Rational thought has gone to the dogs!
From the category archives:
For years I have reluctantly taken bags and bushels of over-produced tomatoes, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, corn, gourds, and various melons and assorted garden by-products from my neighbors and friends who happily planted a garden in the early Spring — albeit without a plan — all giddy with the thoughts of fresh vegetables at their table. [...]
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When my son was just shy of his fifth year, we found ourselves in an Old Country Buffet on a Saturday afternoon. For those of you not familiar with the format of the all-you-can-eat-for-one-low-price buffet, these places usually have a lower price afternoon service that did not include carved meats and a higher price evening [...]
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I went to a #140conf Meet Up with Jeff Pulver in Dayton this afternoon (more stuff about that later) and afterwards, we headed out to dinner at the Olive Garden to celebrate my son’s birthday. He ordered a plate of something that was on the menu, but had no price. “How much is that,” I [...]
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I found myself sitting across the desk from my banker one day last week. Apparently, PNC had screwed up a bunch of my accounts as they migrated from National City and it was serious enough that the phone support people couldn’t help. They said I had to trudge into the local branch. Ok, fine. I [...]
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A Verizon service truck parked at one of my neighbors yesterday and I snapped a photo of it on our walk. Notice the sticker stuck on the side, crooked and added as an afterthought. When I see that, I see Verizon treating Internet access as an afterthought, an add-on feature, like the sticker they slapped [...]
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How much does it cost you to exist for one hour? Have you ever asked? Just for a rough guess, add up all the expenses of replacing the stuff that breaks, the cost of going to your job, your mortgage, taxes, tuition bills, gifts for relatives and friends, etc. Then divide by 8,904 (the number [...]
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I was stumbling around Twitter, opened the door to what I thought was the restroom and found myself staring at this: I frantically searched for the remote control to change the channel before anyone else walked into the room and realized this was not a movie set for an adult film; is a real bath [...]
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I was doing research for a bit I’m writing regarding this recent recession and its comparison to the Great Depression, when I ran across the Hobo Code. As an avid student of history, I knew it existed, along with the hobo markings, but I found it compelling enough to share it here. Note that it [...]
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I was watching The Rachel Maddow Show tonight and the segment about Blago came on. I could not believe what I was seeing! The horror, the carnage of typography on my screen. Here is what was shown: Notice that they used a single quote when it should have been an apostrophe to indicate a contraction [...]
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I am really starting to re-think my whole opposition to Sarah Palin in 2012. I’m beginning to think that maybe four years (or eighteen months, whichever comes first) of Palin’s malapropery might be just the thing to get this country into a good mood once again. It’s the most fun my English degree has had [...]
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Today is Bastille Day. I realized this morning that I have a ton of short stories from my childhood just collecting dust. So, I thought I’d share one a year until I run out or die, whichever comes first. For those of you who know me, I am half French, descended from the mighty Pelletiers [...]
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I am going out a ledge with this post, but there are some thought cloud trending happening in the news, in blogs and in our culture generally that looks like it is going to take hold of the way we view gender in the next several years. I need to get this off my chest [...]
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While listening to John Boehner’s interview with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on his description of the Tea Party protests, the following occurs to me. Even if not entirely true, it is the perception that is most prevalent. The RIGHT shows up with guns and signs, backed by the Second Amendment and attempts to force others to [...]
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Yesterday, the GOP-filibustered Senate quit trying to extend the jobless benefits for 1.3 million Americans who have been out of work for two years. At the end of the week, these unemployed workers will not only be unpaid, but they will have entered into a state of extreme desperation. I’ve seen my neighbors desperate. Most [...]
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I watched MSNBC Chris Matthews’ The Rise of the New Right yesterday. I learned almost nothing new about the Tea Party and the conservative movement, but Alex Jones’ quote, “We’re in deep tyranny. Deep, deep, deep…” keeps ringing through my head. This man is afraid and wants to make everyone else around him fearful. I [...]
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