Trees

Went for a short drive through the New Hampshire countryside. A bit gray and rainy. I was astonished by the tree damage from the ice storm two weeks ago. Looked like some of those old photos of the woods near the front lines in World War One. Limbs split off everywhere. Mailboxes along the road have small, hand-written signs saying "power out". Back to lunch. We have power from the propane generator. So we are lucky.

Coffee

Waking up in New Hampshire. Kids awake. Nice Christmas tree which is great because I didn't get one this year, being out of town and all. Light saber duels in the living room. I sit in the corner, cup of good coffee in my hand, except when I'm typing. It's gray and raining on the snow. Looks like a day to be inside. Don't mind the snow and cold. Rain on top of snow seems so................distasteful. Well, maybe yucky is a better word.

Off to New Hampshire!

Tomorrow morning it's off to New Hampshire to spend Christmas with Julia's family at their lovely house in NH. Then its back to Boston for a day, then back to Madison. Should be fun.

Letter Czar

This last month, since the wonderful, historic election of Barack Obama, it's become quite common to write and publish letters to the President-elect. Letters advising him on what he should do on various matters from human rights to the environment to food production. I've read some of these letters. They are generally compassionate, well-reasoned and informative. Lots of good ideas.

But............does Mr Obama read the letters? I mean, there's a lot of them and he's pretty busy naming his cabinet and all, picking a dog, etc. Does he have time to read them all? What happens to them?

I've been imagining a "Letter Czar" who's job as part of the "transition team" it is to read all the letters and hand Mr Obama a digest of the letters. Maybe. I think it would be excellent if he did at LEAST get a digest. I am growing uneasy as I read about his choices for cabinet. Very conservative. Change? Hmmmm. I'm not optimistic. Hope? Keeping Robert Gates on as Defense Secretary? I am left shaking my head. Yes, it's a historic occasion. I'm happy about this. But how much are people willing to give up to get out of this "economic downturn"? Maybe those pesky unions? If only those unions weren't so demanding about workers rights, pensions and health insurance, we wouldn't have to do these bailouts. Yes, I hope there's a letter czar and Mr Obama is getting the message.

Otherwise, they're just like letters to Santa.

Shoe Bomber?

Gosh. An angry Iraqi reporter threw his shoes at George W. Bush, as Bush took his last tour of Iraq. The nerve! Throwing your SHOES at "The Leader of the Free World". As a Quaker, I've been wondering: was this a violent act? Certainly, Iraqi's have the right to be angry with Bush. His invasion of Iraq has caused the deaths of over 1.2 million Iraqi's. How many US soldiers? Over 5,000 now? Destruction of "insurgent strongholds". Sending drones to kill. Using rendition and the cozy walls of Guantanamo to hold humans for YEARS without a trial. So throwing shoes certainly pales by comparison. But a violent act? Would it be a violent act if the reporter had stood up and called "W" a "gravy sucking pig"? Most Iraqi's interviewed about the shoe throwing agreed with the action.

Bush is a man who likes killing. He's right up there with the Churchill's, the Stalins and the Hitlers. From his days as Governor of Texas, leading the nation in executions, to his wars, wiretaps and big bucks for his friends, the man likes to kill and dominate. He is evil. There IS that of God inhim, but he's chosen to listen to another part of his soul.

Throwing shoes? Today I feel like W deserved it. Maybe he should be pelted with the shoes of all his victims. Sorry Mr Gandhi. Sorry Mr Woolman. If that makes me a "bad Quaker", so be it.

Burning Questions

Several burning questions have arisen lately, mostly at the dinner table. Thought I'd share these with my six regular, loyal readers for amusement, if nothing else.

1) Do men and women still have boy and girl "cooties" respectively? OR have their "cooties" grown up in some way?

2) Is the "poop deck" of an old time sailing vessel called that because of it's location at the stern of the ship or because that's where the sailors, um, poop into the ocean? This came up over dinner lsat night because Poodledoc, Jr had just finished up his sailing ship for his 8th grade Colonial Project. I've been sent pretty convincing evidence that it's called a poop deck because of location but I still remember reading IN A CHILDREN'S BOOK that it had to do with bodily functions. There was even a drawing. Yikes!


3) Sauron's eye (shown above, twice). Can we tell what kind of creature he is by examining "the lidless eye" depicted in the Lord of the Ring films? I'm still mulling this over, but this bad guy has a vertical slit pupil, so that pretty much rules out human. No surprise there. So......some creatures that have vertical pupils include cats, vipers, and Republicans, to name just a few.

4) And sticking with the Lord of the Rings theme, what happened to Gollum's eyes? Tolkien fanatics know that Gollum started his life as a fairly normal, hobbit-like creature, with presumably fairly human eyes. Then, he gets this Ring and something happens. His eyes become apparently larger. He becomes photophobic (hides from the sun), develops excellent night vision so he can find Orcs to eat in the depths of the Misty Mountains. Still working on these last two.


5) And, as long as we are on the topic of fantasy eyes, and drifting over to the fine literary classics in the Harry Potter series, how would Mad Eye Moody's eye Magical Eye work? What would we see if we looked inside? (I've examined a lot of eyes, but never a magical one. There's still time, though.)

Tagged. Again.

Ok, so here's a meme for me to do on the first cold night here in the north. Courtesy of my friend, Luminiferous Ether.

1. Five names you go by:
a) Chuck (or Charles if I'm in trouble with mom or it's a telemarketer)
b) Doc or Doctor Schobert (professional namings)
c) Bark! (feed me, walk me, pet me)
d) Dad, Daddy,, etc
e) Other personal nicknames

2) Three things you are wearing right now:
a) Crane Foundation T shirt
b) a wristwatch
c) a smile

3) Two things you want very badly at the moment:
a) a chocolate milkshake
b) 24 straight hours of sleep

Three people who will probably fill this out:
a)Enriched Geranium
b)Julia
c)my mom

Two things you did last night:
a) watched old Monty Python episodes with Poodledoc, Jr
b) made some bread

Two things you ate today:
a) Julia's famous squash black bean chili
b) waffles

Two people you just talked to on the phone:
a) Rebecca
b) Barack Obama (asking me to be First Veterinarian)

Two things you are going to do tomorrow:
a)develop a perpetual motion machine
b) look at eyeballs under a microscope

Two longest car rides:
a) from Matagulpa to Managua, Nicaragua after spending the night tossing my cookies
b) from San Francisco to Reno after tossing my eggrolls

Two of your favorite beverages:
a) chocolate milkshakes
b)eggnog

A clip from my favorite movie? So many to choose from I'm going to wimp out on this one.......sorry.