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qotd, stolen from boing boing

"Republican party representatives are proud today that their convention has finally produced the “same level of energy and enthusiasm” as the DNC’s last week. And while it may have produced the same level of excitement, the excitement was of a very different character. It’s much easier to get people riled up but inviting them to hate a man - particularly one who they haven’t been allowed to hate for traditional reasons. Giuliani’s job - much like his job as mayor of NYC - was to give the Republicans in attendance permission to hate Obama and the potentially intelligent society he represents. It’s not about city vs. country or educated vs. military. It’s about thought vs. violence."

-- Douglas Rushkoff, "Hate Party." Read the whole essay here.


catching up

So in last week's CSA basket, there were two somethings that looked suspiciously like yellow tomatoes.

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Closer inspection -- and warning from the Pie Goddess who discovered their true nature when she hacked one up for a salad -- revealed that they are cheese peppers.

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To my palate, they tasted like your standard green pepper -- but were too small (between a golf ball and a baseball) to stuff, which is the best use for a bell pepper that I know of.

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So I made chili, using said peppers, onions and a carrot from the same CSA box. I also whipped up some polenta, which I chilled, cut into nuggets and pan-fried. Yum.

Also for the domestic goddess file, I've started a new knitting project. When I was in Toronto, I met up with one Amy Singer, who had some test skeins of a colorway she is designing.* While we chatted, I knitted a swatch out of one** of them so that we could all see what it looked like as a fabric, rather than as a skein. Amy gave me two of the test skeins for my home knitting pleasure. And a pleasure it has been.

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So what do you make when you have two skeins that only sorta match each other in a colorway designed by the knitter behind Knitty?

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A lightweight Clapotis, of course.

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* I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to reveal.  I'll add more details when there is a big reveal.

** Three other knitters knit swatches that night, too. I don't want to make it sound like I was hogging all of the yarn love. Not that I wouldn't have.


still trying to wrap my head around it

Bear (bare? (that can't be right, can it?)) with me. M's first day back at school is today -- W00T! -- which means that soon I'll have my brain back. Or as back as it will ever come.

Still, a question, one that Scott and I were debating last night --

Is Sarah Palin's VP thingy a result of poor vetting and judgement on the part of McCain's campaign (Scott's take) or do the Repubs have some devious plot in mind (like one of them wheels-within-wheels bits of higher-level strategy) that would make her canidacy the perfect choice (my take)?

To put another way - the Hub thinks they have done something stupid. I think that it appears stupid on its surface but that there might be a larger game being played here that would make this seemingly stupid move into a stroke of brilliance.

Thoughts?


many things make a post

Like many of my unionized teaching brethren (and sistern), I celebrated Labor Day by teaching three classes and wondering why there wasn't any mail. But said union did have their annual protest lunch, so all is as expected.

Had a stunning realization this morning that I have far too much to do in the time I've allotted for it -- and the time I've alloted keeps getting impinged upon by various kid-related stuff. School starts tomorrow, tho, so the end is nigh. By this time next week, I'll either be back on track or curled up in a ball under my desk.

So, a list:

* Have a lot of brush? Rent-a-ruminant!

* The benefits of writing a novelization of a tv show (in this case, my favorite summer programming: Burn Notice).

* Thanks to Doula K who sent the link along: Portrayal of Obama as a snob hailed as a step forward for blacks. I nearly wet myself.

* Guttersnipe yarn not only spins lovely yarns (including some inspired by Sweeney Todd), the steampunk yarn comes with trinkets that you can knit into whatever you make.

* The "Clone Doctor" has a blog. I want to know who is writing it because dang if it doesn't "sound" like the Doctor, so much so that it is breaking my heart a little bit. I honestly can't tell if it's fan love or something cooked up by the show-runners. Thoughts?

* Organic Pancakes from a Can. Ah, capitalism.

* Good advice on learning how to knit. Could also be applied to learning how to do anything, frankly. 

* What should be the last word on Sarah Palin's daughter -- but probably won't be.



I'm a good bleeder

When I donated blood on Friday, I was told that I'm now a One-Gallon Girl. Go me.

If you ever want to amuse yourself (and have a robust sense of the macabre), imagine what one gallon of blood looks like. I picture a milk carton. The theatrical types might see something like this.

I celebrated the occasion with some Lorna Doones and a juice box because that's how I roll.