hibernation

More acutely than any other time in my life, this October has been a lesson in preparing to hibernate.
As we all know, I am a native Minnesotan. I know how the seasons work here... we all find excuses to leave work or school early on fridays between May 15th and September 15th. We spend as much time outside as possible, soaking up every ray of sun and every glorious moment of outdoor recreation this beautiful city offers (and dude. There's so much to do, I can never get it all in in one summer anyway.) And then, we collectively get in our cars for 3-4 weeks between September and October and scatter all over the state to look at leaves, pick apples, run through a corn maze, buy pumpkins... you know.
And then we get to hunkering down. You notice the days getting significantly shorter. You start yawning and reaching for the sweatshirt and lounge pants as 8:15. For me, I start paying more attention to my Netflix queue and less attention to my running shoes. I start eating way more potatoes and forget that there's still goodness from the farmer's market.
And I slow down. I stop feeling so frenzied and that summer sense of urgency wanes just like the temperatures moderate.
Today it became official. I wore my long scarf and coat in today. I'll wear it through, off and on, now. It takes me through the last remains of fall, through the gray rest of November, through the candlelit soirees of December. It will usher in my 28th birthday in January and will wrap me in comfort as I face the long brevity of February. It will walk with me as I crunch through March's old snow and bravely take out those running shoes again.

It's meant to rain and snow tonight, and that's OK. I cannot stop the seasons; I cannot stop the change, and I wouldn't really want to anyway. But I get all kinds of quiet when I think about it. It's time for one little part of me -- the part that's a sunbathing goddess, a queen of the garden, the barefooted, lake-dwelling, bike-riding, porch-swinging girl -- to hibernate.
Good night, summer Sarah.

time keeps slipping slipping slipping, into the future...

As I begin to reflect on my own daughter's transformation from infant to toddler, and now watch her as she takes those first few bold steps into childhood (at 3 and change, she's far more kid than she is baby), Gary Kamiya's article in Salon today was a homerun.

My favorite line:
You go to bed and your kids are fungal life forms; you wake up and they're reading Faulkner.

Well, yah, folks. That about sums it up for me.

a million ways...

...or, at least 100 things about me (per Diana's challenge.)

1. I believe the color orange is not only the most beautiful color on the planet, but also the color that most closely represents my personality.

2. I started drinking coffee with my dad when I was about 14; he’d make a pot of truck-stop coffee Saturday mornings in the fall before he went out duck-hunting. I started drinking it with him, and never really stopped.

3. I want to watch 100 movies this winter (I have some catching up to do.)

4. I’m really afraid I’ll end up all alone.

5. Thinking about going to the post office gives me a bit of an upset stomach.

6. My eyes turn more green when I’m really mad, or really passionate. They are most green when I’m acting on-stage.

7. I’m dying to join a church choir.

8. My grandma Sharon is my biggest hero. She raised 3 boys, found love again after her first husband died tragically, leaving her alone with a 4-month-old son. She gave everything she had to raise 3 strong, funny, kind, wonderful men. She worries too much, just like Dad, and just like me. She loves books and the peace of the lake. And she’s so, so smart in ways I can never hope to be.

9. I am a paper and pen snob. I only like to write on quadrille paper, and prefer pens in this order: a) ultra-fine point sharpie, in any color b) fountain pen with blue ink c)flair pen in green or blue.

10. I lose, and find, and lose myself again, in almost all forms of music.

11. I think my ability to see relationships within a greater system of relationships, and having the intuition to sense how the entire system is balanced (the fantastically verbose Germans call this Gemeinschaftsgefuhl, or community feeling), is the best thing I bring to my relationships.

12. I am utterly reliant on my cell phone and iPod. I have no idea what I’d do without gadgets.

13. My hips are not perfect, in a Western-fashion sort of way. But I think they are lovely anyway.

14. I was always super-jealous of how beautiful my Aunt Eileen (Muffi) is. I so very badly wanted to be her most of my formative years.

15. Balance is probably the single biggest driving goal (and challenge) in my life.

16. I cannot eat lemon drops.

17. I love wearing dresses and skirts.

18. Most days, I feel like I am one of the few people in the world who wake up, Monday-Friday, and have at least some sort of happiness about going to work. I mean, sometimes work does suck… but I love the work I do.

19. I have one rule in life: create something beautiful every day.

20. When I was little, I wanted to be the first female artist-astronaut. I was going to paint fantastic modern art in space and then sell these masterpieces back on earth for exorbitant wads of cash.

21. I love it when I get my hair done, and the stylist washes my hair. It’s one of the most relaxing things on the planet.

22. One of my most treasured possessions is the cookbook my mom compiled for me with all the family recipes in it, back in 1999. I would run back into a burning house to save it.

23. I don’t drink enough water, but I surely try.

24. I am notoriously bad at remembering to take pills, but I can memorize phone numbers in about 6 seconds.

25. I desperately want people to like me.

26. Pickles are my favorite food. I have been known to take down a half-jar of Clausens for dinner at regular intervals.

27. I would go to school forever if I didn’t have to pay for it.

28. When I was a 6^th grader, I got a snail from school. I kept it in my closet in a mayonnaise jar, til it died and started stinking. I didn’t want my mom to know I had killed a snail, so I just threw the jar, stinky snail and all, out my 2^nd-story window. My step dad was so confused as to how a mayonnaise jar got in the gutters that fall. I never told them.

29. I fell in love with rock and roll when I was 10 years old. I heard the bass guitar line to With or Without You. Rock and roll is my longest-running love affair.

30. Dishonesty, selfishness, and manipulation are very likely the only 3 things that would make me turn my back on someone I loved.

31. A little part of me still wants to be Cinderella.

32. I think graffiti is one of the most beautiful art forms on the planet. I love the subversive, the urban, and the art all rolled into one.

33. I do not believe in carpet. I simply find it unnecessary.

34. I used to think I didn’t want kids. Then, I thought I wasn’t ever going to be able to have kids. Now, I think I want several of them… someday, when I grow up.

35. I am all over a good, respectful debate, but would rather not fight. Ever.

36. Every moment I spend with myself, I find me being more and more proud of being a native Minneapolitan.

37. I’ve lost over 70 pounds and most times, I still only see the fat.

38. If I did it all over again, I’d apply to Julliard.

39. I am convinced that there are no coincidences.

40. Every morning, I wake up with a song in my head. It’s almost never the same song twice.

41. Many of the things I’m really good at – baking, sewing, crafting, writing – I started out totally sucking at.

42. I never thought being a mom would be so cool. I thought it would be this hard. But not so rewarding. I totally underestimated the good in it.

43. Sometimes I look at my family, and my friends, and the people around me, and I feel completely undeserving of how fabulously great I have it.

44. I am organized, but only in fits and starts. I get spurts of organization, a few times per year, and then I generally erode away the organizational system until I cannot stand the chaos any longer and reorganize.

45. I can totally tie a cherry stem in a knot with just my tongue.

46. I get along better with men than women.

47. I’d never wash a dish again, if I had the option.

48. But I like the repetition of folding laundry.

49. I give older people way less credit than I should. They have a ton of wisdom, especially about people and relationships, and are much stronger than I think they are.

50. Part of me still wants to get my nose pierced and come to work with blue hair.

51. My deepest longing is for my mom and dad to be friends.

52. I worry way too much.

53. This summer, I learned how to be friends with myself. I’m still perfecting how to be alone. But it’s coming along nicely.

54. I have a hard time with regret. Because generally, I do not regret. And I have a hard time understanding people who wallow in the whatifs of life.

55. I adore driving fast.

56. Good writing turns me on.

57. Good songwriting, strong drums and hard guitar is just about the most sensual thing I can think of.

58. My upstairs neighbor is a real big jerk.

59. I hate it when women over-perfume to go out. It’s a) really rude; not everyone likes your perfume, and b) it gives the rest of us a bad name. Not all women are obsessed with smelling like the inside of a Bloomingdale’s cosmetics garbage can.

60. I get tired at about 2:30 every day. It’s the worst time of the day to have a meeting.

61. One of my new year’s resolutions in 2007 will be to learn how to relax.

62. I’m a tiny bit frightened of what I’ll do once I graduate from my master’s program.

63. A couple of years ago, I wrote up my guiding competencies, which are the principles I try to live by. I look at them every single day and I measure myself against them as often as I can.

64. The worst insult anyone can throw at me is to insult my intelligence.

65. I miss my garden.

66. I wonder about old friends sometimes. And then I wonder if they wonder about me.

67. I get sad every January, right after my birthday, until the crocuses peek out sometime in March.

68. I loved shopping for school supplies every fall as a kid.

69. I always wanted a brother.

70. I love vintage things – clothes, furniture, housing, art, music… it’s all good.

71. I’m an indie-yuppie. And I’m not ashamed.

72. As soon as I can, I’m getting another dog.

73. I consider myself an early blog-adopter. But this blog still doesn’t have a theme. Or much readership.

74. My grandpa had a zit on his face when he died. I think I inherited his skin.

75. I think diamond rings are gross. I would never, ever want to own one.

76. More often than not, when I think about my life, I feel like a 19-year-old trapped in my body, going, “What? Wait. When the hell did this all happen? Where was I?”

77. I’m not sure hell isn’t empty.

78. No one gets to steal my energy anymore.

79. Bedtime with Paige is my favorite time of the day.

80. I miss going to a church home, and I am looking forward to finding one again.

81. I do not think I will ever move outside a major city. Ever.

82. Once, I scared off the cops because I had underwear in my jacket pocket.

83. I love to write poetry under the big trees in an old cemetery.

84. I think rivers are one of nature’s most powerful metaphors.

85. I still believe in Santa Claus.

86. I think love is the answer to most problems.

87. If love doesn’t cure it, then I’m pretty sure bacon or brownies will.

88. I used to think I did best under pressure. But I’m sorta getting tired of that life already.

89. I love admiring the diversity in people.

90. I am procrastinating on finishing my thesis.

91. I have no idea what I will do when I lose my grandparents.

92. I used to have nightmares of the Incredible Hulk when I was little. I still won’t watch that movie.

93. I’ve had a tiny-little crush on a kid from high school for at least the last 10 years.

94. I don’t find anything redeeming about Detroit. I have tried, but I come up empty every time.

95. I totally love it when you get out your winter and/or spring coat and find either ticket stubs or money in the pockets.

96. When I’m really lost and directionless, I sometimes ask my Grandpa Randy (who has been dead since my dad was an infant) for guidance.

97. I still listen to the safety directions every time I get on a plane.

98. I wonder what my friends in Ireland are doing right now.

99. Often, I wonder if I’m a good enough friend.

100. I love the inherent wisdom in the journals I kept from my teenage years. They are so perfectly raw and unbridled and burdened with emotion but not yet responsibility. It’s beautiful.

beat to the punch.

Well, I was going to review the new Hold Steady -- Boys and Girls in America -- which I've subversively had since the weekend (yah, baby... bootlegs).

But this just sorta says it all, anyway.
Go support your (semi) local music scene and get this right. now.

God Bless You, Bat-Girl.

My sweet, sweet Minnesota Twins pulled it out at the last minute -- with a little bit of help from our friends in Kansas City.
(going to further prove my theory that aside from Mo-town, there isn't much that has come out of Detroit that I can't live without...)

Bat-Girl says it best, so I'm gonna let her do the talking. But My. God. I love baseball, and I love pennant races, and I love the playoffs.

Now, back to rummaging for my Homer Hanky...

Thanksgiving comes early this year

I want to take just a minute today, though it is not yet quite my favorite holiday, to say thanks.

To my friends: you have listened, cried, angsted, advised, encouraged, pointed out my weaknesses and flaws, affirmed my strengths, and guided me to be a better Sarah. I could not have navigated the last year without my dear friends, without your honesty and tough love and support and admiration of me. I told Diana when I moved that I had to draw on the strength of my inner strong black woman – the Maya Angelou that lives inside of me. You all helped me realize Maya was in there, all along. Many of you have been with me on this journey since its inception, in the fall of 2005…. I am proud and delighted to have you, my amazing friends, who have accompanied me on this journey, believed in me, never gave up on the Essential Sarah. I have grown so fond of being me in the last few months – you just cannot even imagine the inner transformation you have helped create, and I am grateful to time’s end for it.

Thank you for your friendship. You each are incredibly dear to me. And I feel like this quote from Heather is so appropriate to begin this new chapter in life, I had to preserve it here:

My will shall shape the future. Whether I fail or succeed shall be no man's doing but my own. I am the force; I can clear any obstacle before me or I can be lost in the maxe. My choice; my responsibility; win or lose, only I hold the key to my destiny....

on my list of things I must see and soon:

The Last King of Scotland.
(saw the preview at Little Miss Sunshine. Wholly intrigued.)

more american-as-baseball goodness

Not that I rescind any comments about what is broken in the state of my nation, but baseball is not one of those things.

something to talk about

So this article in Salon seemed appropriate, as I was just having a conversation about drugs and personal responsibility for your actions (and not making the government responsible for your actions.)

Yah.

next stop: AL Central title

My God. I love baseball.

sunshine, lollipops, and kittens. It's monday.

This weekend absolutely nourished me. It had been a helluva week the last week... change at work, some repairs to do on friendships, personal stuff, self-maintenance on my part... oof. Emotionally charged, to say the least. And anyone who knows me, at all, knows that emotions drive a lot of who I am. I like being passionate... I do. But it's killer sometimes, because I generally speaking don't know how to relax, and I get all angsty about things, and I sometimes feel a bit overwhelmed because I experience the world in my heart and not in my brain and... yah, well, it's a growing point for me. I'm learning all about how to use my logical side. And growth is good.

But I digress.

This weekend was a delightful, uproarious, hilarious cacophony of everything that delights me. It's not too often I forego the responsibility of laundry and housecleaning and blah blah blah to just be the Sarah. But I did.

Friday: dinner at Chez Sekhon/Johnson. Stroganoff. Bread Pudding. Liquor. Apples to Apples. Need I say more?

Saturday: Sleeping in (which, we all know, I NEVER do.) Coffee. Breakfast at the Band Box Diner. Farmer's Market (a very cool new one I didn't know about, down near the new Guthrie. A pint at Keegan's. Treehouse Records. Another pint in uptown. Little Miss Sunshine. Nap (what? Sarahs don't nap...). Dinner at Punch. the Cursive show (will review that musicalia goodness in short order). Night cap at Psycho Suzi's. Serious late-night giggling.

Sunday: Sleeping in (again! twice in a weekend! I could get used to this relaxing thing...) Coffee, bacon and eggs. And I'm going to be honest, it was the best. bacon. ever. (Diana, you and I need to discuss this bacon in great detail, as I am almost positive it is the answer to world peace, as you have previously theorized.) Brunch and Bloody Marys at the Triple Rock. A lot of fun, a lot of laughter. Some more relaxation, a little foundation-laying for new friendships, another nap (I'm beginning to see y'all's point on the napping bit), and finally, a big hug and kiss from a beautiful little girl who calls me Mama, and a great rendition of Where the Wild Things Are before bed.

I'm all rejuvenated and life, after charging my own batteries, seems better. A helluva lot better.

pre-order virginity

I never pre-order anything. Generally, I buy stuff when a) I have the dough (credit has gotten me in a bit of a bind in the past, and the philosophy of cash = have it, no cash = I wait, has been very very good to me) and b) the mood strikes me.

But I pre-ordered a new Gomez CD last night, due out October 17th. It's called 5 Men in a Hut.

I am no longer a pre-order virgin. (but... it's Gomez. I can hardly be held to the fire for that...)

Cold Rainy Days, How I Love Thee.

Let me tell you briefly about this perfect morning before I go back to writing a Talent Management course:

• It feels like 39 degrees or so out. Definitely fall. And it's raining, and I think it has been for a day or so now, so it's that damp-cold that gets into your bones. But I'm on my couch, basking in the warm heat of the radiators, drinking my 2nd cup of coffee and enjoying a warm belly-full of McCann's Irish Oats.
• I am still in yoga pants, a tshirt, and hoodie. Yah, it's 10AM. I'm working from home, and I couldn't be more relaxed about it all.
• I've been listening to my party shuffle since 8. And it hasn't been "off" in mood, yet. Nice.
• I'm looking forward to good dinner and good company tonight. Yah!

OK, I'm done now. It's fall, I had a chance to just relax last night, and all is as well as it can be.

cursing intuition

I have come to be known as an intuitive person. Most days, when I am in touch with my Sarah-sense, I have a pretty good read on the pulse of the world. I know when people are happy, stressed, sick of me, exhausted with life... you know. I'm not saying I'm clairvoyant or whatever. That's just silly. What I am saying is that on every psychological or personality or social or whatever test you give me, I end up in the relationship/expressive/ emotion/sensing/other-centered categories. That's what makes me a good candidate for all this psychology stuff I do. That's what makes me good at training and especially consulting, as often I have to intuit what's "really" going on here (and then frame it up so it looks like my client came up with it. It's a fun party trick -- I'll show ya sometime.)

Well, the Sarah-sense is alive and well. I've only been wrong about a few things, and so I overall trust the Sarah-sense entirely. I employ it at work, at home (helps with the toddler-rearing), in relationships. I'm sure it can be relatively annoying for me to constantly doing the, I'm sensing something here, thing, to everyone I know... eh. That's me. Sorry.

But shoot. Shoot, I don't like when I can sense the disappointments, the changes, the icky in life. Because, like all of us, there are times when I just don't want to acknowledge that there's icky in life, I want to focus on what is good and happy and positive and uplifting. And I tend to ignore the "bad thing a-coming" intuition because I want to be positive.

I guess I need to do better at embracing the bad and the good, and realize something really wise Susan just told me: change is pain. but it's not bad. pain isn't necessarily bad, it just is.

Yah.

some stuff I'm learning (yes, I'll accept your comments that I'm crazy.)

I'll preface all this info by saying that I'm taking a sortof underground pilot class as an independent study this semester... it's about using alternative means of healing in the workplace to manage conflict, change, and relationships. Being the open-minded, existential psychology geek that I am, this stuff is fascinating to me. I was especially amazed this morning to read about the svādhiṣṭhāna chakra, which is orange (my favorite color) and also probably my most pronounced characterstics (emotion, creativity, passion.) Huh.

Chakras

Sahasrara

Sahasrara or The crown chakra , is said to be the chakra of consciousness, the master chakra that controls all the others. Its role would be very similar to that of the pituitary gland, which secretes hormones to control the rest of the endocrine system, and also connects to the central nervous system via the hypothalamus. The thalamus is thought to have a key role in the physical basis of consciousness. Symbolised by a lotus with a thousand petals.

[edit]

Ajna

Ajna or The Third eye, is linked to the pineal gland. Ajna is the chakra of time and awareness and of light. The pineal gland is a light sensitive gland, that produces the hormone melatonin, which regulates the instincts of going to sleep and awakening. It has been conjectured that it also produces trace amounts of the psychedelic chemical dimethyltryptamine. Symbolised by a lotus with two petals.

(Note: some argue that the pineal and pituitary glands should be exchanged in their relationship to the Crown and Brow chakras, based on the description in Arthur Avalon's book on kundalini called Serpent Power or empirical research.)

[edit]

Vishuddha

Vishuddha or The throat chakra, is said to be related to communication and growth, growth being a form of expression. This chakra is paralleled to the thyroid, a gland that is also in the throat, and which produces thyroid hormone, responsible for growth and maturation. Symbolised by a lotus with sixteen petals.

[edit]

Anahata

Anahata or The heart/emotions chakra, is related to love, equilibrium, and well-being. It is related to the thymus, located in the chest. This organ is part of the immune system, as well as being part of the endocrine system. It produces T cells responsible for fighting off disease, and is adversely affected by stress. Symbolised by a lotus with twelve petals.

[edit]

Manipura

Manipura or The solar plexus chakra, is related to energy, assimilation and digestion, and is said to correspond to the roles played by the pancreas and the outer adrenal glands, the adrenal cortex. These play a valuable role in digestion, the conversion of food matter into energy for the body. Symbolised by a lotus with ten petals.

[edit]

Swadhisthana

Swadhisthana or The sacral chakra, is located in the groin, and is related to emotion, sexuality and creativity. This chakra is said to correspond to the testicles or the ovaries, that produce the various sex hormones involved in the reproductive cycle, which can cause dramatic mood swings. Symbolised by a lotus with six petals.

[edit]

Muladhara

Muladhara or The base or root chakra, is related to security, survival and also to basic human potentiality. This centre is located in the region between the genitals and the anus. Although no endocrine organ is placed here, it is said to relate to the inner adrenal glands, the adrenal medulla, responsible for the fight and flight response when survival is under threat. In this region is located a muscle that controls ejaculation in the sexual act. A parallel is drawn between the sperm cell and the ovum, where the genetic code lies coiled, and the kundalini. Symbolised by a lotus with four petals.

The following table sets forth some of the properties associated with each chakra:

Chakra	Color	Primary Functions	Associated Element	Symbol
Crown (just above the head) sahasrāra, सहस्रार	white or violet; may assume color of dominant chakra	connection to the divine	space
Third eye ājñā, आज्ञा	indigo	intuition, Extra-sensory perception	time
Throat viśuddha, विशुद्ध	blue	speech, self-expression	life
Heart/Lung anāhata, अनाहत	medium green	devotion, love, compassion, healing	air
Solar plexus maṇipūra, मणिपूर	yellow	mental functioning, power, control, freedom to be oneself, career	fire
Sacrum (Hara) svādhiṣṭhāna, स्वाधिष्ठान	orange	emotion, sexual energy, creativity	water
Root mūlādhāra, मूलाधार	red (indian red or coral red)	instinct, survival, security	earth

It is claimed to be very important to know the right color tone for a specific area because the wrong hue of color can allegedly do different things to the energetic system. Yet different systems differ in the colors they ascribe.

why I continue my love affair with Shakespeare

Perhaps this is the best way to summate how I feel about music. Period.
(I find it even more brilliant that it was penned at least 400 years ago.)

If music be the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.
That strain again! it had a dying fall:
O! it came o’er my ear like the sweet sound
That breathes upon a bank of violets,
Stealing and giving odour.

(from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, which is, by happenstance, my favorite Shakespearean play.)

it's that time of year...

Where I am once again compelled to ask you, my readers, my family, my friends, to tell our lawmakers what you think about public media. And unlike Christmas, which is one of my favorite times of the year, I'm just slightly annoyed that we once again have to speak up about how valuable NPR and PBS is to this country. But make your voice heard -- please!

_________________________________________________________________

Everyone expected House Republicans to give up efforts to kill NPR and PBS after a massive public outcry stopped them last year. But they've just voted to eliminate funding for NPR and PBS—unbelievably, starting with programs like "Sesame Street."

Public broadcasting would lose nearly a quarter of its federal funding this year. Even worse, all funding would be eliminated in two years--threatening one of the last remaining sources of watchdog journalism.

Sign the petition telling Congress to save NPR and PBS again this year:

http://civic.moveon.org/publicbroadcasting/

Last year, millions of us took action to save NPR and PBS, and Congress listened. We can do it again if enough of us sign the petition in time.

This would be the most severe cut in the history of public broadcasting. The Boston Globe reports the cuts "could force the elimination of some popular PBS and NPR programs." NPR's president expects rural public radio stations may be forced to shut down.

The House and Senate are deciding if public broadcasting will survive, and they need to hear from viewers like you. Sign the petition at:

http://civic.moveon.org/publicbroadca

I need a culinary moment alone

Accidental Hedonist, will you marry me?

I'll be trying this recipe for Butter Chicken (Indian spices and a metric ton of butter. I need a culinary moment alone) very, very soon.

Proud to be a lifelong Minnesotan

Nearly every time I read something Garrison Keillor writes, my chest swells a little with pride. It's good to be a native Minnesotan.

Check out this little diatribe from today's Salon. Mmm mmm good.

I wish the pope had talked to me before he gave his "evil and inhuman" speech that got Muslims so testy at him. I could have told him, "Don't quote some old emperor's thoughts about Muslims unless you're willing to have people confuse his views with yours." You don't tell a Mormon, "My neighbor used to be Mormon and he says it's the weirdest religion since the Incas." He'll give you the hairy eyeball and go off to the temple and start converting your deceased ancestors.

If you're the Holy Pontiff, you should watch what you say, with the infallibility factor and all. You toss out an idea and suddenly people are on their knees repeating word for word what you said. You'd think the pope would have some peeps to tell him this. He can't just put on a pair of Ray-Bans and toss back an appletini and shoot the breeze as if he were Joe Blow from Kokomo. I could have told him that, had he asked.

My advantage is that I'm in Minnesota and it's September, there's a chill in the air, and this makes us smarter. Cold is a stimulant of intelligence. This has been shown time and time again.

If only Ford Motor Co. had spoken to me before admitting publicly that it expects to fall behind Toyota in the near future. The execs must be spending too much time at the beach. That's weenie talk. They should have said, "Market share is not what it's about for us. We know in our hearts that we are making the right cars for America at this time, and we will keep making them no matter how unpopular they are. In the end, we'll be proven right." Walk tall, Ford. Don't cry in the beer. That's my advice. Too bad you didn't ask.

I am an elder, after all, my boyish grin and insouciant manner notwithstanding. I have been around the block. In other civilizations, I would sit cross-legged in my lodge and you people would approach me, bowing, and ask my counsel. You could do this anyway.

And that crazy Rep. John Boehner. He made a speech, asking whether Democrats are "more interested in protecting terrorists than in protecting the American people." He should have talked to me first. The U.S. House of Representatives, in which Mr. Boehner serves as majority leader, is not an institution held in high esteem these days, and before he chucks road apples at Democrats, he should tend to his own business. The House took a five-week summer vacation, came back into session, debated the Abraham Lincoln Commemorative Coin Act, then spent four hours debating a bill to prohibit slaughtering horses for consumption -- horse meat! In this country, horse meat is served only to carnivores in zoos, but various gasbags had to stand up and laud our equine friends, praise their role in the western migration, the U.S. Cavalry, etc.; meanwhile the subjects of immigration, port security, terrorism and the war went unmentioned in the House chamber.

Commemorative coins!!??! The U.S. Mint is still producing pennies, though a penny costs more than a penny to produce (and a nickel costs more than a nickel), and people throw the coins away because they're worthless and a nuisance, and other people don't bend down to pick them up, despite the saying, "See a penny, pick it up, and the rest of the day you'll have good luck," and the Mint keeps cranking out more small change to replace those -- it's deficit spending in action. It's foolishness on wheels. Boehner's majority is helpless to solve this or to deal with the great issues of this country aside from whether to feed Trigger to the lions. And then he hauls off and accuses Democrats of treason. Who is this guy and who is responsible for monitoring his medications?

You want to know what I think? Members of Congress should leave town. Move north to where they can feel the crisp chill breeze of reality. Maybe a place in the middle of the country, along the Mississippi River. Let D.C. keep the Pentagon, the White House, the statuary, the vast marble and granite sheds of the federal bureaucracy, and move our nation's deliberative bodies to a place with a clearer view. There is plenty of land available along the Mississippi, rolling hills, woods, meadows. No need to spend money on a dome and pillars -- just pitch two big circus tents, one for the House, one for the Senate, bring in FEMA trailers for housing, and let's see if we can't get more work out of these people.

Momma-Daughter

These are a bit old, now... from around a month ago? We were in Elbow Lake. But they make me smile, in spite of the small-townness. Mostly because Paige is just so completely perfectly 3-years-old.