Voting Booths?

Heard on the radio, as the local drive-time guy was trying to address the differences between what we might espouse out loud and what we might actually do when it comes time to vote:

When you find yourself in that ballot box...

I'm thinking that if I could get into the ballot box, I might try to change those votes that couldn't be changed ahead of time by affecting hearts and minds.

Of course, I'm not sure how this will work with electronic voting.

Humor at the HCC

1. Phone call

My youngest brother, B3, called Saturday. He and his 2 youngest kids were at the airport retrieving luggage. [Apparently, what flies to Vegas stays in Vegas.] Our conversation, in part, incuded this exchange:

B3: So, where's Izzy?
Me: He's in Cheraw for the Jazz Fest.
M3: Cheraw has a jazz festival?
Me: Yea. Turns out, that's where Dizzy Gillespie was born.
B3: Get out!
Me: That's what Dizzy did.

2. Izzy, who was watering down the head cold bugs trying to get established, was sitting on the couch opposite me. He'd been napping and may have been particularly susceptible to the absurd.

Me (starting to tell a story about something I saw on the Late, Late Show): The other night, I was up late and ...
Izzy: [laugh started, then the choking up, then a more subdued laugh, then more choking ... pattern continues for 2-3 minutes.] The other night? Thanks for a great laugh.

If you don't get that one, you've not been here between 2&3 AM lately. If you are here, you'll see me mostly doing homework. I've just finished tonight and thought I'd write this stuff down before I forgot it.

Someday, I'll want to recall I had a tiny bit of a life during this time.

Another candidate for "Don't that beat all"

Link to picture (@ NRO Online) came from the Drudge Report.

Supposed to be Obama, per the NRO story. Hard to tell, but the original does have those ears...

If it is, is this sacrilege or tacky (collectible?!?) kitsch?

Cute Baby Contest

The Littlebarns are pretty sure they've got the cutest baby on the planet, and Lil Miss herself certainly does make a convincing case, ...this young lady not withstanding...


One of my nieces, about 6 weeks old in this photo

However, I'm pretty sure I'm related to the cutest toddler around.


Out for ice cream tonight.


A little taste to see how cold it is.


Bday pic -- we're three.


Blowing out her three candles, one at a time.

Your cute fix is available @ the Flickr site.

10,003 Pictures

Last evening, I passed the 10,000 mark in photos up on Flickr. Most, you'll not be surprised to know, are likely of pediatric relatives of mine. (This is different from the rest of the interweb, which seems to consist of pictures of cats with cute captions.)

Photo 10,003 was one my favorites from the lovely evening at the Olympic love nest of Waldie & Baldman.



See the rest of the set here.

Fiscal True confessions

As the financial apocalypse gets ever closer, it's time to fess up to some ignorance (but I'm looking for others like myself.)

Am I the only person who didn't know until a month or so ago that Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Reserve were NOT parts of the US government?

Bible Study

One more other note before I retire for the evening:

We're excited about a small group of folks from this side of town (or close enough) who have begun joining us on Tuesday evenings to read and discuss the Scriptures. We are reading 1st Peter. Each week we read the entire epistle, listening for a particular theme. We discuss that theme, spending a lot of time on application, and discussing the really interesting questions that folks raise. I much prefer reading the scriptures themselves to reading someone else's opinions and discussing the opinions. However, we do use the commentaries, notes, etc., to see how others have addressed issues we are interested in exploring.

Afterwards, we spend time sharing and in prayer for one another.

Who knows how long this will last? I hope through the rest of the school year, at least. It's been a literal God-send for us. Izzy and I really felt the need to spend more focused time in the Scriptures and in prayer, especially prayer for others. I'm looking forward to seeing how God works in our lives through this small group.

Putting away therefore all wickedness, all deceit, hypocrisies, envies, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious: coming to him, a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God, precious. You also, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Not at the Fair

Warning: politics-free post.

It's an absolutely lovely evening, the sort of which might have been fun to spend wandering around the state fair. I've always liked the crowds and lights and energy -- Izzy not so much. Not sure if we'll go this year -- I doubt that there are many (any?) low-carb choices in the fried food on a stick category (other than the stick itself.)

So, since they didn't go to the Fair, what on earth DID the O'Cayces do this evening? Glad you asked. Izzy started a load of laundry, and the washing machine finished it well before the clothes were rinsed/clean/drained. This is an older machine that we got 5 years ago for $50 (plus dryer) courtesy of BiL who gets these things 2nd hand when the prison system is done with them. Izzy had already spent $25 buying a new motor for this one last year. He tinkered a bit, but couldn't see the obvious problem. We thought about it for a while, and decided that we'd gotten our $75 worth. Time for a new machine.

So, we drove northwest into deepest, darkest Harbison on a Friday evening just at the end of rush hour. To the mall. The mall. Izzy at the Mall (!) The fine people from Sears will be delivering a new front-loading, high efficiency washer sometime Sunday afternoon and hauling off the old one. We'll get the sopping wet, soapy clothes out before they arrive.

I'm anticipating that we'll start looking at dryers soon. Not that there's anything wrong with our current prison surplus free one, (well, anything more than the fact that it's a free, prison-surplus 20+ year old dryer), but because of the height issue. Like everybody else, we use the washer dryer as extra prep space. I think the several inches difference will seem awfully inconvenient.

At least, that's the argument I hear myself trying to make as I contemplate blowing the savings cushion on an appliance.

In other news, I'll be heading off to bed well before 2:30 AM tonight. Nice change after a long week of school on-call for work, etc. Tomorrow -- I'll do stats while Izzy gets convivial with the Slow Food Columbia people at an Waldie & Balman's home.

Later Saturday night, I'm seriously looking forward to spending time with Waldie & the Baldman in their Olympic Love Nest. We'll be a few blocks from the fair -- might be as close as we get this year.

One other note: can't close without saying that Izzy's pasta sauce is oh-so-good. Ditto the baba ghanoush he made for me yesterday, and the shake with carb smart "ice cream" and his homemade Kahlua. Good week for eats here at the House of Chez Casa.