I just read this brief story, and wrote the following to the reporter in response. Not really sure why I was so motivated; it's just one of life's little mysteries. In any event: Drive Safely!!

"Ms. Jennifer Sullivan,
Thank you for your report about the Lynnwood man arrested for his 15th drunk driving infraction. I believe it's critical to continue reporting on such phenomena in order to battle the complacency that comes with otherwise generally sucessful programs instituted by our local governments and groups like MADD.

Upon reading your report, I wondered: 1) how does this man NOT have a breath-ignition contraption in his car, and 2)what are the relevant state and local statutes that apply to this repeat offender?

I understood from your report that his previous 5 convictions make him eligible for felony charges, but I'm simultaneously aghast that it takes FIVE convictions. How is it that such a law is so apparently lenient? Afterall, driving while drunk is nothing less than operating a large lethal weapon with impaired judgement.

Is there really nothing else to keep this particular hazard off the same streets I use?
Thank you for your work.

Sincerely,
Elizabeth Walsh
Seattle"

Christmas 2007

Started the morning off opening prezzies; a shout out to Santa, who was very very thoughtful this year. And isn't Paul cute sleeping under the tree?



















An atypical white Christmas in the great Northwest


















We invited some friends over for a potluck Christmas which, while being a tad more complicated than we anticipated (weather, cooking times), ended up really nice. Dicie, Julia, Aaron, and Jeannie were a pleasure to spend the evening with sharing food, drinks, the massage chair, and other lovely goodies.













Paul made an amazing turkey, which was quite the trussed up little birdie. He roasted it - after a day of soaking in a brine - breast-side down, so all the juices soaked down into the breast meat. SO. GOOD.













It kind of looks like the turkey pooped out the onion.



We destroyed the kitchen a little, but I've seen far worse chaos.
Nonetheless, a tribute to the gods of kitchen destruction (Jeannie, is there such a god/dess?); a carcass and some desicated stuffing:














~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I hope everyone's Xmas was a good one. I went to bed feeling really blessed to have the family and friends that I do, thankful for all of the obvious and invisible luck that has visited my life, and really pleased at the time I've been able to spend with so many great people this holiday season. The fact that I miss so many people just goes to show how fortunate I feel to even know them...


And that's not just the tummy full of carbs talking.

Really insightful observations on political process, media, and the candidacy of Joe Biden in the NYTimes. Quick, and worthwhile. Also, gives the most complete list I've seen of who the two parties' candidates are.

Happy Haiku Day!

Sure, most people think of December 22 as the shortest day of the year, but I see it as a greand opportunity - it's National Haiku Poetry Day!!

Aside from composing and posting haiku today on my other somewhat-literary-mostly-prose-style blog today, we hunted down a Christmas tree. It took going to 5 different places, but we finally found Bruce. He goes by Sheila on the weekends, and is now bedecked in purple, red, and silver ornaments.

We also had an unexpected but beneficial client meeting today and look forward to sleeping in as late as possible tomorrow. Have a great day!

Possibly my favorite t-shirt ever

I am persuaded by the dark side's elegantly made point.

















And that's right, it glows in the dark.

Iowa Democratic Debate

{Pour yourself a nice beverage and get comfortable. This is going to take a while.}

I just listened to most of the Democratic party Presidential debate in Iowa. As in previous election cycles, I am amazed at the media's continued insistence on labeling certain candidates as 'front runners'

It's as if there's a built-in myopia, possibly bred from having a two party system; we don't seem to be able to count higher than 3. (I am forced to wonder if Italians and citizens of other multi-party systems have the same counting problem.) Mass media's focus on only 2-3 candidates is not only unnecessary because of the unbelievably well qualified field of Democratic candidates, but such blindness is also a massive disservice to our nation regardless of party affiliation.

The media's role in a democracy is to help create a well-informed electorate, and one could arguably assert that the deliberate exclusion of certain candidates/candidate views is truly contrary to the media's own reason for existing in a democratic state. Of course mass media also provides entertainment and other, apolitical information, but when media outlets engage in earnest political coverage, a higher standard must be met.

In fact, I would assert that this imperative is stronger now than at any other time in our nation's colorful political history for at least two reasons.
1 - There have never before in our nation's history been so many opportunities to communicate to the electorate. I recognize and am truly thrilled that I live in a time that I don't have to rely on word-of-mouth to decide who to vote for. The concurrent vitality of electronic, broadcast, and print media has created more opportunities to get candidate information out there. It is, then, unconscionable to me that media outlets themselves limit who we hear from, or for how long.
2 - If our nation is going to continue to have such a forward-leaning stance on 'supporting democratization' in other countries, then we should demand that the machinery of democracy is put through it's paces. Our system can not be a beautiful grand piano sitting in the corner for all to admire, we have to actually play the damn thing for people to hear, to become inspired.

My rundown on the debate, as much for anyone else's consumption as to help remind me what I think of these people when voting day comes:
* Dodd impressed me with cogent statements, optimism, and awareness of the issues upon which he was asked to speak. I would like to learn more about how he differs from the other candidates - y'know, aside from being an underdog - on any key policy or leadership issues.
* What the hell was up with the guy from New Mexico? He sounds like I would if I were campaigning - too honest, too humble, too easily able to focus on the wrong thing. I'm a really smart and great person, but I'm no President. And neither is he.
* Clinton just sounded too shrill, too angry all the time, like she was going to bite anyone who got up in her grill. And this hogwash about "all her experience"?? She was a freaking politician's wife for 8 years, and since then has served as a Senator for less than a decade, whoopdeefreakindoo. When I think about the vast experience many of the other candidates bring as Leaders in their own careers, not adjuncts, she looks like an age-aspirational middle schooler, trying to dress like the high schoolers do. And, I'm not sure I'm ever going to get over her vote to essentially abrogate Congress' power to declare war over to the Executive Branch. When I listened to the Senate hearings on Iraq at the time, I knew it was wrong then, and her vitriol at the current President doesn't make up for bad past judgement.
* Biden just hit it outta the park, which I really was not expecting; again, who would've known, given that the media just doesn't report on this guy? Anyway, I know he's an odd cod with a history of "speaking bluntly", as he puts it, but it became overwhelmingly clear with every statement he made that he had been wrestling with and working on each of these issues for decades. He never seemed unprepared, he seemed to be able to speak so calmly, without sounding like he was campaigning. Just sounded really smart, really competent, and totally unflappable.
* Obama was all over the map. Some really strong confident answers, some where I couldn't figure out where he was going or why... He seems to lack depth on some issues, which some might say is synonymous with lacking 'experience'. Perhaps that's true. I will say, however, that it is clear that he gives great consideration to key issues, and I would assume that he would select advisors who would be permitted to develop equally thoughtful policy suggestions.
* Edwards. Umm. Passionate vanilla. Is that possible? And if it's possible, is it bad? Kind of like Gore with more zest. I think our country could do far, far worse. Of course, he voted the same as Clinton on the whole let's-give-the-Executive-Branch-the-power-to-make-war thingy, but there's something about his lack of nastiness about it that makes him seem less like a whiner and more like someone who's going to just move on and do what he can now. It's still a strike against him.
* Oh yeah, that was his name, Bill Richardson. The guy from New Mexico. Despite all his experience, he sounded like a child among gladiators.

If there was anyone else, they didn't make a good enough impression.

And I notice Representative Kucinich was not in the debate. It's too bad, because I remember during the last Presidential election, he made some key points very elegantly. Is he going to be relegated to the "Where is he now?" category? Admirably, Esquire magazine recently dedicated quite a lot of space to covering him in, what I thought, was a very even-handed way. Don't know enough about him to know if I would vote for him, though. I say drop Richardson and include Kucinich.

Scheduled Presidential Debates for both parties

And here's how you know when you'll be voting in your state for some of these people.

If you read this whole thing, you deserve at least a cookie and a bathroom break.

There but for the grace of god go I

I suspect this guy's inner monologue right now is something like this:
"It seemed like a good idea at the time."
"I didn't quite think it through."
"I just sort of snapped."

But I have to admit that I can really sympathize with the impulse.

I Gotta Dance!!!

While showering this morning for some reason, I recalled that a few nights ago I was curled up behind Paul in bed. He moved, forcing me to move and thus wake up a bit out of a dream (apparently).

I remember declaring the following naturally, like it was exactly the thing to say at that moment: "I've got my dancing shoes on!"

I don't know what's going on in my noodle that such an otherwise forgotten event would spring forth days later in the shower, but I laughed my ass off.

"fra-gee-lay"

I think the cake we made for a party this last weekend might be my favorite yet:


That's right, we made a cake of the leg lamp from A Christmas Story, complete with small lights underneath the shade so that it actually looked like it was on.











Another view:


















The whole cake (which fed 225) and at least 12 dozen cookies during a week where our basement got progressively more torn up because of water problems.... We're feeling pretty darn good about the business these days!
Now if we could only get someone to come in and do our dishes.

It's been a wet one

This last week's storm, which began with some pleasant snow fall on Saturday, turned quite unpleasant for almost everyone in the region. The excess water in our basement and garage simply pale in comparison.

Seattle Times










What you're seeing above is a freeway overpass for Interstate 5, the primary artery for traffic and commerce linking California, Oregon, Washington, and western Canada; for those of you on the East coast, this is roughly the equivalent of I-95. I-5 is completely submerged. The large, flat, grey and white building in the upper right of the image is a Walmart.

Seattle Times










This shows the flooded town of Centralia and another view of the I-5 corridor under water. It's clear there's just nowhere for all that water to go.

I can't stand the rain.

Our basement is flooding.
I went downstairs to get some cookie dough, and my big toe went splush in the carpet.

"no no no no no no no", said I.

Today's lesson: as I was schlepping stuff out to the trash/yard waste containers (through our partially flooded garage, mind you), I realized that just because "Nothing worth having is easy," that doesn't mean that everything difficult is worth having.

Out.