Wednesday, June 30, 2010

wednesday!

Right: which is why we should start a tax penalty for 3+ kids. And double the child tax credit for adopted children.

On crying and womanbeating.

All about this. I am on a (doomed to fail) HR mission to get our workloads reduced to the point where people have a few minutes every day to space out. It's when I have my best ideas. And they're usually about work, and how we could be doing things better. Or at least less dumber. Right now we're just working everyone to their maximum limit and that's bound to bite us square on the @ss one of these days.

Wow.

Crap: just go to 538 and read the three entries from yesterday. So disappointing.

Well DUH. All those folks should promptly get the boot.

Sums it up pretty neatly, actually.

The stuff of Tom's nightmares.

No, I am not. Gross.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

tuesday!

I'm depressed. And more depressed.

These kinds of grades would get a kid held back. Damn.

See: Enemies, Perfect, Good

Well I don't know how we're supposed to get anything done then, when the entire opposition's gone to Crazytown.

Bobby Jindal proves himself to be every bit the dangerous ideologue I thought he was.

Great snapshot of Mayor Daley.

Important News Item: Ladies Can Do Science Too!

Bob Staake is awesome and effective.

Has anyone eaten or cooked with konnyaku? I'm pretty sure Tom would hate it but I'm still curious. And speaking wiggly bits: NOM.

Lobsterdogs!

Monday, June 28, 2010

monday!

Good Science. My argument for legal personhood based on specific metrics of brain activity might be gaining some ground.
 
I have no idea how I'll explain to our kids where all the whooping cranes have gone.
 
Nice bit of introspection on being Feminist on the Interweb.
 
 
Well, obviously.
 
 
 
The fzcking Mormons are the worst.
 
Lying, tricksy elevators.
 
It's really depressing how much of this "American food" isn't actual food.
 
The bad luck, you has it.
 
 

Friday, June 25, 2010

happy friday!

Whooping Cough is back in CA. So that's fun.
 
Um....okay. After the John Edwards thing, I can't say this is wholly beyond belief, but the specific details seem highly suspect.
 
Ongoing love for Al Franken.
 
So Walmart's new store is in Pullman Park? The irony might actually be killing me.
 
 
Our total commute, round trip, is 11 miles to work daily, not counting when Tom has to travel to our other sites for IT service calls.
 
No doubt Betty will be pleased that Sally Draper appears to be outgrowing her baby pudge. New MadMen now, pls.
 
 
 
Curious George.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

thursday!

Good debate. I have no idea where to go with that.

Really? That's the straw that breaks the camel's back? Come on.

Heartbreaking.

The utterly unsurprising affiliations of David "Diapers" Vitter.

Maybe? The Errol Morris series is, in fact, awesome.

UGH

Toothbrush FTW

Harry Potter is not hip to the Bieb.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

wednesday!

Fzcked SCOTUS: one and two

Mmm, toxic.

Man, we sure dodged a bullet with that John Kerry, amirite?

I'm sure Sarah Palin's god will fix this, though.

Everything about this is confusing. What did Janine Turner do to her hair?

Disturbing, yes, but also chillingly accurate description of our office culture.

Bob Herbert scolds Weiner Nation.

No thank you.

Dinosaur nerd comedy. Yes.

Neko Case will pummel your fzcking face. I love that woman.

CUTE

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

tuesday!

Yup, can't really add much to that.

I'm so relieved we're not doing anything like this g0ddammit.

My eyes saw the words "fecal transplants" and my brain just slammed to a stop. Ow.

Also: "more like a pancake with feet." OW, Internets, srsly!

I am extraordinarily disappointed in Andy Stern right now.

YAY JOBS

That is a LOT of companies all up in my business. Sigh.

Truly excellent Ayn Rand parody makes me giggle.

I really like Penn Jillette when he's being awesome and not all strident-libertarian.

Well duh.

Ferretz!

Monday, June 21, 2010

monday!

Holy sh1t I love Al Franken.

I cannot believe this is even a question. Hell no.

Go Japanese Free Speech Go!

Of course it is. I hate us.

We are all so very screwed.

The New Media rules continue to marginalize reality.

File Under: Things To Print on Business Cards and Give to Everyone You Know

Done. Goin' back to bed. I wish I had a hobbit hole to hide in.

A bit of Coco to ease the pain.

Friday, June 18, 2010

happy friday!

Happy Juneteenth, everybody!

BFFs under siege.

Disturbing things. Fun!

Oil Disaster Update: FZCK

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

File Under: Fevered Egos

Fzcking Horrible. Those poor girls are going to be damaged all over.

We're sure lucky we don't waste our tax dollars on pristine, beautiful public works projects.

Easy Answer: Call the Local News

Comic Sans is back and totally pissed!

File Under: Hands, Too Much Time On One's

Great Button, Great Message

Want!

Nom!

Devo loves kitties.

FRIENDZ

Thursday, June 17, 2010

thursday!

Orrin Hatch is seriously pissing me off right now. Also: drug tests are expensive (when we priced 'em out for testing new hires, the 9 panel screen was $60/each). How does he propose to fund this initiative?

Really?

Awesome! When do they get their own TV show?

Irish@12:51 gives a smart answer to a really stupid question/issue.

Well said. Encore and stuff!

Benefits? We don't offer medical or dental and we won't pay when you get sick cleaning up our messes. But we got hookers!

A good analogy involving tubes.

Why your doctor hates you.

Hot (slightly NSFW).

The tastiest kind of Science.

Sneezy bear is sneezy.

El gato de futbol!

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

wednesday!

File Under: If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.

Probably? The wiretapping was enough to turn me off permanently, but the stupidity of the masses is virtually boundless.

Wow, Sharron Angle, wow: one and two

I fzcking hate the NRA.

This sh1t needs to stop RIGHT NOW.

Alvin Greene's win was probably not legit.

Hadn't seen this before. Fzck.

Look: board certification is not a thing to take lightly. I really loathe Rand Paul. One of our docs recently passed his boards on his first try and you'd think he'd won the lottery or something.

Who's breaking all the Mark Kirk stories lately? This guy.

If it's true, I totally called this also. Weird.

Optimizing the classics.

Papa Monkeys.

NO THANK YOU

File Under: Bad Targeting. The $25/bottle wine crowd does not hang with the Whitesnake crowd.

YES. I so hope the DUI came after he peed on yet another beloved children's character.

That WOULD be awesome.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

tuesday!

The problem with poop.

The ongoing WTF that is Alvin Greene: one and two and three

It really makes me sad that Aaron Schock is the future of the GOP.

Cranking the racist dogwhistles up to 11.

Crist!

Let's play Spot the Typo!

Yes.

FUTURAMA Preview!!!

I like it: more advertising like this, please.

Fair enough, that is one freaky tapir.

Gorgeous.

Holy CRAP, I totally called this.

Hater cat hates your hat.

NONONONONONONONONO

Monday, June 14, 2010

monday!

Poll: So it was all hot and muggy and crap on Friday, right? People at work were chatting and fretting over their various A/C situations at home, and Tom and I mentioned that we turned the air on before we left for work that morning so we wouldn't come home to fuzzy cat puddles. So the question is, does telling people that we turned our air conditioning on for our cats make us sound like pampered yuppie a-holes, or what?

This and then some.

Depressing. But she sounds pretty good.

I want to hang out with David Souter.

Vive Cousteau!

I really want to visit the cat dimension.

NICE

Warm, cardigan-wearing fuzzies.

WTF! I need more information.

Betty Draper is a bad girl.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

A for Effort

I'm trying to get my blogging mojo back, I swear.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

And I Haven't Shaved My Legs in a Week Either

Making this brown rice and mushroom loaf for the third time and pretty jazzed about it. My mom's ol' hippie heart is smiling right now and she has no idea why.

We hit the farmers' market like poets on payday this morning and came away with some excellent strawberries and rhubarb, potatoes and beets, as well as our favorite farmers' market item: fresh baby peas. I bought two pints and I'm actually giddy to play with them. I've got three recipes pegged and hopefully I have enough to rock all of them--Asparagus in Black Sesame Paste (no peas called for in the recipe, but I don't see how adding them could go wrong), Scaffata (with edamame subbed for the labor-intensive favas), and this Cauliflower Curry. If I get really lucky and I still have leftovers after those dishes, I'm going to try this Bittman pasta recipe.

Also new this week: okra! I've never had it and Tom's only had an okra dish his mom used to make that he did not recall fondly. I think this will go over slightly better.

Garden Report: one of my three tomatillos died for no apparent reason. It just shriveled and turned yellow and flopped over. But the other two are growing like gangbusters so I'm not really complaining. The peppers and tomatoes and herbs are all enjoying the rain as we speak, and we're apparently going to have a few raspberries this year too.

The cats also got to sample some of the fresh catnip for the first time this morning and it was SO GOOD one of them was excited unto puking. In other words, another typical and perfectly lovely day.

Friday, June 11, 2010

happy friday!

When you do not understand and respect the Internets, the Wayback Machine will kick your ass every time.

I don't know about you guys, but *my* intuitions are magic.

The Evanston Human Services Committee apparently has nothing better to do with their free time.

How have that many people involved in all this not seen Titanic?

Ow, my bloody Weiner!

Buddha be praised!

WTF AZ

IL: completely fzcked.

Unequivocally, YES.

The drug market needs a bailout!

I don't really see a need for the "please" in here.

Well said. I'm close to there myself.

Yes, because heavens forfend libraries have actual information and stuff in them.

YUP

Someone needs to tell me what the hell is going on with this guy. He's like the SC version of Scott Lee Cohen.

Our awesome public discourse, part XVII.

MoFo Indeed.

Pretty! Knock a zero off the price and I'd buy the hell out of that.

The bum hierarchy is in shambles right now.

Zoidberg Wolverine 4eva!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

June 10, 2010

Ugh, I feel sick.

It is actually not like that AT ALL, you a-hole.

What the fzck is up with Alvin Greene? Updates here and here.

Well, surely the free market will fix all this.

Holy sh1t.

It's hydrophilic! It's oleophobic! It's both!

Eggspiracy!

Dammit....

Resistance is Futile!

Chicago (and Bensenville): FYI

I'm pretty 'meh' on the new Lady Gaga video. I like her gunb00bs at the end of the video but overall I thought the song itself was unusually pedestrian.

Apt!

My only question is: why are there six jars of peanut butter on the counter? When is five jars of peanut butter not enough?

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

June 9, 2010

Fear of a Black Hobbit.

Helen Thomas sez: Yeah, this is totally fair.

Really?

Someone made a movie just for John!

Can I get an Amen! for Melinda Gates?

More gun control, pls.

Want!

Noooooooooo....

BWAHAHA

Amazing, pretty things: one, two

WHAT

New Gil Scott-Heron is new!

Cute sh1t: puppy! and kittehs!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

June 8, 2010

The science of denialism. Related here.

Oh good, so Burr Oak was just the beginning of a nightmarish trend. Fantastic.

Rand Paul gives Sister Sarah a run for her money as Victim of the Year.

This, exactly. More here.

Yay Evidence!

Yay Eyeballs!

Do Not Mock Him: Chu SMASH!

This is just sort of universally disappointing.

Monday, June 7, 2010

June 7, 2010

Pretty airtight, actually.

Oh good.

This is bullsh1t.

Net Neutrality Action Item.

Yes. I need a bendy straw for my wine jug.

I'm so totally using this the next time I have to talk to a belligerent customer.

File Under: Political Legacies are Bad for the Country.

I give: I totally want a fzcking terrarium now. Bonsai are so 1996.

Wishful thinking.

Whaaaaaaaa?!

YES

Everything about this is made of WIN.

Action Maru and bouncy kittehs!

This song will now be in your head all day. You're welcome.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

V is for Victory

The 2010 Victory Garden is poking along. Starting tomatoes and peppers from seed was pretty discouraging overall--most of my peppers survived the transplant and are now rocking out in their permanent locations, but all but three of my tomato plants bit the dust either on day one of hardening (scorched and wilted from sun overexposure), or the last night I left them outside, with the intention of planting them the following morning. A whole tray was flipped in the middle of the night by fuzzy vandals and all my heirloom purples were crushed.

So I've bought replacements from a couple of local gardening centers and gotten everything in the ground I intend to grow for this year. The line up:

Peppers:

3 Sweet Red Planet Peppers (started from seed)
2 Mariachi Hot Peppers (started from seed)

Tomatoes:

1 Opalka Tomato (started from seed and scrawny as hell right now)
1 Yellow Pear Tomato
1 Green Zebra Tomato
2 Cherry Tomato
2 Additional Roma-style Tomato (I'm canning or freezing this year, I swear)

Tomatillos:

3 Purple Tomatillo Plants

Wild Raspberries: Found 'em growing amongst the clump of peonies at the back corner of the yard and transplanted to a pot until I figure out where I want them to live permanently.

HERBS:

Rosemary
Thyme
Cilantro Delfino
Flat Leaf Parsley
Sweet Basil
Lemon Balm
Catnip
Chives
Oregano
Stevia
Mint

It's a pretty good start, I think, and mostly easy plants to deal with, considering this is our first year really giving this whole thing a go. I've got all kinds of ideas for next year--melons, squash and eggplant, along with a perennial bed of rhubarb, asparagus and Jerusalem Artichoke, assuming we figure out how to control the established weed systems--I'm contending with oriental poppies, milkweed, and morning glory infestations among the usual dandelions and such.

This is Just to Say

William Carlos Williams is kinda overrated.