you have been consistently right (oops, charged word) — I mean “mostly correct and usually in tune with reality, frequently spot-on” all this time.

    It’s your site, and I’ll always be glad for it whatever you do. Look at all these nice little buttons.

    Thanks a million for making such a difference to so many people. And animals.

    OH! There it is, the real original logo. GORGEOUS! My day is made!

  82. 82.

    eemom

    @Comrade Luke:

    yeah, I know the “Elizabeth was complicit” concept, but for me that was at least somewhat mitigated by what she says in her book, which is that the fucker didn’t tell her about the affair until the day AFTER he announced his candidacy………which to me is another demonstration of his deplorable sliminess.

    Also the reports in that article that he affirmatively asked people to lie for him and even tried to procure false DNA paternity evidence. Holy SHIT.

  83. 83.

    Laura W

    @Gina:

    I’ve gone all KrAzY LaDy and have several to mix and match – persimmon, heather, sunflower, peacock, sea mist, turquoise, cobalt, shamrock, and on and on.

    Ummmmm……..

    I’m pretty sure that’s Persimmon. You can see here via my IRL demonstration that Tangerine is far brighter, and lighter, not as saturated. (Yes, those are granite, before you ask.)

    I started collecting Bauer as a teenager, thanks to my Grama Emma, and have a freaky thing about pottery from those years, especially ringware and swirl patterns (vases, flower pots, mixing bowls.) But I don’t want to eat off of Bauer for many reasons, so have just gone with contemporary, multi-colored Fiesta and BoscoWare (bright yellow plates and bowls, see flickr for coffee mug collection!), when you can find it, for every day use. Just got some Tangerine and Turquoise Fiesta silverware I am not real happy with, but whatever. The COLOR is what counts, amirite?

  84. 84.

    Sentient Puddle

    I’m taking the “it really doesn’t matter any more and I don’t care” approach to the Edwards affair. It helps keep my blood pressure lower. Or at the very least, I can get it up over the latest Republican shit, and be justified in snapping.

    Meanwhile, I’m kind of sort of watching the UT/Texas Tech game. For one, I live in Austin, so I think I’m required by law to care. But my sister (who goes to Tech) and her husband (Tech alum) are staying with me this weekend so that they could go to the game.

    That all said, I really got nothing insightful to say.

  85. 85.

    Comrade Luke

    @eemom:

    I didn’t know he kept it quiet until after he announced. What a slimeball.

    And to think he was my favorite candidate of the “legitimate” ones to choose from. He sure fooled a lot of people.

  87. 87.

    asiangrrlMN

    @JK: Oh my god oh my god oh my god! That first video….THANK YOU!!!!!

    Ahem. When did the BoSox last win the World Series? Yeah, that’s what I thought–so shut up. By the way, I caught a game at Fenway last year, and it’s an insane experience.

    Love Blondie!

  88. 88.

    Dream On

    Jinxes are good for sports, now the Red Sox are just like any other team.

    Oh well, we’ll always have the Houson Astros, the padres, the Nationals and the Mets. Mediocrities, all.

  91. 91.

    Max

    @ John Cole – Not a lot of veggies on that plate.

    I was out at the coast today and my dog was exploring in a little cove. He walked out to this rock in the cove and all of a sudden, a harbor seal came around the other side of the rock. I have never seen my dog move that fast, he barely touched the water as he ran back to me on the shore.

    It was pee your pants funny.

  92. 92.

    JenJen

    @AhabTRuler:

    Meet Henry, the newest member of the Balloon Juice Animal Nation™. They surround us.

    Welcome, Henry! Quite the zoo we have going here.

    Congrats, Ahab. He’d make a nice counterpart to Bitsy in Cutest Kitty Competition.

  93. 93.

    Kryptik

    You know John, after that bad start with the Liberty game, I’m finding a lot more confidence in WVU all of a sudden.

    14 points and 130+ yards in 7 plays does that, I guess.

    EDIT: …I spoke to soon it seems. I’ma shut up now.

  94. 94.

    Skepticat

    It’s not bad enough that I had only a cucumber and a handful (well, two handsful)(okay, perhaps three) of mini peanut butter cups for dinner, but then I check the weather and there’s a frost advisory. I’m so not ready for that, thanks. And of course it’s pitch dark, so I nearly killed myself dragging in big plant pots—with all their attendant resident vermin, naturally. I hate that it gets dark so early. We can’t have killing frosts yet, I need the yard to be pretty and bright and flowery for potential victims, er, buyers. Have I mentioned lately that I hate having the house on the market? I’ve never kept it so neat, though, and I understand that there are people who actually live like that all the time voluntarily.

  95. 95.

    JK

    @Dream On:

    As long as any team other than the NY Yankees wins the World Series this year I’ll be happy.

    The NY Mets are not just a MEDIOCRE baseball team. For the past 2 seasons they collapsed in truly monumental fashion.

    When it comes to ripping your heart out and then stomping upon it, no one compares to the Mets.

    If the Mets didn’t exist, someone would have to invent them. The Mets are a non-stop comedy of errors. Medical reports on injured players are routinely inaccurate. The general manager fires their manager after he makes a flight to the West Coast. That same general manager antagonizes the media by insulting a beat writer at a press conference. Fans complain about the viewing conditions from seats at the new stadium. The Mets just go from one pratfall to the next, all the while charging their fans outrageous prices for everything.

  96. 96.

    General Winfield Stuck

    Well, the race is on to amend the Baucus HC bill in markup with more than 500 amendments offered. Here is a dandy from Orrin Hatch.

    In perhaps a mild form of protest, Hatch proposed additional relief from the 35 percent tax on high-end insurance plans for any state that begins with the letter “U.”

    Who says wingnuts don’t have a sense of humor, especially when proposing relief to poor rich folks.

  97. 97.

    asiangrrlMN

    @AhabTRuler: Squee! WANT Henry! Where do you live again?

    @JK: Hm. I can see your point about the BoSox wins. I really dig the first song. The second song, not so much. Got any pensive music for me tonight, Music Man?

  103. 103.

    Dream On

    @Gwangung:

    yes indeed – my Mariners. When you consider the great players they’ve had over the years – Griffey, Edgar Martinez, Randy Johnson, Jay Buhner, Ichiro – and when you consider all the “shoulda-been-goods” like Jeff Cirillo, Richie Sexton – all for naught.

    Oh yeah, and Alex Rodriguez.

  104. 104.

    Martin

    I’m a Red Sox fan and Yankee hater who lives in NY.

    Shit, most New Yorkers hate the Yankees. Thats why the Mets are there!

  107. 107.

    arguingwithsignposts

    surprised no one has mentioned the cubs yet. i have a whole itunes of pensiveness, but i can’t handle pulling it out tonight.

  109. 109.

    JenJen

    @MikeJ: Just to clarify, I meant it in the sense, it would have been screwing the country if he had handed the election to John McCain, because the affair and child it produced would have been discovered just prior to the DNC in Denver.

    That’s what infuriated me so much about the news; he and Elizabeth knew they were concealing one bombshell of a secret, and yet they went forward and campaigned for the nomination. It was one of the most arrogant, reckless political acts I think we’ve ever seen. We really dodged a bullet.

  113. 113.

    Cris

    I just noticed the “Balloon Juice Dictionary” page and I’m psyched! Are you going to take user contributions on that, ala urbandictionary?

  116. 116.

    burnspbesq

    @Martin:

    All my life, I have loathed front-running, bandwagoning fans who don’t stick with their team through thick and thin. But the last three seasons have been nothing but pain, and life is too damn short.

    Fuck the Mets. I am now officially an Angels fan.

  120. 120.

    Geoduck

    Seattle pro teams as a whole. You combine them all together, and they have produced a grand total of two championships: one each for the Sonics (now the Oklahoma City Carpetbaggers) and the WNBA Storm.

  121. 121.

    Demo Woman

    @JK: and how do we know that all the teams were not tainted. The NYTimes article only talked about the Sox but not the rest of the players on the list.

  124. 124.

    JK

    @Demo Woman:

    I’m still rooting for the Red Sox, but the Manny and Papi allegations leave a bad taste in my mouth.

    The Manny and Papi revelations took the glow off of one of the greatest feel good stories in baseball.

    I think if every World Series winning team from the Steroid Era was tested, I’d bet every team would have at least 1 player who tested positive.

    The Steroids Era completely disgusts me. I’d like to see MLB and the damn players union clean up their acts and get performance enhancing drugs out of baseball for good.

  131. 131.

    asiangrrlMN

    Ok. I just have to say it. No Beatles and no Stones.

    *Flees the room.

    Like The Doors song, the John Cale song (love him), the Kris Delmhorst song, and the Blood Sweat and Tears song.

    Dare I say it? I want even more pensive!

    JK, I really dig the Traffic song, too.

  132. 132.

    South of I-10

    Okay, so as expected, ULL loses to LSU. Had a great time with friends, great food and lots of drinks. Now I can go back to pulling for LSU next week. I really wish ULL would have scored a damn touchdown.

  134. 134.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @asiangrrlMN:

    Dare I say it? I want even more pensive!

    OK, time to talk about NIN, then. Hurt. I don’t think you can get anymore pensive than that. especially the Cash version.

  136. 136.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @asiangrrlMN:

    Dare I say it? I want even more pensive!

    Sorry, The End is the end of pensive for me. Next would be funeral music, and that’s likely the last thing you want to hear.

  138. 138.

    JK

    @asiangrrlMN:

    While there are no rights or wrongs when it comes to music, film, literary or other artistic preferences, I’m disappointed to hear your admonition against the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. I truly hope you one day reconsider your position. You’re depriving your auditory senses of some truly amazing and phenomenal music.

  140. 140.

    AhabTRuler

    @asiangrrlMN: I knew that you would appreciate him. The SO and I had been talking about getting a friend to keep Momo company during the day. We had also talked rescuing a black cat, especially from a kill shelter, and so when we saw Henry and how sweet and affectionate he was, we had to adopt him.

  141. 141.

    gbear

    I rode my scooter down to New Prague, MN for their Dožínky, (Czech Harvest Festival) today. Ate all kinds of saurkraut and pork based products and listened to at least a dozen polka bands. They were on every corner.

    The best song of the day was by The New Prague Concertina Orchestra, which consists of at least 20 accordions/concertinas playing at once, a sax, and a trumpet. Average age was probably 65 and there was a guy there celebrating his 100th birthday.

    The lyrics to the best polka were:

    My baby said she loves me but she lied, but she lied, but she lied.
    My baby said she loves me but she lied. Ohhh, how she lied.

    My baby said she missed me but she lied, but she lied, but she lied.
    My baby said she missed me but she lied. Ohhh, how she lied.

    LOTS of beer was being served.

    Only song I can think of to add is for [email protected] who’s groove thang has a sad:

    Heaven 17

  144. 144.

    asiangrrlMN

    @AhabTRuler: He looks soooo sweet and sooooo cute. I just want to cuddle him and kiss him and name him George. Thank you for adopting a black cat! Makes me smile.

    @arguingwithsignposts: I love love love the Cash version of that song.

    @JK: I know! I am a sad disappointment in the music area, aren’t I? However, the Jefferson Airplane song really hits the spot of pensiveness. I might add it to the rotation.

  150. 150.

    JK

    @asiangrrlMN:

    You have eclectic and interesting tastes and we definitely concur in several areas. You are most certainly not a sad disappointment when it comes to musical preferences. You have great taste and a great personality to match.

    The Beatles and the Rolling Stones have been my 2 favorite bands since the early 1970’s. I just get a little surprised when I hear someone say they don’t like either of them.

  151. 151.

    Polish the Guillotines

    Woah. Formatting buttons. Neato.

    I will not post links to music. I simply won’t.

    +2 on whiskey sours made with bottled simple syrup. Fuck that. Gotta make some more with Sugar In the Raw. Makes a big diff.

    Okay, I lied. Fox On the Run. Cuz it’s awesome.

  152. 152.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    Peace of mind, from my own experience with depression, is managing expectations of yourself and others. Sounds easy but it’s not. Hang in there dude, and remember, this too shall pass.

    Serenity Prayer

    God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change

    The courage to change the things I can

    And the wisdom to know the difference.

  154. 154.

    Rekster

    John:

    The plate looks GREAT. That’s what BBQ is supposed to look like. Though I’m not too sure about Thai Chutney. What is that. Don’t think I’ll find any of that in the South.

    ROLL TIDE! “Movin on Up”.

  155. 155.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @JK:

    I’m with ya on the Beatles, not so much the Rolling Stones, though they have several songs I really like.

    I’m a Led Zep freak and always have been, and Joni Mitchell is alone at the top of individual singer song writers.

  156. 156.

    gbear

    @arguingwithsignposts: Most likely because, like the rest of us, you’ve been trying to be a grownup since you were 7 years old.

    Spend the rest of the weekend being a kid. Ride your bicycle somewhere to get an ice cream treat. Be selfish. Everyone else is being a poopy head. Screw them for the rest of the weekend. Take care of your own needs.

  157. 157.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @asiangrrlMN:

    I was googling songs with train in the title and stumbled onto them.

    And I am trying to remember a song with the word “train” in title sung by a group named something _________ Brothers. They have been around a long time and I think it is a black group. Not much to go on, but any ideas???

  162. 162.

    JK

    @General Winfield Stuck:

    I like a fair amount of Led Zeppelin, but not to the same degree as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the Who. Those are my top 3 bands of all-time.

    I love Joni Mitchell. Her voice from the late 1960’s thru the mid 1970’s is ethereal and unparalleled.

    When Glenn Beck mocked Joni and her song Big Yellow Taxi, I wanted to reach thru the tv screen and smack that raving, drooling, bedwetting lunatic upside the head.

  164. 164.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @JK:

    Was listening to my local NPR station today and they were re-playing Woodstock music and Pinball Wizard
    was just great.

    I saw The Who in concert in 75 or 76 and was one the best concerts ever for me.

    Behind Blue Eyes

    One of my Who favs.

  168. 168.

    JK

    @asiangrrlMN:

    When I find a song, movie, etc I love that wasn’t a monster hit, I just like to get the word out about it.

    I easily get as much if not much more from you within these various threads. You’re too kind and too modest for words.

  171. 171.

    JK

    @General Winfield Stuck:

    Tommy and Who’s Next are not just my 2 favorite Who albums, they’re my 2 favorite rock albums. Live at Leeds is my favorite live rock album.

    Roger Daltrey is my 4th favorite male vocalist after John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Mick Jagger.

  172. 172.

    gyma

    @Corner Stone: Great dialogue.

    Git from here, you pigs!

    All you ever think about is whiskey and whores.

    Why don’t you think that roof back on the barn?

    Hell, Deets wouldn’t stop for no bird!

    Nobody doesn’t like a dentist anyhow.

    Ya think I’ve seen this movie a few times?!

  178. 178.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @asiangrrlMN:

    That list is long and seems complete and the group with brothers isn’t on it. I may be wrong about the train part in title, so everyone please don”t waste your time on my feeble memory brain fart. And thanks for trying.

    I once heard Tim Buckley’s song “Once I Was” more than twenty years ago and spent hours and hours on line and thinking trying to remember it for that long. Then one day it just popped into me head.

  182. 182.

    Corner Stone

    @Zifnab: Also, what the hell has happened to the Georgia Bulldogs’ defense? Didn’t they used to be known for that or something?

  184. 184.

    gyma

    @Corner Stone: Oh, I’ve got lots more:

    Hell, we’ll all be bear crap by morning, anyhow.

    It ain’t Christmas, neither.

    And what’s the line about hating their guts and livers?

    The interaction between Gus and Woodrow is some of the best stuff I’ve ever seen. We often fast forward through the scenes without them.

  189. 189.

    Corner Stone

    @gyma: The scumbag killer and hoss theef that Jake Spoon falls in with hates sodbusters. “hates their guts and their livers”. He burns a couple of them.
    Or some such.

  191. 191.

    JK

    @asiangrrlMN:

    As long as you continue to dislike Michele Bachman Turner Overdrive, Michelle Malkin, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Wasilla Palin, Megan Wankertarian McArdle, John BOMB BOMB BOMB BOMB Iran McCain, Joe Wilson, David Brooks, David Broder, Fox News Channel, and most of the MSM, you can passionately dislike every band, solo artist, book, movie, tv show, poem, painting, sculpture, etc that I hold dear and I would be humbled and honored to call you a friend because I know that your HEART, SOUL, and BRAIN are in the RIGHT PLACE.

  192. 192.

    Corner Stone

    @demkat620:

    Sorry RK, the first months are the worst and the first time he sleeps all night you’ll be up anyway worried that something is wrong.

    Mine is 4 and I still get mighty antsy if he hasn’t come found me by about 7 or 7:15 each morning.
    Crack the door and peak in looking for signs of breathing. No reason to worry as he’s super healthy. Just never leaves you.

  198. 198.

    burnspbesq

    What a cruddy day for football teams I care about.

    Undergrad school (Union College) loses.
    Law School (USC) loses.
    Duke loses.
    Only small good thing: former Duke point guard Greg Paulus, who is now the quarterback at Syracuse, threw for over 300 yds and two TDs, and the Orange got a late FG to beat Northwestern. Well done, Greg!

  200. 200.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Corner Stone: Whew! Glad to know I am not the only one.

    @Fulcanelli: I’m not a Brit hater, either. I like the Clash and Duran Duran.

    ducks and runs (for the latter).

    Fulcanelli, I haven’t done a reading lately. I think I might tonight and see what I get.

    That Mott the Hoople song ain’t bad.

  202. 202.

    JK

    @asiangrrlMN:

    I’m not a Brit hater, either. I like the Clash and Duran Duran.

    And also 2 songs by the Police, a few David Bowie songs, a few George Harrison songs, and 1 song by Traffic. Do I have all of these correct?

    What about the King Crimson songs and Englishman in New York?

  205. 205.

    Steeplejack

    @JK:

    Okay, you redeemed yourself with “Englishman in New York.” One of my favorite songs by Der Stingel, and with Alan Rickman in the video you’ve probably reduced AsianGrrlMN to a puddling mass of estrogen.

    I saw Sting at Chastain Park in Atlanta (outdoor venue) right around the time “Fields of Gold” was hot. Wasn’t expecting much, and I went mainly because of the woman I was dating at the time. I was blown away. Great, great concert.

  206. 206.

    Anne Laurie

    @Dream On:

    I think the situation for me was I recognized that Edwards was… slick, and I knew his rhetoric didn’t match his voting record, but I hoped that maybe he had some sort of Road to Damascus conversion to progressive ideas. Plus, unlike Hillary and Obama, he specifically tailored his words toward a progressive ideal.

    Yeah, I don’t come to politics looking for plaster saints, and I hoped that if Edwards did well enough in the primaries then HRC/BHO would have to slide a little further left (i.e., more center-right than mid-right). And if he got tapped for VP, which is really the best I hoped for him, I figured he’d bring in working-class voters who’d never bring themselves to vote for a woman or a person of color. *Sigh.*

    On the one hand, it’d be nice if “we”, meaning the American media and the low-information voters who support it, got over our fixation with polticians’ private lives at the expense of their actual political actions. On the other hand, if I were Elizabeth Edwards, I’d consider the possibility of shooting the Hunter woman through the head as my swan song, because I don’t think any jury would convict, except maybe for unsafe trash disposal.

  208. 208.

    JK

    @Steeplejack:

    The Clash and the Police are two bands that produced some of my favorite music from the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. I just wish they could have produced MORE of it. I saw the Clash in concert and they were great. Unfortunately, I never got to see the Police or Sting in concert.

  209. 209.

    DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)

    Here’s a link to a copy I made of a flyer some teabagger left a stack of where my daughter works (she pitched them in the garbage, store policy but she enjoyed it).

    I wish I had known as I would have loved to have taped the reenactment of the Boston Tea Party and posted it on YouTube. Damn!

  210. 210.

    RedKitten

    @Wile E. Quixote: Okay, I’m going to have to check that show out. In the last 24 hours, both you and my best friend have raved about the show.

    @Steeplejack: You could have the crappiest song on the planet, and putting Alan Rickman in the video would be instant redemption.

  213. 213.

    JK

    @Anne Laurie:

    I agree with your sentiments, but I think the MSM is unfixable in this regard.

    I saw Denis Leary in concert a few years ago, and he opened the show by stating that he’d rather have Bill Clinton in the White House getting blowjobs than Dick Cheney in the White House fucking the country up the ass.

  214. 214.

    Steeplejack

    @JK:

    Interesting how Surrealistic Pillow includes so much “pensive” stuff, when it’s thought to be the big exemplar of their hard stuff, e.g., “White Rabbit,” “Somebody to Love.”

    Fookin’ great album from end to end. Just wish it had “It’s No Secret” on it, but I feel like an ingrate for saying that.

  217. 217.

    burnspbesq

    @JK:

    The reverse here. Never saw the Clash, but I saw Sting on the tour when his band included Branford Marsalis, Kenny Kirkland, and Jeff Watts, at the Santa Barbara County Bowl. Un-real.

  218. 218.

    Steeplejack

    @RedKitten:

    I should defer to AsiangrrlMN, who turned me on to this video, but I’ll go ahead and post it: Texas, “In Demand.” Get your Rickman on.

    The killer for me is that the singer is a dead ringer for a woman with whom I had an incredibly convoluted, intense relationship–in two parts, separated by 20 years. Oh, the humanity.

  219. 219.

    asiangrrlMN

    @JK: Did! I thanked you profusely for posting that video. It was yuuuuuuuuummmmmmmyyyyyy! Alan Rickman. Drool. And the song ain’t bad, either.

    From last night, I liked these songs very much (of the ones on which I didn’t comment):

    Arrested Development’s Revolution
    Von Bondies’ C’mon C’mon
    Joe Jackson’s One More Time
    Prince’s Let’s Go Crazy
    James Brown’s Night Train

  220. 220.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Steeplejack: My favorite video EVAH! Alan Rickman….I so want to be the lead singer, especially for the gas station scene. Happy sigh.

    RedKitten, you’re the one who told me about your friend having a beer with him in a pub, aren’t you? Drool. DROOL. (Though, I would rather have HIM in a pub).

  221. 221.

    General Winfield Stuck

    Well, I just don’t get the Alan Rickman lusting. He’s a good actor and all, but kind of prissy if you ask me. Odd.

  222. 222.

    burnspbesq

    Anybody out there going to see Son Volt in Chicago next Friday? As luck would have it, I will be in Chicago for bar association meetings, and am thinking pretty seriously about going.

    I have the most amazing dumb luck in planning when I will be in Chicago. Last fall, I stopped in Chicago to see my kid brother and his wife and kids on the way back from meetings in Ohio – and stumbled into a chance to see Chris Thile and Edgar Meyer.

  223. 223.

    JK

    @burnspbesq:

    That was a great lineup Sting had for that tour.
    Maybe 15 years ago, give or take a few years, I remember a live single of the song Down So Long by Sting getting a lot of airplay. I remember Jeff Beck played on that song. At some point, I’d like to track down that version.

  227. 227.

    Linkmeister

    An observation, while listening to the UH-UNLV football game: Baseball is the only sport really suited for radio. Football and basketball, not so much.

    UNLV 21, UH 20, 12 minutes left in the game.

  229. 229.

    JK

    @asiangrrlMN:

    Glad you liked Englishman in New York and the other songs.

    I wish there were a radio station somewhere in the world where I had a chance to hear this playlist

    Sting Englishman in New York
    Arrested Development’s Revolution
    Von Bondies’ C’mon C’mon
    Joe Jackson’s One More Time
    Prince’s Let’s Go Crazy
    James Brown’s Night Train

    C’mon C’mon is used as the opening theme music for the great tv show Rescue Me with Denis Leary

    You see, once you get past the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the Who, there are plenty of tunes we both enjoy.

  231. 231.

    Steeplejack

    @Anne Laurie:

    Yeah, I don’t come to politics looking for plaster saints, and I hoped that if Edwards did well enough in the primaries then HRC/BHO would have to slide a little further left (i.e., more center-right than mid-right). And if he got tapped for VP [. . .]

    Agreed, although I was hoping he would get the attorney general. Still think he might have made a fiery, trust-bustin’ A.G.

  232. 232.

    JK

    @asiangrrlMN:

    Listening to Cat Stevens really takes me back.

    Correct me if I’m wrong. You said you liked some George Harrison songs from last week, right? So does this mean that you are not opposed in principle to listening to solo material by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison? It’s just the Beatles that you are opposed to?

  233. 233.

    asiangrrlMN

    @JK: Yes, as long as you don’t mind throwing out ten songs for every one I like!

    @Steeplejack: Elliot Spitzer, damn it. Couldn’t he find someone who would do the rough stuff without resorting to paying for it? Idiot. I saw him on a Maddow a couple months ago, and I got so angry at him for being so stupid. He really was geared up to go after Wall Street.

  234. 234.

    Linkmeister

    That train song list has “Blue Train” performed by Johnny Cash. Well, maybe, but Linda Ronstadt does it wonderfully.

    UNLV 28 – UH 27, 8 minutes left in the game. Kickoff return just brought out of the end zone by UH (wrong move, kid!) all the way to the 40.

  235. 235.

    asiangrrlMN

    @JK: I liked a few of the George Harrison songs. I like some of Lennon’s solo stuff. I do not like McCartney or Ringo. I know, I know. What can I say? I’m weird.

  238. 238.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Steeplejack: I just respect him for the fine actor that he is. It has nothing to do with the fact that if I ever met him, I would be reduced to a stuttering mass of gibberish. No! It’s because he is an artisan…oh, who the hell am I kidding??

    Alan Rickman = YUM!

  239. 239.

    Steeplejack

    @burnspbesq:

    Time for some Flying Burrito Brothers, I’d say.

    Yeah. Good one.

    My favorite Byrds song from that (approximate) period, and the one that keeps coming to me tonight as I think about Gram Parsons, is “Ballad of Easy Rider.” Parsons had nothing to do with it, but it feels right.

  243. 243.

    Steeplejack

    @asiangrrlMN:

    Yeah, Spitzer was my other A.G. choice, but if there’s anything the electorate hates worse than a philandering husband it’s somebody having really enjoyable recreational sex with a prostitute.

  244. 244.

    Linkmeister

    @Steeplejack: If I remember correctly, the last Harry Potter book has a larger role for Snape than he’s previously had. Rickman has stuck with the franchise despite fairly minimal opportunities to show his acting chops.

  245. 245.

    JK

    @asiangrrlMN:

    I’d never call you or anyone weird based upon musical, film, or literary preferences. If you liked Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Dimmer Twins Palin and Bachmann, THEN I’d feel compelled to call you weird.

    I always find it very interesting to see how people delineate their musical preferences.

    There’s nothing remotely weird about the fact that you like Lennon and Harrison’s solo work, but not McCartney’s or Starr’s.

    As far as the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Who are concerned, Frank Zappa wasn’t a fan of any of them either. I saw Zappa interviewed once and he said he liked a total of 3 Beatles songs. In another interview, Zappa said he couldn’t stand the band Yes but that he liked the solo album by their guitarist Steve Howe.

  247. 247.

    Steeplejack

    @asiangrrlMN:

    Meowch, kitteh! I was thinking of him as the Eurotrash villain in Die Hard. I think he dipped his toe in the waters of iciness there. Deliciously, of course.

  248. 248.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Linkmeister: The movie, yes. The fifth book actually had quite a bit of Snape, but they cut most of it out for the movie, damn them.

    The last two movies better be Snape-tastic, or I’m gonna throw a major hissy fit.

    @Steeplejack: Well, especially when it’s a guy who’s going after that sort of thing! Stupid!

  249. 249.

    freelancer

    my small kingdom for an edit button.

    the “with a prostitute” was supposed to be in strikeout, like so.

    but if there’s anything the electorate hates worse than a philandering husband it’s somebody having really enjoyable recreational guilt-free sex with a prostitute.

  250. 250.

    asiangrrlMN

    @JK: Well, good. I am weird, pop cultural-wise, and I’m actually blogging about it. I have been for the past week or so. I am fine with it for the most part. Check out today’s entry on music (and a shout-out to you).

    @Steeplejack: This is true. I am now retracting my claws from your cheek.

    freelancer, unless you have ’em dress you in Pampers. Then, it’s OK.

  252. 252.

    Steeplejack

    @Linkmeister:

    Rickman has stuck with the franchise despite fairly minimal opportunities to show his acting chops.

    “Rent move,” as one of my coworkers calls it. The townhouse in Mayfair, the country place and the pied–à–terre* in Paris don’t pay for themselves, you know.

    &#042 Or whatever Rickman’s thing is.

  261. 261.

    Steeplejack

    Are we still doing pensive? Danny O’Keefe, “Good Time Charlie’s Got the Blues.” From a great album–well, stuck on later for the CD release, but who’s quibbling–Breezy Stories.

    Guess I’m in a country-esque diminuendo tonight with this whole Gram Parsons thing.

    Tried to find a clip of Gordon Lightfoot’s “Apology,” which is pensivo maximo, but all I could find was this not quite satisfactory version by some biker-ish dude. Good voice, but he’s playing it too slow! Check out Lightfoot’s Sunday Concert.

  262. 262.

    Steeplejack

    @freelancer:

    Awesome song and video! I tried to use this in the ’80s throwdown over Labor Day, but the B&W version with Helena Christensen had the audio neutered for copyright reasons. Probably cost me the semifinals.

  263. 263.

    freelancer

    @asiangrrlMN:

    No, sorry. Must be my mistake. I think I blotted out your last line aimed at JK in that comment and when I looked again, I “saw” that you had added it.

    Have I mentioned I’ve been drinking and about to go to bed in T minus 5 minutes?

    freelancer +9 (don’t worry, I didn’t drive, I stumbled home from the sports bar two blocks away and my friends are already snoring in my living room. FSM Bless America.)

  264. 264.

    asiangrrlMN

    @freelancer: I did add it later. I DO have an edit button. Don’t you?

    Wow. I am only +1. Glad you didn’t drive. I’m going to bed pretty soon, myself. Night my little snowflakes.

    Snow! I hope we get it soon.

    JK, well, I usually can find one or two songs by any artist of credible rep that I like. I mean, there are reasons they’re classics in the first place, right?

  265. 265.

    JK

    @asiangrrlMN:

    I just read that entry on your blog. Thanks very much for the shoutout.

    I like the stray song by them

    Anytime, I ‘ve ever encountered a person who professed a strong dislike for the Beatles or the Rolling Stones, eventually that person would acknowledge he or she actually did like a tiny handful of songs by them. I’m still waiting to encounter someone who has listened to every single song ever recorded by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and can honestly say they dislike each and every one of them.

  267. 267.

    Steeplejack

    Well, I guess I’m left here to my own devices. Will close out by entering for the record my unposted thoughts from last night. I stayed up way late listening to all the clips from the thread, then I ended up seesawing back and forth between Faith Hill’s “Take Me as I Am”* and Toad the Wet Sprocket’s “Fall Down.” Go figure. But it seemed to fit.

    &#042 My apologies for the wretched, wretched video on the Faith Hill song, but it’s the only version by her I could find.

  270. 270.

    Linkmeister

    @JK: You’re welcome. It surprised me a little; Joan took the lower part in the harmony. She’s always had such a gorgeous soprano I hadn’t thought she could sing alto.

    Now this is funny: a guide to choral vocal parts. Sample:

    THE SOPRANOS are the ones who sing the highest, and, because of this, they think they rule the world. THE ALTOS are the salt of the earth – in their opinion, at least. Altos are unassuming people who would wear jeans to concerts if they were allowed to.

    Now, lemme guess. The author (It’s unattributed) is an alto. (It goes on to cover tenor and bass as well.)

  271. 271.

    Jay in Oregon

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    Same here. It really bites. But the others are right. Stop being the adult for an afternoon. Go ride a bike, or start a water balloon fight (if the weather is accomodating) or something.

    Today was a mixed bag. She seemed to be fine for most of the day; she even held my hand when we went to go see “9” in the theater (she doesn’t like things jumping out at her in the movies) but by the end of the night she was complaining that I was smothering her.

    It’s hard trying to moderate how much affection you show to the person you love. But we still have a long ways to go, I guess. I just wish I understood what is going on with her, but she’s not ready to open up yet.

  272. 272.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Steeplejack: Ooooh, I love that Toad the Wet Sprocket song. Thanks for busting it out (even if it has the now-reprehensible Dennis Miller in the beginning). When will we…fall doooooown????

    @Jay in Oregon: Glad to see you posting. I was wondering how you were doing. I know this is gonna sound counterintuitive, but the fact that your wife is communicating with you and that you are receptive to it is a good thing. Really. It means that you aren’t sunk into apathy. Having said that, I would say don’t give it too much thought because that’s one problem with being depressed–thinking the hell too much. Take a few deep breaths and just…be.

  273. 273.

    Jay in Oregon

    @asiangrrlMN:

    I will do my best. After talking to my therapist she recommended that I get a new prescription for a higher dose of fluoxetine. Which I will do tomorrow.

    When I came back to the house, she started sleeping in the spare bedroom. Hopefully, that will pass soon.

    I realize that this is not something that is going to be fixed overnight but I wish I could shake the feeling that I’m on a countdown, or that I’m in a no-win situation. If I try to talk to her or show her affection, I’m smothering her. If I try to hold back, I’m afraid that we’ll slip into the same pattern as before.

  274. 274.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Jay in Oregon: Try not to react too much to her. Just be you. I know how that sounds, but really, there’s not much you can do about her reaction. I would bet that the more you react to her, the more she will chafe. In addition, even if she leaves now, it doesn’t mean it’s over forever.

    Work on yourself and being who you are meant to be. I’m glad that you are working with a therapist and that you are not eschewing meds. Keep posting.

  275. 275.

    Jay in Oregon

    @asiangrrlMN:

    We were playing boardgames over at a friend’s house earlier and she basically ignored me the entire time except where necessary.

    One of her friends thinks that she just has so much anger built up over the last few months, that she’s going to take it out on me a little piece at a time.

    I’m okay with that. If she needs to twist the knife a little, I’ll live with it. I just hope this anger doesn’t turn to resentment.

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