Scenes from my trip to California

Can you tell what I'm doing?

Via Insty:

Via Insty:

I’D FEEL SORRIER FOR THE C.I.A. FOLKS, if they hadn’t run a multiyear leak-war against the Bush Administration. Did they really think electing Obama would improve their situation? Once again, they don’t seem to have gamed things out to the end.

Check out the 20 most profitable companies right now.

Check out the 20 most profitable companies right now.

Sorry about that, sports fans. Visit Mr. Crack Spider here:

Sorry about that, sports fans. Visit Mr. Crack Spider here:

'Nice web, Mr. Crack Spider'

From National Geographic: The Canadian Wildlife Service's "Who's Who in the Hinterlands."

From garbage to green

This is what I'm talking about:

RecyGrow would use green technologies to grow plant life from processed recycled materials. In Janesville, it would grow sod and other groundcover plants indoors on racks under grow lights.

The company's four partners have met with Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan, D-Janesville, and state officials in an effort to convince the state to buy the company's products for road, restoration and reclamation projects. Sheridan said the state would work with the company to see if it can use the products.

Local jobs, green technology, money stays in state, product sold in-state.

Things can only get better

Tough week, so my sister sends me this bit of pure 80s pop sunshine.

Lance points out a new career opportunity

Be a pirate, thanks to Obama!

Practice with me now: Arrrrrggggghhhh!

Upside? No more detestable dentistry! And try not to dress nicely or, like, bathe and stuff.

There's something to be said for experience

Except for being in a car accident and finding out how much of your time and energy can be eaten up waiting for someone's insurance company to get it together and start paying for stuff.

Wake me up!

I had a terrible dream last night.

I dreamt we finally had a president that people - and by people, I mean the media and most of the far left - really loved for a change. They really understood him, and when he said or did things that seemed counterproductive or overreaching, they understood him, and worked hard to explain things to others.

Then one day he was deemed a disappointment by one of his most fervid faithful - some guy named Garvey.

He passed legislation that would indeed make his predecessor look positively conservative.

He prepared to send troops into a sovereign nation.

And he personally fired the CEO of one of the biggest and most important (politically speaking) companies in the country.

Somebody please wake me up!

way-back machine

I'd have popped on with the report yesterday, but I was in an accident. A very nice elderly gentleman hit me while I was in the turn lane. Fortunately, I was in an old F250, but his Winstar is in so many pieces.

So I was a little sore and tired, and went to bed with a heating pad instead of telling you about how warm it was here - 84 degrees is a bit warm when you're trailing a four-year-old on her first bike and trying to avoid getting run over by the training wheels.

I did enjoy falling to sleep with a happy smile knowing that Obama has a) passed legislation that will make Bush's spending look conservative in comparison; b) has set the stage to invade a sovereign nation; and c) perfected the art of nationalizing a major US business (GM) without having to get his hands too dirty.

Kos must be so proud.

What was it Kennedy said about asking not what your country can do for you..?

Weather report

I understand the weather back home isn't so great, unless you like cold, blustery days in April that threaten to snow.

I feel for you while I'm out here in California, sitting on a swing on the back porch in the sun with my flip-flops off.

So full of crap the bottle's brown.

No, not Leinie's. So most guys should probably turn away now.

I made the mistake of clicking on a link to an article titled "Ban the Breast Pump."

Excuse me, but what the f*@& is wrong with people? Why do people have to make it any more involved than it already is? And why the constant need to find ways to condone not breastfeeding?

The woman, who should know better except that she makes her living doing this, gives a shot at cramming this down our throats:

Is it at long last possible – on this side of the Atlantic – to suggest that we’ve maybe taken “breast is best” a bit too far? That a mother’s need for some semblance of physical dignity is perhaps a right worth respecting? That supplementing with formula – if it makes for greater happiness (and emotional availability) in the baby’s most important caretaker – isn’t necessarily an act of gross irresponsibility?

"B is b" being an ideal, not a mandate, can be taken too far? Pumping milk keeps the supply primed if you have to work, and relieves buildup in the mother's body. Ah, you see? I'm already sucked into the debate.

Let her do it. Or not. It's not cause to react in any way - shame, disgust, judgement, approbation, reconstructing the idea of "physical dignity" - or to make the saddest comment I've heard in a long time: “Who could blame [your husband] for never wanting to sleep with you again?”

What an effed-up bunch of people. Makes you wonder why they have kids in the first place, but I suspect it has everything to do with self-fulfillment.

'time to grow up'

And there's no time like the present.

Instead, Levi Johnston prefers to titillate America in a tell-all on Tyra Banks' show. My favorite slice from this article:

Johnston said the Alaska governor probably knew he and Bristol were having sex. "Moms are pretty smart," he said.

Which means exactly what? If this is supposed to signify parental consent, a lot of parents of sexually active teens would like to disabuse you of that idea, young Levi.

Tyra's promoters put it like this:

Find out if Sarah Palin knew Levi and Bristol were sexually active and what he has to say about practicing safe sex.

I agree - check out the clip. Then tell me if you "found out if Sarah Palin knew" they were having sex. And Levi's word on "safe sex."

But wait - a Chicago Tribune article words that bit about Palin knowing differently:

In an interview that airs Monday on "The Tyra Banks Show," Levi Johnston admits he and Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol were allowed to share a room at Mom's Alaskan home even though Palin probably knew they were having sex, Usmagazine.com reported Friday.

"I'm pretty sure she probably knew," says Johnston, "Moms are pretty smart."

Did I miss something? Was he reportedly allowed in the house after the birth of their not-immaculately-conceived baby, but then he was relegated to the couch?

That's not what I thought. 'Cause it's pretty clear the chastity ship already sailed. With a new baby waking up every few hours, how is that couch thing gonna work? It's silly. Moreover, until now nobody was asking.

I'm not surprised that so many reports misrepresented this quote.

Catch Levi's most telling quote in my BBA post.

History's mysteries

In our own back yard:

When four Los Angeles private detectives contacted the Rock County Archives & Research Center, archives manager Ruth Anderson knew there had to be a sizable estate involved.

"We had to locate a daughter of a daughter of a daughter of an ancestor who came to Beloit early on," Anderson said.

The real fun usually begins with a bit of work, but what a payoff.

Think it will never apply to you?

Those erecting a memorial marker of a noted mathematician in Ireland recently contacted the center trying to trace descendants.

RTWT. And next March 17, throw a parade, will ya?

Spacey

Now at the Beloit Fine Arts Incubator, Dan Wuthrich's Big Bang:

Bye bye, and buy bonds!

Stevie, in his ode to Theda (nice rack!*), extolls her virtues in his purloined hagiography as one of "the most effective war bond salespeople in the United States" during the Great War.

What do you think would have happened if the GWOT the Group Hug on Terror were financed by matching war bonds?

*The thing on her head. What did you think I meant?

California dreamin'

Things I miss about California:

The paved roads and freeways that get you where you want to go.

The coffee you don't have to wait ten minutes to get.

The variety of goods and foods and breads.