What I Did Today

No time to post anything, but there's a really interesting post about Mitt Romney on R.T.Rybak's blog (mayor of the city of Minneapolis - a great guy and hopefully a politician with a bigger future).

Take a look at it here.

Elections

It's an election year, and I haven't said anything yet, but that's really just because I've been so *&%$ busy with the house and now with packing...it's not because I don't have opinions about the state of things.  Of course, I haven't followed the campaign as closely as normally would, but I try to keep a finger on the pulse.

David Brooks' column today is about the state of the Romney campaign, and why it's not working.  David Brooks is my favorite Republican thinker.  He doesn't shoot from the hip.  He is insightful, and I think he's as objective as a human being can be when talking politics.  This is the guy from the other side of the aisle that I like to listen to most.

Some of these guys who run for president, you just have to feel sorry for them.  They're not bad people, but they're not president material either; if you can't run a campaign (or get people who can run it for you) then you probably can't run the country either.  It has happened before, and it will happen again.

Anyway, I hope Obama wins.  I don't think he's perfect, but he is smart and competent and I think he's a good person too.  I think he's good for the country, and that he continues to unite more than divide (in spite of campaign politics, which are always divisive).  He is able to compromise, but not willing to sacrifice the future for short-term gain.  There was a lot broken in the U.S. when he was elected four years ago.  I think we're in a better place now than we were then, and I think four more years will bring even more improvement.

Plus, I love Michelle :-)

Crazy, Religion, Art, Boxes

Did anyone else watch any of the video that has caused the rioting and killing?

It's really stupid and mean

Of course, one could argue that killing people over a stupid video is even dumber and meaner

Events like this are what make people like me dislike religion

I've been packing

A lot of boxes

More now; this photo was taken yesterday

Some empty cupboards and closets

One neighbor came by and said I had a lot to do still

Another neighbor came over and said I had a lot done

I like the second neighbor better

Plus she brought cupcakes

I've come down off the sugar now and I don't feel like packing any more

Campbell's Soup has a special pop-art 50th anniversary display

Looking at a cool and quirky condo in NE Minneapolis tomorrow

Hate packing

Sylvan Lake

This year's "cultural" activity was a trip to Sylvan Lake, which I liked a lot more than last year's trip to Crazy Horse which was kind of weird.

Bus, Train, Plane and Van (no automobiles)

*I took the light rail to the airport this morning

*Love the light rail

*I noticed the date displayed at the platform, and today marks 44 years since my father died

*He was 44 when he died

*This seems significant, in a morbid way

*Finally figured out the shortcut into the terminal (hooray!)

*Flunked security

*Again

*Apparently my skirt was still swishing when the scanner ran

*No moving fabric allowed

*Pat-down

*I forgot to extract my liquid toiletries before putting my bag on the belt

*They didn't notice that

*WTF?

*Just finished Fall of Giants on audio

*Audiobooks are great when you're packing

*I really tore through that one

*The sequel comes out on Sept 18th

*Downloaded something from the library to hold me over

*Wait for Me! by the Duchess of Devonshire, Deborah Mitford

*Hope it's good

*Conference starts tomorrow morning

*I think I have to present, but I'm not sure, and if I do, I don't know which day I'm on

*Normally I take this sort of thing more seriously

*My topic, if in fact I have to present, is on the use of humor in information literacy

*You could say that the title is also the punchline, dontcha think?

*Should be interesting

Bees and Bowls

I took about a zillion photos in the garden while visiting my mother last Sunday, and got one good shot of a bee:

Tonight I went to my annual block party - last chance to be neighborly. One of my neighbors knits, so she took me into her house to show me her just finished "100 Bowl Project" of which she is very proud:

Why 100 bowls? Apparently she discovered that making them was quite addictive.

Her daughter thinks she's crazy. I wish Boy-child could have seen this project. He maybe would think of me as a little less crazy (everything is relative).

Diary of a Mad Packer

Can I just say, I don't understand how this stuff can still be multiplying. I mean, I pack a bunch of boxes with stuff, and I take stuff to Goodwill, and I throw stuff away, and I take stuff to storage, and then I go back to the salt mines, look around, and there's not even a dent in the stuff. There is stuff everywhere.

How is this possible?

I think that Scotty was wrong, and that the laws of physics can be changed.

I'm sure it's a plot.

Probably my X is behind it.

Or maybe I'm just losing my mind.

Plus, for a really creepy coincidence, I took a break and watched The Green Mile this weekend. I was thinking to myself, seriously, that this guy was so convincing, and so endearing, and so amazing, that if I'm ever asked that silly question of, "If you could have any single superpower, which one would you choose?" that I will answer, "I would want to be a curandera" because that guy in The Green Mile was so awesome.

Just sayin'

(or maybe I'd want the superpower that makes stuff disappear)

Packing Holiday Weekend

For the holiday weekend I am packing. Got the china done today, as well as a few other things.

I'm also processing zucchini. Quite remarkable how much zucchini two plants can produce. I made a new kind of chocolate zucchini cake:

And I made a zucchini casserole with cheese and breadcrumbs:

Both of the new recipes were found on epicurean.com ... taste testing results to follow. There's still plenty of zucchini in the fridge and the freezer, so if anyone has a fabulous recipe to share, please email me or put it in comments.

It's autumn, which is my favorite time of year. This year it's even better, because I will not have to rake.

There is a new "Little Free Library" up the street. I love these things. This one has a really cool handle on the door.