Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Boo On You Milwaukee Traffic Cops

Here in Milwaukee you can only park on one side of the street at night and that side changes back and forth depending on the date. Odd numbered days I can park in front on my house and even numbered days I have to park across the street. When we first moved here in winter I assumed this was for the snow plows but apparently it is enforced all year so to rake in the dollars for the city when people like me forget to go out and move their cars before bedtime. Just this week we added up our parking tickets and decided to really crack down on remembering to park the car in the right spot every evening (this really only applies to me since Jason gets to park in the driveway out back and our tiny garage is full of junk.) Yesterday morning I had yet anohter ticket waiting for me because even though I was parked on the correct side of the street I had stuck my parking permit sticker on the wrong side of my windshield. I kid you not. How awesomely desperate is that? Somebody out there must have been having a really bad day. Or they're just a big jerk.

Friday, July 21, 2006

Look What I Found!

I finally got around to taming the wild patch of raspberries in the backyard and as I was ripping one section of them out of the ground I started to uncover a patch of purple flowers that were previously almost completely obscured. I have no idea what they are called but they sure are purdy. Just tell me they're not weeds.


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Even after tearing out all those raspberries there are a ton left so we will still have berrilicious goodness. The berries have just started to come out- though in this picture here the patch appears to be a massive pile of leafiness:

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Ok, one more shot and I'm done. I'm working hard on this garden!
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That gigantic leafy thing above is rhubarb. Anybody know how to bake with rhubarb?

Monday, July 17, 2006

24 Across: Dork, Sci-Fi Nut, Trekkie perhaps?

Another movie Jason and I have seen together recently is "Wordplay", the documentary about crossword puzzles and the people who work them. The film interviewed puzzlers famous and non-famous (including my favorite celebrity crush, Jon Stewart) and it culminated with the 2005 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. (This makes two documentaries on consecutive Saturdays for us as it seems we determined to make our babysitter think we are the nerdiest couple on the planet. ) This movie was so much better than I had expected and ever since then Jason and I have been attempting to work through crosswords on the computer. Doing this has proven that though we may be nerds on the surface, we're definitely not the sharpest nerds in the pack seeing that I have trouble finishing a Monday crossword from the USA Today. Anyway, my point is that I'm recommending this film if it comes your way. And say what you will about former president Bill Clinton, but the man does the New York Times crossword in blue felt tip pen. Badness.

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Friday, July 14, 2006

The Warmest Year on Record Since, Well, Last Year

First half of 2006 warmest on record in U.S. NASA calculates 2005 global temperatures as the warmest, followed by 1998, 2002, 2003 and 2004.

"It's difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."

-Upton Sinclair

Speaking of Mr. Right

"You know, I think that if the president took the time to really learn in-depth about an important scientific or historical subject, so much that he became an expert and then wanted to share that information with the public through some sort of documentary- I really think that despite my feelings for the man I would at least give him a shot and go see it."

"Well, you won't have to worry about that happening anytime soon."

Ok, I guess he has a point.

We have always been at war with Eurasia. Eastasia is our ally.

"The president is always right."

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Sunday, July 9, 2006

Peeking In

Something I've learned while not blogging:

Passions is still the awesomest, most awful soap opera ever. Witches and supernatural tomfoolery? Check. Rich evil patriarch with a sneaky bag of tricks including smoke bombs for quick getaways? Check. Young woman with amnesia who thinks her cousin's boyfriend is her fiance and the "doctor" encourages them to go along with the delusion lest it be too "traumatic" for said girl to learn the truth in her fragile mental state? Check, check, check-a-roo.

But it's not all about the soaps, thankfully. Last weekend we went to go see An Inconvenient Truth. I intend to write more about this shortly but for now I just want to urge anyone and everyone to go see this movie. First of all, get over the fact that it's Al Gore's movie. I had to do this myself. (Even uber-liberal me has some serious beefs with the man. But that's another subject.) Second, don't think it's another film along the lines of Fahrenheit 9/11 because it's not. You won't be scolded and bombarded with images and quotes taken out of context. Go for the science. It's extremely thought-provoking and maddening at the same time.

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