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

Saturday Morning Open Thread

by John Cole|  March 6, 201010:07 am| 116 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Still a little chilly out, but the sun is out and it is beaming and it is just BEYOOOOtiful outside today. The days are noticeably longer, too, so it looks like me might make it through another winter.

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Reader Interactions

116Comments

  1. 1.

    Cat Lady

    March 6, 2010 at 10:09 am

    Here too. The earth smells earthy. If health care passes, I might even start to feel a little bit hopeful again.

  2. 2.

    Cat Lady

    March 6, 2010 at 10:16 am

    Where is everybody? I’ve got my own thread. W00t! Let’s see – how about those Patriots keeping Wilfork? I’m glad, but they’ve still got a lot of holes.

  3. 3.

    Svensker

    March 6, 2010 at 10:17 am

    so it looks like me might make it through another winter.

    Me, too.

  4. 4.

    AhabTRuler

    March 6, 2010 at 10:18 am

    I get out of work at 5:15 on weekdays, and 5 min. later I get on the metro for a 45 min ride, approx 3/4s of which is underground. This has given me a precise appreciation for the length of the day, as a month ago it would be dark when I left work, and now it stays light until after I get back above ground on the Metro.

  5. 5.

    Cat Lady

    March 6, 2010 at 10:20 am

    @Svensker:

    I was thinking maybe it was talk like Popeye day today.

  6. 6.

    J.W. Hamner

    March 6, 2010 at 10:20 am

    Yeah, weather here is nice/not lethal as far as I can tell. I want to make osso buco today or tomorrow… so that means a bit of a walk to the butcher that will provide the baby cow flesh I need.

  7. 7.

    The Grand Panjandrum

    March 6, 2010 at 10:22 am

    Right now we’ve got optimum weather for sugaring up here in northern New England with chilly nights (10’s-20’s) and warm days (mid to high 30’s). Should be a great year for maple syrup.

  8. 8.

    jeffreyw

    March 6, 2010 at 10:29 am

    @The Grand Panjandrum: Dammit, now I’ve gotta make pancakes.

  9. 9.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 6, 2010 at 10:29 am

    @The Grand Panjandrum: I have always wanted to attend a sugaring-off (if that’s the correct term). I am ridiculously partial to maple sugar and maple syrup, in all gradations of colour and viscosity, and I think it would be just very neat to watch it happening. Or even better, to enjoy some maple syrup that I had a hand in producing. Please tell us how it goes.

  10. 10.

    demkat620

    March 6, 2010 at 10:31 am

    I know this is terribly elitist of me but, I am off to get my very first passport. The last two places I went outside the country you didn’t need it to comeback.

    I am so excited about my trip in the fall.

  11. 11.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 6, 2010 at 10:33 am

    Oh, and I haven’t been outside yet today but it looks sunny and bright and glorious, and temp is supposed to get into the high 50s today and tomorrow. I’ve had a brutal week so am really looking forward to the next two days.

  12. 12.

    Crashman06

    March 6, 2010 at 10:34 am

    @Cat Lady: +1. But as you say, still lots of holes. This is a good start though.

  13. 13.

    mr. whipple

    March 6, 2010 at 10:37 am

    @jeffreyw:

    Can ya explain that holo gadget you linked to below?

  14. 14.

    beltane

    March 6, 2010 at 10:37 am

    We have had an exceptionally mild winter in northern New England. I attribute this to God’s approval at Vermont and New Hampshire legalizing gay marriage.

  15. 15.

    beltane

    March 6, 2010 at 10:39 am

    @The Grand Panjandrum: My friends are boiling this weekend. Last couple of years weren’t so good but it looks like we’ve got at least a two week stretch of perfect weather coming up.

  16. 16.

    PurpleGirl

    March 6, 2010 at 10:39 am

    Poked my head out the terrace door: chilly but the sun will be strong with few clouds it seems. So now I’ve got cabin fever after being indoors for a few days and I have decide where to go galavanting for a few hours.

  17. 17.

    PurpleGirl

    March 6, 2010 at 10:40 am

    @beltane: Ah, that would indeed be a fine thing.

  18. 18.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    March 6, 2010 at 10:40 am

    AhabTRuler — are you on the Red Line? It is such a joy when the train comes out of the tunnel and one can see daylight.

  19. 19.

    RedKitten

    March 6, 2010 at 10:40 am

    Beautiful day here too. Baby’s napping, hubby’s painting the walls in the stairwell, and this afternoon we’ll probably go out and do a bit of Geocaching.

    Spring is coming, bitches!

  20. 20.

    tjproudamerican

    March 6, 2010 at 10:40 am

    I do not know if this is the correct place for this remark, but The Washington Post has become “The newspaper of record” for Conservatism. Not Neo-Conservatism, either, but real Right Wing, juiced-up, Hate Radio Conservatism.

    Obviously, the fact that the Media is not liberal has been established by the great and essential Eric Alterman, but the Post is actively “conservative”.

    I respect Conservatives and conservatism, but who besides Daniel Larison (another great and essential writer) is a real conservative anymore?

    The Comments section of the Post are places where angry right wingers (and, again, are there any right wingers who aren’t enraged?) flame any liberal essay or though that happens to make its way past Fred Hiatt and Jackson Diehl’s Editorial Boycott of anything Fatso the Drug Addict would not approve.

    It is sad to see what happened to The Washington Post since it became a part of the Right Wing conformist shout down everything echo chamber.

  21. 21.

    Ash Can

    March 6, 2010 at 10:41 am

    Baseball on TV today! :)

  22. 22.

    Norbrook

    March 6, 2010 at 10:42 am

    It’s nice and sunny, just above freezing right now. Now, if we can just find some functional state government here, it’d be a much better day. Apparently, Paterson is not resigning, but Massa has.

    I’d like to live in a state that doesn’t have terminally embarassing and/or incompetent politicians.

  23. 23.

    Cat Lady

    March 6, 2010 at 10:45 am

    @Crashman06:

    There are no tight ends on the roster, and not sure about the no coordinators thing either. I’d like to see them bring Deion Branch back, and get another possession receiver and a pass rusher. Actually they need a pass rusher first of all.

    ETA: Baseball on TV today! :) Rejoicing is heard throughout the land!

  24. 24.

    beltane

    March 6, 2010 at 10:46 am

    @Norbrook: At the very least it would be nice if NY could have a governor that is capable of finishing his term of office. Albany has long been a revolving door of scandal.

  25. 25.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    March 6, 2010 at 10:49 am

    @tjproudamerican: See the last thread for complete agreement in the form of about100 posts.

    Not that there’s anything wrong with posting it again in this thread.

  26. 26.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 6, 2010 at 10:50 am

    @demkat: Congratulations! Getting my first passport made me feel like a cosmopolitan, sophisticated *grownup* more than just about anything. More than 50 years and quite a few renewed passports later, I still feel a little rush of pride whenever I use it.

    What is your exciting planned trip? Where are you going, and when?

  27. 27.

    zzyzx

    March 6, 2010 at 10:52 am

    @The Grand Panjandrum: That’s a really weird definition of “warm” :)

  28. 28.

    Cat Lady

    March 6, 2010 at 10:53 am

    @RedKitten:

    I’ve been geocaching with my friend a couple of times. Fun!

  29. 29.

    SIA

    March 6, 2010 at 10:53 am

    @ SiubhanDuinne, what IS going on; my week was so intense also and my body clutched up with all the computer hours. Had an [elitist] massage scheduled for today and she had to cancel. I was really counting on that to get the nod functional again. Going to go walk around Avondale lake instead.

    @ demkat, how exciting! I remember my first one, I felt so cosmopolitan! :). Where are you going?

  30. 30.

    Norbrook

    March 6, 2010 at 10:54 am

    @beltane: True. But even for Albany, things have gotten insane. Painfully true quote in the NY Times article: “We’ve taken the function out of dysfunction.”

    Right now, the way things are going, if the state capitol building were to be suddenly swallowed by the earth, there would be great rejoicing.

  31. 31.

    jeffreyw

    March 6, 2010 at 10:55 am

    @mr. whipple: Yeah, these devices came to life as gun sights. The one in the pic does not magnify and provides a reticule that is reflected on the screen as an aiming point, much like a heads up display that you may have seen in fighter jet videos. They are using the tech now in autos. The main benefit for photography is that you can more quickly pick up your “target” without having to glue your eye to the viewfinder, and the 1X magnification gives a much wider field of view than that through a telephoto lens. I chose the holo device from among the many sold by Amazon, just go there and search for “holo sight”. The hot shoe mount I bought from this fellow. I don’t know the guy, but he was prompt and polite and the mount came right away–“great seller, would buy from him again”. LOL

  32. 32.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    March 6, 2010 at 10:55 am

    @RedKitten:

    Geocaching.

    Had to look that word up. I was completely stumped otherwise, my guesses ranged from hiding small cars as a hobby (neighbors must love that, I thought) to maybe something to do with taking cap and trade payment checks to the bank.

    @demkat620:
    I so understand the feeling. Congratulations. If you ever get the chance to have a second one, it’s like the same feeling all over again.

  33. 33.

    demkat620

    March 6, 2010 at 10:59 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: I am going on a cruise in the caribbean.

    I know, I know. But for mindless vacationing and the ability to get lots of down time from the kids. I’ll take it.

    I really need it this year and it was what the kids wanted to do. They are 8 and 11 so we only have a few more years where they actually want to do things with us.

    Jamaica, Mexico and Grand Cayman.

  34. 34.

    Crashman06

    March 6, 2010 at 10:59 am

    @Cat Lady: Yes please, a pass rusher. I have concerns about the offensive line too, but they really need to be able to rush the opposing QB more than anything.

  35. 35.

    tjproudamerican

    March 6, 2010 at 11:01 am

    Thanks Bill E!!!

    And the Post’s “Ombudsman” has two themes:

    1. overwhelmingly, he writes about trivial issues, like what to do when the vending machine neither gives you the paper nor refunds your money (the “professionals” he talks to in “the newsroom” admit, “that IS a problem they also are struggling with!!!!)

    or else

    2. Like Clark Hoyt, who used to be a man and not an “Ombudsboy” like Andrew Alexander is), the Post Ombuds-pretender writes about paying MORE attention to Breitbart and O’Keefe and Tea-Baggers and every and all right wing critic of President Obama.

    Your list is frightening, the Hell is American Political Discourse Honor Roll.

  36. 36.

    valdivia

    March 6, 2010 at 11:01 am

    Beautiful day in NYC. And: saw MUSE in concert last night at Madison Square Garden. If they are coming to a city near you, get some tickets. This group totally rocks in concert. Best live show I have ever been to.

  37. 37.

    SIA

    March 6, 2010 at 11:07 am

    @ tjproudamerica, comments there & at Politico are especially vicious. A couple years ago I subscribed to the Post and get emailed news daily. I’ve tried repeatedly to unsubscribe and they keep coming.

    @ SiubhanDuinne, I hadn’t read your comment when I talked about feeling cosmopolitan with my first passport, odd that we used that same word. Not the first time we’ve had a mind meld here tho, eh?

  38. 38.

    Svensker

    March 6, 2010 at 11:07 am

    @Cat Lady:

    LOL

  39. 39.

    Steeplejack

    March 6, 2010 at 11:08 am

    Yeah, spring may finally be approaching. Supposed to hit 50° here in NoVa today, and 55° tomorrow. Me likey. Planning an expedition for this afternoon. Maybe Target. I have a gift card burning a hole in my pocket.

  40. 40.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 6, 2010 at 11:08 am

    @SIA: I’m so sorry you’ve had a rough few days. In my case it was just a really crammed week. Just about every day this week there was a breakfast meeting meaning I had to be up and out early, the past three nights in a row there was a reception or dinner, getting me home late, and all day every day meetings and workshops and seminars and conference calls and video training and a ton of administrative demands at the close of the fiscal year. So (a) I haven’t been able to spend much time doing my actual job, (b) I haven’t been eating right and have been drinking too much, and (c) I’ve been sleeping just horribly.

    What a shame that your massage person had to cancel. I used to get regular weekly massages and they were great! If I felt run down and exhausted they would energize me, and if I felt all wound up they would calm my mind and body. I need to start doing that again and I’m glad you reminded me. Thanks!

    (And BTW, I don’t think getting massages is the least bit elitist, any more than I think it’s elitist for demkat to be getting a passport.) Anyhow, cheers and hope things start improving for both of us :-)

  41. 41.

    Phyllis

    March 6, 2010 at 11:19 am

    Weather here in the (sort of) SC lowcountry is beautiful; sunny & high forecast for about 62. Tomorrow we’re off to Charleston for downtown strolling, seafood, and hockey.

    John, I can’t remember if you’re near Charleston. If so, are you going to the Poetry Out Loud student competition this afternoon? If so, any chance you could get a photo of Chris Sarandon? You know, up close with his shirt off?

    Ahem, it’s for a friend.

  42. 42.

    Elisabeth

    March 6, 2010 at 11:19 am

    @beltane:

    heh. A LTE in the Burlington Free Press the other day indicated the mild weather is a sign of God’s wrath for letting teh gays marry. We need to elect more Republicans and keep God in Vermont.

    I wonder if God fills out a census.

  43. 43.

    mr. whipple

    March 6, 2010 at 11:20 am

    @jeffreyw: thanks!

  44. 44.

    Max

    March 6, 2010 at 11:21 am

    @SIA: I have a facial and massage today at 12:30 and I cannot wait. I feel bad being indulgent when so many folks are out of work. But it’s been forever and my neck is one big knot. Bring on the hot stones.

  45. 45.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    March 6, 2010 at 11:29 am

    @tjproudamerican: And I even had deleted Charles Krauthammer from the list somehow without realizing it. And it was still harrowing.

    I think DC is really the problem, aside from particular corporate mindsets at the WAPO and editorial hires and so on, which to me follow from the general right-leaning Beltway viewpoint.

    Michael Kinsley, who I mentioned in my Post as certainly no raging extremist lefty, actually wrote quite well about what it was like to get out of the Beltway, in a piece he did just after taking over Slate. I don’t have it unfortunately, but paraphrased he wrote about having always heard that there was an entirely different viewpoint outside DC, but never quite getting or believe it until living and working elsewhere. “Now I realize that people really don’t care about these inside the Beltway concerns, out here” was basically how he put it.

    It’s an essentially conservative viewpoint, that part is certain. Sometimes I just wonder if it’s because DC is sort of in the South, or surrounded by it, or near it or etc. Nothing wrong with that of course but we do have this divide in the country these days, and one side of it tends to be far more conservative than the other, on the whole. But that side of the divide is smaller, so having the seat of everything governmental there skews the view.

  46. 46.

    Violet

    March 6, 2010 at 11:32 am

    I’m sad winter is almost over. :( Spring is a lovely time of year, but what it really means is that summer is almost upon us with it’s months of endless miserable heat and humidity. Ugh. It’s always hard for me to enjoy spring because of what’s just around the corner.

    Fall, on the other hand, is fantastic. The worst of the heat is broken and the days are still long enough to enjoy the glorious weather. Bring on fall.

    This winter has been fantastic. Lots of good cold weather to enjoy. Even some real freezes and snow. Lovely.

  47. 47.

    AhabTRuler

    March 6, 2010 at 11:39 am

    @Cheryl from Maryland: Yep, “Red Line, Shady Grove”. Heh, Shady Grove. If that isn’t a misleading name. But then the Metro system us filled with all sorts of misleading names, like “University of Maryland”, and “WoodleyParkZooAdamsMorgantheSkippertoo”, and “Vienna”. I got off the metro at that last one AND I WAS NOT IN AUSTRIA! ! 1 ! 1 What’s up with THAT?

  48. 48.

    Corner Stone

    March 6, 2010 at 11:41 am

    @demkat620:

    Jamaica, Mexico and Grand Cayman.

    I can’t stress this enough – I will never step foot on Jamaica again even if someone paid me.
    YMMV, but I would stay on the boat for that port o call.

  49. 49.

    Bonnie L. McLellan

    March 6, 2010 at 11:45 am

    @demkat620:
    Huzzah, Demkat! It is terribly elitist of you- but it is also the single best thing you can do to open your mind. Where are you going? (If no one’s already asked?) I returned yesterday from a month of teaching in Kenya. Getting out of the familiar allows you to seen thing much more clearly. It also allows you to be perpetually stupid- you don’t know what to say, don’t know how to buy food, don’t know how to get where you’re going- so give yourself some slack for a little while.

  50. 50.

    SIA

    March 6, 2010 at 11:48 am

    @ Violet, I’m with you on dreading summer. Much rather have weeks of cold and dreary over hot, humid and oppressive!

    @ Max, oh a facial sounds great too. Good for you. I don’t really thinks its self indulgent or elitist as much as I used to. I find that when I was younger stress and pressure from work would wreck me mentally, but my body could take anything, now I stay fairly calm but by the end of the work week I’m all in knots and stiff physically. Its kind of become a necessity as long as I keep working like I do. Enjoy!

  51. 51.

    MikeJ

    March 6, 2010 at 11:53 am

    and this afternoon we’ll probably go out and do a bit of Geocaching.

    I need new batteries for my crappy gps, but I should do more geocaching. After I finally got over 100 finds I slowed (and of course everything in my neighbourhood was done). If the weather continues good I’m going to hike rattlesnake ledge next week, and there’s a half dozen caches on the way.

  52. 52.

    AhabTRuler

    March 6, 2010 at 12:02 pm

    @Bill E Pilgrim:

    Sometimes I just wonder if it’s because DC is sort of in the South, or surrounded by it, or near it or etc.

    No, no, no! It has nothing to do with the location of DC, and in local and national politics the region, including in NoVa, is as liberal (if not moreso) as any Urban/Suburban area. DC as an institution, however, is gripped by the deep structural conservatism of a massive and worldwide bureaucracy (AKA “the Establishment”). Even among career civil servants, most of whom are liberal suburbanites to a T, there is a recognition of the massive momentum of the monster that we have created. Incrementalism and a hesitancy in overturning the status quo is a defensive technique, as demonstrated by the serious and deep damage that the Bush administration inflicted on the Civil Service.

    The “burrowers” are actually the least of the problem; DHS is a nightmare, outsourcing has gutted many vital career positions, the Pentagon is running amok (esp. in acquisitions) and the increasing Republican rhetoric against Federal Employees and their pay hurts morale at a time when we need good civil servants more than we need the fuckups at AIG or GS. When you add in the fact that nearly everyone in the power elite depends on things remaining much as they are, only the fringe can advocate for radical (as opposed to reactionary) change.

    Nobody in this town is going to advocate burning the Village to save it, even though 95% of the people in question have what we like to call “good intentions”. Sigh, Hell here we come!

    Um, by the way, can I come crash on your couch?

  53. 53.

    burnspbesq

    March 6, 2010 at 12:15 pm

    @AhabTRuler:

    Which line? On the Orange Line going out to Vienna, there is a house on the south side right after you come up from underground that has two huge dogwood trees in the back yard. When they are in bloom, it’s like a sudden explosion of color just as you emerge from the darkness of the tunnel. Never failed to get my attention.

  54. 54.

    valdivia

    March 6, 2010 at 12:17 pm

    The ‘moderate’ Republicans of Virginia in action. what a fucking disgrace.

  55. 55.

    schrodinger's cat

    March 6, 2010 at 12:19 pm

    Finally I will be able to start running outside! I has a happy.

  56. 56.

    donnah

    March 6, 2010 at 12:23 pm

    We’re getting beautiful sunshine here in SW Ohio, too. I have a studio upstairs at my house and my thoughtful husband had a skylight installed for me a couple of years ago. Days like this make it a priceless gift.

    Here’s the current piece I’m working on. I hope to finish it within the next week or so. It’s about 24″ by 30″, so the figure is life-sized.

    http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d27/Rughooker/DSC02627_2.jpg

  57. 57.

    bemused

    March 6, 2010 at 12:23 pm

    @Max:
    Banish any guilt feelings. As long as it doesn’t compete with “putting food on your family”, I’d say it was a necessity at times. In the ideal hcr package, I think regular massage would have many beneficial effects for our well being & should be considered as part of preventative health care. I’m dreaming but it might even help chill out rightwingers.

    btw, anyone know if salt lamps have any real health benefits or are they just nice mood lighting?

  58. 58.

    Corner Stone

    March 6, 2010 at 12:25 pm

    @AhabTRuler:

    outsourcing has gutted many vital career positions

    I know you were referring to a certain subset but I found this info interesting.
    Obama administration plans to close International Labor Comparisons office
    WaPo reports it’s a budget costcutting item.
    Not sure how important this division is overall but it seems like something we would want to find the funding for.

  59. 59.

    WereBear

    March 6, 2010 at 12:26 pm

    @The Grand Panjandrum: I second that emotion.

    Seriously, if you like pancakes and have not had them with real maple syrup, it’s worth the splurge on a little bottle. Of course, I prefer real Adirondack Maple Syrup, because we are the winter home of Winter.

    (Not affiliated with the place, just know it’s good stuff.)

  60. 60.

    Max

    March 6, 2010 at 12:32 pm

    @bemused: I agree, massage, especially deep tissue, can really do a lot for physical well being, to say nothing of mental.

    Guilt assuaged. Max the Wheaten (who is away getting a bath/blow out today) and I are the only family and we can spare the cash.

  61. 61.

    asiangrrlMN

    March 6, 2010 at 12:32 pm

    Damn heat wave here. It’s in the mid-fifties. Scorching! I want more snow. Harumph. Yeah, get off my lawn, you DFH.

    @demkat620: You have a great time. Having a passport is awesome, I might add. However, fifteen years ago, I almost wasn’t allowed into Canada by the NW staff without my passport. I was told by a coworker I didn’t need it (this was before they were mandatory), so I didn’t bring it. The counter person wanted to verify that I was a citizen (don’t know why when I was going to Canada). My MN DL almost wasn’t enough. I had no problems with Canada, but I also got shit from customs after I returned. Needless to say, I brought my passport on any trip out of the country after that, even ‘just’ to Canada.

  62. 62.

    Robin G.

    March 6, 2010 at 12:34 pm

    I’m spending this beautiful Saturday trapped in a delegate convention. Doing one’s civic duty can really suck sometimes.

  63. 63.

    asiangrrlMN

    March 6, 2010 at 12:35 pm

    @Robin G.: Yeah, but you are actually doing something for your country. Good on you.

    Anyone else in BJ land like winter?

    @valdivia: So, which VA Republican will be the next one to get caught doing the Larry Craig stance at an international airport?

  64. 64.

    Mike in NC

    March 6, 2010 at 12:40 pm

    It is sad to see what happened to The Washington Post since it became a part of the Right Wing conformist shout down everything echo chamber.

    Believe it or not, last month Richard Cohen had a piece about how Palin was a buffoon with no future in politics. That must have stirred up about 1000+ comments, including quite a few death threats. Too insane to even look at them anymore.

    Metro system us filled with all sorts of misleading names, like “University of Maryland”, and “WoodleyParkZooAdamsMorgantheSkippertoo”, and “Vienna”.

    The Republicans didn’t hold Congress long enough to rename damn near every Metro station, office building, playground, library or fire hydrant within 20 miles of Capitol Hill in honor of Ronald Reagan. But I saw where there is currently some GOP proposal to put his mug on either the $50 or $100 bill.

  65. 65.

    Bob

    March 6, 2010 at 12:42 pm

    Here in northeast Kansas the Snow Drops are blooming, and I told Ben, my cat, before we went to sleep last night ” we’ve beaten winter again.”

  66. 66.

    WereBear

    March 6, 2010 at 12:48 pm

    Kitten time! Olwyn is one year old this week. Here’s some recent photos if you’d like to see how she’s grown up.

  67. 67.

    Robin G.

    March 6, 2010 at 12:50 pm

    @asiangrrlMN: Bah. I have a headache and we’re not even through the ratification of Central Committee members. Blogs are fine, but political wonks are exhausting in person. :whinebitchmoan:

  68. 68.

    ajr22

    March 6, 2010 at 12:52 pm

    It is beautiful day in Chicago, and I am stuck in the library writing a memo about intentional trespass yay. Speaking of republican’s naming things, I loved the story about the 50 dollar bill. It is just so funny to watch the right act disgusted with how people love obama, then turn around and try to put dear leader on the 50.

  69. 69.

    valdivia

    March 6, 2010 at 12:52 pm

    @asiangrrlMN:

    I am voting for this Attorney General fucker.

  70. 70.

    asiangrrlMN

    March 6, 2010 at 12:52 pm

    @WereBear: Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. Happy birthday to you, Olwyn.

    @Robin G.: Ugh. I hear you. Blogs you can skim and skip to your heart’s content. IRL? Not so much.

    @valdivia: Yeah. He’s got the smarmy, slimy, repellent “I’m so far in the closet, I have hangers up my ass” look. It would be irresponsible not to speculate.

  71. 71.

    bemused

    March 6, 2010 at 12:52 pm

    @Max:
    I’m a fine one to talking about getting a regular massage when I can’t remember when I last had one. Maybe part of what keeps people from pampering themselves more often without feeling somewhat guilty comes from our early american puritan roots. Another thing this country does backward is vacation time. Other dangerous soshalist countries believe more vacation time creates happier, more productive employees. Everyone knows that would be another road to destroying the greatest country on earth….

  72. 72.

    Svensker

    March 6, 2010 at 12:54 pm

    @donnah:

    Here’s the current piece I’m working on. I hope to finish it within the next week or so. It’s about 24” by 30”, so the figure is life-sized.

    Wow. Is he someone you know/knew?

  73. 73.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    March 6, 2010 at 12:54 pm

    @AhabTRuler: Okay point taken, as I say that last part was a “sometimes I wonder” rather than statement of certainty. The thought came from meeting people recently who worked in various DC agencies and I realized more viscerally that it brings many into one area who are from all over the country, and with things being as they are in our electoral system, certain states get over-represented if you consider how few actually live there. Which is an ongoing problem, not something I invented.

    The region sounds as you say, and not the issue. I just look at that newspaper however, serving a city of largely Democrats, and wonder what the hell happened.

    Um, by the way, can I come crash on your couch?

    Do you speak French?

  74. 74.

    Janet Strange

    March 6, 2010 at 12:56 pm

    @asiangrrlMN:

    Anyone else in BJ land like winter?

    I’m sure lots do. But not me. I’ve often thought that if there’s a bell curve for this, I’m holding down one end of it and you the other. I. Must. Have. Sun.

    Year-round. Else I’d have to sit under those lights.

    Which is why you’re in MN and I’m in TX.

  75. 75.

    Jean

    March 6, 2010 at 1:00 pm

    @valdivia: I’m waiting for that clown Kookanelli to fall. And McDonnell, Mr. Jobs. What a loser.

  76. 76.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    March 6, 2010 at 1:00 pm

    </blockquote“Vienna”. I got off the metro at that last one AND I WAS NOT IN AUSTRIA! ! 1 ! 1 What’s up with THAT?

    The viennese pastry stores are in Ballston and Arlington. Fab linzer torte in Arlington. Vienna makes more sense if you use the local (e.g. before the Reganauts came) pronunciation of Viii—eennna. Like Viii—eennna sausages.

    As for Shady Grove, my dad used to come up here in the 60’s for conferences. There was a golf course, and a theatre, and woods and all sorts of cool stuff – like a Shady Grove.

    As for the stupid run on Metro names — Blame Congress. And then the system has to re-do all of the signs and maps and everything to make the name change, which of course does not come with money to cover those expenses.

  77. 77.

    Corner Stone

    March 6, 2010 at 1:03 pm

    @asiangrrlMN:

    Anyone else in BJ land like winter?

    I love winter. But as I’m in TX I think our definitions vary considerably.

  78. 78.

    DonBelacquaDelPurgatorio

    March 6, 2010 at 1:05 pm

    Read this yesterday, and it has changed the way I look at the history of jobs in this country during the last 30 years.

    It’s a long read, but well worth your time. It makes a good case for the idea that pretty much everything we have been told by politicians about jobs in this country has been bullshit, and probably deliberately so … so as to cover up what has really been happening.

    Notice who the villains are in this piece. That part should not surprise anybody.

  79. 79.

    AhabTRuler

    March 6, 2010 at 1:06 pm

    Do you speak French?

    Last time I was in Paris I learned that I speak enough French to be able to order, but not enough to make reservations.

  80. 80.

    licensed to kill time

    March 6, 2010 at 1:08 pm

    @asiangrrlMN: I loved winter when I was a kid and didn’t have to do anything other than play in it. Nowadays I like to visit winter and then give it back, somewhat like grandkids or other people’s children.

  81. 81.

    AhabTRuler

    March 6, 2010 at 1:08 pm

    @Cheryl from Maryland:

    As for the stupid run on Metro names—Blame Congress.

    Only for National Airport, all the other names are home grown.

  82. 82.

    bemused

    March 6, 2010 at 1:09 pm

    @asiangrrlMN:
    I like MN winter because I prefer living where there are definite four seasons. I don’t like MN winter when the highways are snowy & worse, icy & I really hate the short daylight hours, esp Oct thru Dec. I have to up the vitamin D. It feels so good when it’s still light out at the end of the day now.
    We have had bright sunny days for 3 weeks with warm temps. Heaven.

  83. 83.

    J.

    March 6, 2010 at 1:09 pm

    I miss the Tunch pictures. Hope that shoulder of yours heals soon, John Cole. In the meantime, cat humor (videos) from around the Web.

    Re @asiangrrlMN‘s winter question, I think only Olympic skiers and ski bums truly like winter.

    Btw, here in Southern New England it just hit 50 and people are breaking out the shorts and t-shirts.

  84. 84.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    March 6, 2010 at 1:22 pm

    @AhabTRuler: Just think of making a reservation like ordering a table?

    I know what you mean, believe me. The phone I think is much harder, I used to get so #*&ing lost. Still do now and then on hour-long conference calls if everyone starts talking at once but then I might have were it in English also.

    And I just discovered that if you hit Ctrl+3 by mistake instead of Shift+3 to type a pound sign, Chrome takes you to the third tab you have open. Cool.

  85. 85.

    vheidi

    March 6, 2010 at 1:23 pm

    @Norbrook: fantasy -land, seemingly

  86. 86.

    valdivia

    March 6, 2010 at 1:24 pm

    @asiangrrlMN:

    running out but you killed me laughing with that comment.

    @Jean:
    I know. I loath McDonnell.

  87. 87.

    donnah

    March 6, 2010 at 1:27 pm

    Svensker, it’s a man named Joseph Ambrose, and I didn’t know him. He passed away years ago. I am a rug hooker and every year I attend a big rug show in NW Ohio and they have a different “challenge” every year. This year the theme is Holidays. I figured a lot of people would think of Christmas or Halloween, so I went with Veteran’s Day instead.

    I Googled images for Veteran’s Day and this man’s photo came up a lot. I found that it’s in the public domain, so I’m able to use it. I checked out the history and the most I could get was that he was a WWI soldier at a memorial event. The folded flag he holds was from his son’s casket. His son died in the Korean war.

    I thought the tattered uniform and the countenance of the old man made such a compelling image that I had to do it. I hope to finish it soon. I’ll be entering it in some upcoming art and rug hooking shows.

  88. 88.

    LuciaMia

    March 6, 2010 at 1:29 pm

    @The Grand Panjandrum: I have always wanted to attend a sugaring-off (if that’s the correct term). I am ridiculously partial to maple sugar and maple syrup,

    Me, three. But it’s always maddening, when I’ve seen a demo, to see how much sap is needed to make that one little bottle of syrup.

    Absolutely gorgeous here. Even more so when thinking where we were last Saturday; still buried under 18″ of sodden snow.
    Now I’m thinking, in just a few weeks the chives will be starting to push their way up in the garden, then the arugula and mustard greens. And it’s almost time to start the tomato seeds indoors! Phew, almost getting dizzy

  89. 89.

    schrodinger's cat

    March 6, 2010 at 1:29 pm

    @Cheryl from Maryland:
    Hi Cheryl, I used to live in Maryland, not that long ago. I still miss it, I will particularly miss the cherry blossoms!

  90. 90.

    Brachiator

    March 6, 2010 at 1:29 pm

    @demkat620:

    I am going on a cruise in the caribbean. I know, I know. But for mindless vacationing and the ability to get lots of down time from the kids. I’ll take it.

    Sounds like great fun. Have a good time.

    SiubhanDuinne — Getting my first passport made me feel like a cosmopolitan, sophisticated grownup more than just about anything.

    I know what you mean. My friends and I would compete to see who could accumulate the most Visa stamps, and stories to go along with them.

  91. 91.

    C

    March 6, 2010 at 1:30 pm

    I have a question for you guys. Is there any value in calling/emailing members of Congress who don’t represent your district? Basically, I’d like to contact Rep. Stupak’s office in support of HCR, but I don’t live in the district he represents. Still, he and people like him could end up being deciding votes in passing legislation that affects everyone, and I’d like to at least let him know that I intend to donate to whoever primaries him immediately after HCR fails.

    Does this kind of stuff have any impact? Is it at least worth the effort?

  92. 92.

    licensed to kill time

    March 6, 2010 at 1:37 pm

    @Brachiator:

    I know what you mean. My friends and I would compete to see who could accumulate the most Visa stamps, and stories to go along with them.

    They used to glue extra pages into your passport if you had filled them all, so the cool thing was to have a passport that looked like an accordion. This was before having certain stamps that automatically made you suspect and necessitated getting a clean passport every now and then.

  93. 93.

    A Mom Anon

    March 6, 2010 at 1:40 pm

    @DonBelacquaDelPurgatorio: Well,that’s fucking depressing. Greed has to be the worst human trait,it causes so much destruction and stupid,short sighted decisions.

  94. 94.

    Svensker

    March 6, 2010 at 1:41 pm

    @donnah:

    I thought the tattered uniform and the countenance of the old man made such a compelling image that I had to do it.

    That’s what grabbed me in your painting. Lovely work.

  95. 95.

    South of I-10

    March 6, 2010 at 1:46 pm

    Went to bed at 2, up at 8:30, went to breakfast with my honey. It is 65, sunny and gorgeous. I am tending to the damage winter wrought on my yard. I am hoping I can get Mr South to BBQ for me later. I hope everyone else is having a great day!

  96. 96.

    Corner Stone

    March 6, 2010 at 1:52 pm

    @Brachiator:

    My friends and I would compete to see who could accumulate the most Visa stamps

    I guess I know the simple answer to this, but how would one do this?

  97. 97.

    bemused

    March 6, 2010 at 1:54 pm

    @WereBear:
    Beautiful. My kind of kitty, fluffy.

  98. 98.

    Linda Featheringill

    March 6, 2010 at 1:56 pm

    I just want the world to know:

    1. I hate banks.
    2. I hate mortgage companies.
    3. I hate employers who keep us overworked and underpaid.
    4. I really hate living in a time when I should be grateful for the opportunity to be overworked and underpaid.

    I guess that is the end of that rant.

    I do like, however, having a lovely Belgian shepherd at my feet under the desk while I work. Very pretty girl. Tulip.

  99. 99.

    Steeplejack

    March 6, 2010 at 2:06 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    I can’t stress this enough–I will never step foot on Jamaica again even if someone paid me.

    What, did you have an unfortunate “Dreadlock Holiday”?

  100. 100.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 6, 2010 at 2:08 pm

    @Linda Featheringill: Tulip is a wonderful name for a dog. I hope you can post her picture sometime. (Wait, we *are* talking canines here, right? I mean, you didn’t actually go to Belgium and find a Bo-Peep-type shepherdess complete with crook to bring home and curl at your feet?)

  101. 101.

    Steeplejack

    March 6, 2010 at 2:13 pm

    @asiangrrlMN:

    Anyone else in BJ land like winter?

    I like winter. I like all the seasons, actually, and I like the fact that here in NoVa there is more of a real four-season cycle than down in the Deep South, where you get a two-season cycle–cold and rainy vs. hot and muggy, with a few weeks of really nice weather in the spring and fall.

    Of all the seasons, I get tired of hot, steamy summer the quickest. (Hot, dry summer out West is not so bad.)

  102. 102.

    Brachiator

    March 6, 2010 at 2:15 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    RE: My friends and I would compete to see who could accumulate the most Visa stamps

    I guess I know the simple answer to this, but how would one do this?

    Kinda like this guy:

    British-Italian Maurizio Giuliano has announced he has broken the record to become the youngest person ever to visit all 192 of the world’s independent countries.
    …
    He heads to London Thursday with more than 40 passports filled with immigration, visa and transit stamps, to prove his record with the Guinness Books of World Records.

    Some places would stamp your passport on entry and exit. I think I had to get my passport stamped in advance by the nation’s consulate when I traveled to Nepal.

    There was a time when I could do a lot of travelling just for the fun of going.

  103. 103.

    WereBear

    March 6, 2010 at 2:16 pm

    @asiangrrlMN: @bemused: Yes, and the best part is not she’s not just gorgeous and adorable, she’s very affectionate, too. Well, being a tortie, she demands affection, but it works out that way, too.

    I love winter. Where I live now, it is sparkly powdery snow that drifts down and blankets the trees and the mountains. We often get clear blue skies and lots of sunshine, like now.

    Yes, at night it gets down to forty below, and I don’t go out in it. But I still like winter.

  104. 104.

    South of I-10

    March 6, 2010 at 2:17 pm

    Does anyone have a Japanese Magnolia tree? They are blooming everywhere right now, and I am wondering if they are difficult to care for. I would love to plant one, they are gorgeous!

  105. 105.

    Ruckus

    March 6, 2010 at 2:17 pm

    @Bill E Pilgrim:
    The problem is that politics is played as a zero sum game. People covering (wouldn’t dare call most of it writing) play the same zero sum way. They don’t understand that with production and growth the pie gets bigger. But that’s because they don’t actually produce anything. Most conservatives see life as a zero sum game. It’s why you don’t appreciate art, you own it. It’s why they are so proud of making money by moving it around, they don’t see or understand that one can create stuff, add value, so the only way to get more is to grift or steal it. They see power the same way. That’s why the mantra is I got mine, fuck you.

  106. 106.

    donnah

    March 6, 2010 at 2:25 pm

    Svensker, thank you very much!

    It’s actually a wool rug made with strips of dyed wool. Here’s a detail of the loops that make up his face:

    http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d27/Rughooker/DSC02566.jpg

    It really does look like a painting from a distance. But it has a great texture: art you can touch!

  107. 107.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 6, 2010 at 2:29 pm

    Mostly I like the transtional seasons — spring and autumn. The extreme seasons, not so much. Atlanta generally does spring exceptionally well, which helps mitigate July-September (which can be brutal). This year everything is delayed. Usually by now we’ve had forsythia for a few weeks, and the Bradford pears are in full blossom, but I haven’t seen a one so far. Am looking forward to the profusion of colour that happens when the rhododendrons and azalea wake up, and of course the dogwood, weeping cherry, and other flowering trees. The best of the magnolia generally happens in early May.

  108. 108.

    Skepticat

    March 6, 2010 at 2:35 pm

    Donnah, I was going to send a pic of your lovely rug to a friend who also hooks (rug, RUGS), but it would make her too jealous. It’s a superb, extremely evocative piece of art.

    I’d like a few inches of snow, please. The past few storms have really littered the yard, on top of the oak leaves I missed in the fall, and it looks awful. I hate to rake, but have to neaten up for potential victims brought through by the r.e. agent. Lawd, I’m laaaazy.

  109. 109.

    WereBear

    March 6, 2010 at 2:37 pm

    @donnah: May you win something with that one. It’s a work of art.

    Reminds me of the King Crimson album cover. In technique, I mean.

  110. 110.

    bemused

    March 6, 2010 at 2:46 pm

    @WereBear:
    Long hairs are my fav. I am so jealous. No kitties at my home now & it doesn’t feel complete.

  111. 111.

    Ruckus

    March 6, 2010 at 3:01 pm

    @DonBelacquaDelPurgatorio:
    Nice catch on the WM piece. This is the major problem with the conservative business mindset. They don’t want any one else to have anything unless they have more. Combine that with my post above about the zero sum mentality and we have an economic and political disaster. Bush the lesser was just the icing on the crap pile that modern american business and politics have become. Zero sum greed. What a wonderful gift.

  112. 112.

    donnah

    March 6, 2010 at 3:10 pm

    Thanks, Skepticat and Werebear! It’s probably my best work after eight years of hooking rugs. I am so close to finishing it that I’m getting impatient. It always happens when I’m nearing the end of a piece.

    Thanks for the compliments!

  113. 113.

    asiangrrlMN

    March 6, 2010 at 5:30 pm

    @donnah: That rug is simple amazing. What detail. And it evokes so much emotion. Beautiful.

    @WereBear: Olwyn is so stunning. I love torties because of all the different colors they sport. Glad to know someone likes winter besides me (and no, Corner Stone doesn’t count as he lives in Texas). I guess I should have asked if anyone else likes COLD.

    @bemused: Where in MN are you? I am just north of the cities.

  114. 114.

    demkat620

    March 6, 2010 at 5:32 pm

    Thanks everybody! Got the pics all done.

    I look like a lunatic and the kids look like they are high. The patcholoui smell positively reeks from the pictures.

  115. 115.

    Yutsano

    March 6, 2010 at 5:51 pm

    @asiangrrlMN: If I never mentioned it before, my ex the Canadian hockey player is originally from Whitehorse. As in the Yukon. As in white stuff about a meter deep for six months or so. You’d love it.

  116. 116.

    PurpleGirl

    March 6, 2010 at 8:14 pm

    @DonBelacquaDelPurgatorio: Thank you for the link. The article was quite enlightening. And depressing.

    I have to think about it more to see where my own ideas about productivity of office workers and their jobs intersects what the article relates.

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