Things to read when it’s raining (a lot)
First up, it’s two of my favorite things in one post: Kurt Vonnegut Jr. and Walter Biffle:
Everyone knows the real opening sentence to Slaughterhouse-Five is the beginning of chapter two:
Listen:Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time.Now, Billy had a tough row to hoe, what with being unstuck in time, and in worn torn Germany and stuck up there with the Trafalmagorians or whatever their names were, but Billy, after all, was a fictional character. I’m real and i feel pretty unstuck in time myself occasionally.Sometimes this is has to do with my own Luddite tendencies. Sometimes it’s about the fact that both of my folks spent some of their formative years sans electricity and indoor plumbing and rode into town on wagons and stuff while i, on the other hand, rode miles and miles everyday in a fancy car to a private school and had 23 televisions and milk that came in a jug–what a gap to span in one generation! Sometimes it’s about the music i play and grew up with. That is the case today…
Actually there’s a third wonderful thing about this post: Southern church musical nostalgia. And for those of you who don’t know this, Biffle happens to be (among other things) an excellent musician.
Old Controller thinks the Obamas should call Crawford, Texas, and ask for a clue or two:
Holy cow. Even I know that if you’re representing a larger group (your company, your unit, your vocation, your friggin’ country) to a foreign dignitary, it’s in your best interests to understand what sort of behavior is okay, what is not okay, what is abso-frakkin’-lutely not to be done under any circumstances short of an armed attack (you do not touch the Queen — you just don’t). Shouldn’t it have occurred to somebody on the president’s staff, even if PrezBO seems incapable of this particular thought process, to find out what constitutes appropriate gifts?We are so screwed.
One more thing — can you imagine the uproar if Bush had done anything similar? Sheez.
While we’re on the subject of Old Controller, she also had this to say about Obama and cigarette taxes:
But this tax hike will naturally affect middle and lower income households more so than the “rich” folks. So PrezBO’s campaign claim to only increase taxes on people making more than $250,000, or $225,000, or $200,000 (depending on when he said it) was a lie.
What is Geoff up to now?
Rita has a list of things you should never say to a pregnant woman.
Another nice watercolor sketch. And a new painting.
The Old Testament, as told via Facebook?
Lots of angry comments about Sanford and the stimulus, mostly by people who support Sanford and want the complainers to move away.
And finally, big congrats to Eugene, who just received an offer that could lead to his PhD.
Dan Conover appreciates having a house with a roof on it on days like these.