does it pass the rocking chair test? -rockmaster

i think this is a good question to ask after election day. i mean, really, when I'm 80, who will I have wished I voted for?

one of my friends said this the other day when talking about needing a career change, and I didn't think much about it until I found this blog, courtesy of jenny crusie's argh ink. Which i find to be the most amusing blog on perhaps the entire blogosphere.

anyway, she highlighted margaret and helen, and I just about fell off my seat laughing.

when I am 82 in my rocking chair, I hope I'm still giving the world what for like they are.

down to the wire

thanks to zach for posting this. i know, i know, it's north carolina, but still. and I know i haven't written anything on the wire in a while. it's because I've got a beautiful piece coming out soon about carver's character growth over the five seasons....shit, now I said that, I've got to write it.

go vote, peeps.

"Did I ever tell you about your grandmother?" and other weekend events

This weekend I went with some of my family to see the baby meerkats at the Point Defiance Zoo, which is a great zoo for several reasons.

1) My dad's friends worked on the buildings, and they changed the entrance so you can see the mountains and water, and it's lovely.

2) You can see everything in 2-3 hours if you wanted to. Not too much, not too little. Good amount.

3) They have presentations and feedings ALL THE TIME. Every exhibit we went to, there was something happening.

4) You can touch a starfish and watch it eat a mussel. It's pretty damn cool - the starfish grabs it, opens it, sends its stomach out to eat it, and then pulls it all back in.

5) The meerkats are awesome...


(John Brown, AP File)


After the zoo, we baked three batches of Christmas cookies. I'm the mixer, Siri's the details/cookie formation, and Mom's the dishwasher. It worked really well. Mormor used to start baking right about now, and freeze batches until Christmas, so by December she'd have about 18 different kinds of cookies. I don't know if we'll make it to 18, but Mom's pretty focused on getting a bunch of batches made.

And then grandpa asked me how the young men were treating me. I told him a homeless guy with two teeth asked me out at the bus stop the other day. He said I obviously had to work on my swishing:

"Did I ever tell you about your grandmother? She had a marvelous behind. Swished. Oklahoma swish, they called it. You had to watch that swish."

- Grandpa

Gretzky: "what'd you find out about nader?"

LP: "That you'd marry him sight unseen."


It is true that I said I would marry Ralph Nader, mostly because I admire people who get things done and who want to make the world a better place.

It's highly unlikely I'd ever be in a position to marry him, but I'd consider it.

He does break the 1/2 + 7 rule, though, so LT would probably counsel against it.

"Y'all be nice to that pum-kin" - Man outside of 22nd and Madison Safeway

Dri and I were walking home carrying the pumpkin that would be Dri's first ever carving attempt, and this lovely elderly gentleman hanging outside of the Safeway told us to be nice to the pumpkin.

Which does raise the question, can people be cruel to pumpkins?

In any case, Dri carved a lovely fern on the pumpkin and also made yummy toasted pumpkin seeds while I moved the bookshelves for the 18th time, and ate Tillamook chocolate peanut butter ice cream. Which is the best flavor, just in case you didn't know.