Oh, I almost forgot

So, the headline on CNN.com tonight is "Bush to Unveil Bird Flu Strategy." D'Oh! Don't they mean "Bush to Unveil Bird Flu Strategery"? Well, while I'm thrilled that the Bush Administration is finally taking some heat, I'm naturally distressed that the new Supreme Court nominee is not only likely to remove any number of women's and civil rights, but to have us all dressed like the Amish, with mandatory prayer every morning and I'm going to end up changing my name to Ofmike. Also, what's all this I'm reading about "President Bush caved to pressure from the radical fringe of the Republican Party and nominated Samuel Alito..." (MoveOn.org)? I mean, the last time I checked, Bush LED the radical fringe of the Republican Party, in a flight jacket.

Last week Mike and I had a fabulous week out of town, came back to Chicago and held a baby shower for our friends J&O. It was great fun, everyone wore cool costumes and there were some super-cute kids. One of whom approached me with crumbs all over his lion fur to ask me if I had "a very small vacuum cleaner?" I said, "Why do you need a small vacuum cleaner?" and he said, "Oh, there's tons of cracker crumbs in the other room." Ah, kids! I hope J&O have a kid that's even half as cute as that one. This weekend we saw Night of the Hunter, which ultimately didn't make any sense. Right now I'm watching Five Easy Pieces but it's VERY dull. Same for An American in Paris from last night.

week in review

Ugh, the washing machines in our apartment building are broken and I had to go to the mat. There's nothing I hate more in the world than going to the mat. Ugh. Now my whole body's soaked with the human misery that every laundromat in this damn country is seeped in. Well, I've had a busy week but parts of it have been fun. I saw a preview of Shopgirl which I really enjoyed, despite Steve Martin. I hope to get around to writing a review for my website. Classes were great. Had a few dinners with friends which were really nice, went out with a friend from school, which was fun. Been cleaning the apartment all week in preparation for upcoming party but somehow looks just as dirty as it ever did. Oh well, we're sloppy, perhaps guests will understand.

Grandma's featherbed

This weekend we went to M's grandma's house in Rockville, Indiana. I had a nice time riding in the car with Mike, listening to new music. I'm trying to decide if I like the new Fiona Apple album (I think I don't) I really dig this guy, Tim Fite, whose album Gone Ain't Gone is described as 'apparently largely an assembled patchwork of samples, or, as his label would have it, "a wry, anachronistic, copyright-defying, country/hip-hop collage" that was "made mostly from CDs rescued from dollar bins."' You can listen to No Good Here if this link works. Lately I've also been listening to some really great African Music - the album Dimanche a Bamako by Amadou & Mariam. Oh, I already blogged about that, I think. And this song Keleya from an album called World Psychedelic Classics 3: Love's a Real Thing, the Funky Fuzzy Sounds of West Africa. I wonder if the rest of the album is that good?

So, in Indiana we had a chance to "take in the colors" as they say 'round those parts, and to be viewed as apparently the total outsiders that we are. While inquiring into the quality of a local Terre Haute microbrew, we were asked immediately, "Where you from?" only to receive a sad shake of the head, and a "You won't like it" after replying, "Chicago." We overheard another hilarious exchange at a booth at the Covered Bridge Festival, whereby the kind proprietor inquired of his customers, "Is she a dainty girl or a big, heavy girl?" I was laughing too hard to hear the rest, but M said they looked at each other and seriously said, "Medium."

I had a great weekend - spend a lot of time with my good friend J, who, in the full bloom of pregnancy, is much fun to be around. We saw Wallace and Gromit, which was great, had Indian buffet on Devon Ave., and another night all went out for great Italian food in Evanston. M and I decorated our house for Halloween, Martha-style. It looks so good I scare myself every time I walk down the hallway. I got this really great cd by Amadou & Mariam, which I've been wearing out. Oh, I just Googled them. They're both blind. I took my first group of students for a short tour at the Art Institute and they applauded at the end. It was really embarrassing, but also made me feel like a million bucks. I'm really proud of my students, almost all of them are getting As on their first paper.

Update!

Ok! I just finished a Sudoku in like 5 minutes and now I feel like a total genius. So what if it was a "gentle" one? Now I'm ready to face the day. After one more cup of coffee and a shower...

Sudoku Madness

Geez I hate hot weather. What is going on? It's October and last night we had our air conditioner on. Well, my friends, I failed at two Sudokus yesterday and that really sucked. Now I'm like, Do I do another Sudoku? What if I get it wrong? Thing is, when I finish one, especially in one train ride, I feel like a genius, when I don't, I feel like an idiot for a week. Damn Sudokus for ever coming into my life in the first place!

Cronyism!

After GW nominated Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court position left vacant by Sandra Day O'Connor, I started wondering what it would be like if I were president, and if I nominated all my friends to run the country with me, and whether my friends or GW's friends would do a better job. I decided pretty much across the board that my friends would do better, even though they might do badly, which, as long as things didn't end in a total disaster every time they picked up the phone, would still put them ahead of these hillbilly cronies Bush has surrounded himself with. Meanwhile, everyone's all, Who IS this Miers person? Where does she stand on women's rights? Where does she stand on privacy? Death penalty? She's from goddamn Texas, people! Where do you THINK she stands on those issues?