Howdy There, Dontcha Know - you betcha!

Sarah Palin.

Sarah, Sarah, Sarah...

*much headshaking and closed-eye deep breathing*

Yeah. Ahem.

When my daughter was very small, I made her a bunch of crocheted play-pillows for her bedroom. A big yellow sun with a happy face, a pink and grey ruffly one with pink ribbons, A white lacy one with multi-colored shapes on it, a big orange VW-car one, and two that looked like clowns.

Now, when I grew up, clowns were funny and happy and positive and able to fit 20 or 30 of themselves into a small sedan. I thought clowns were terrific.

Little did I know as a young mother, that (probably thanks to John Gacy) clowns would become horror movie fodder - and that ICP would eventually replace Bozo and Cookie as the stereotype of clowns. Clowns are scary now.

(I'll never forget the day I pissed off 2 yr. old Amanda and she ran into her bedroom and grabbed the clown pillow and came out with it over her face, declaring angrily: "I WILL BE A CLOWN AT YOU" - even then she was way ahead of me and I was clueless.)

I also when young had to deal with the hubris and taunting of the "Cheerleader" crowd. Those "popular" kids who made a point of making everyone else feel dumb or outside. Never mind that I had more brains in my pinky toenail than any of them had in their entire extended families - they had CONFIDENCE!! They had PERKINESS!! They were CHEERLEADERS!!!

Cheerleaders are scarier than clowns.

So what could possibly be scarier than a clown cheerleader running for the 2nd highest office in the land? A perky, twinkly, winking, posturing airhead who has 1/2 dozen little catchphrases in her head and plays tiddlywinks with them instead of actually answering the questions posed to her? Winking at the men through the camera and betting that they'll vote with their "little head"? Someone who doesn't even know the meaning of the phrase "Achilles heel" - but cha know, darn it, that was a trick question, you betcha!

So what could possibly be scarier than a clown cheerleader running for the 2nd highest office in the land? Having her win.

108 days

12-Grain Bread. And Sox.

In my continuing battle to do something POSITIVE with my eating habits, I've gone looking for high-fiber, low-fat, low cholesterol, low sodium and did I mention high fiber - foods.

I read the label on this "12-grain bread" and it looked like it was something that might be both tasty and healthier than Wonder© Bread, so I bought it.

I didn't bother to think at the time "WTF is this 12-grain bit?" But today while eating my 12-grain bread and sliced turkey sandwich for lunch, I decided to count the number of grains that I could see/identify/remember from biology class.

I could remember very few. Barley, wheat, rice, corn, oats (all the chex cereals, with the addition of barley), rye, .... and then I petered out. That's only 6. So I looked at the bread.

I shouldn't have.

Apparently SEEDS count now. There were little brown seeds that looked something like small bugs on it. I think they MIGHT have been Flax seeds. There were other seeds too - in fact, I'm fair certain I recognized some of those other seeds from bags of birdseed and hamster food I've bought over the years.

Great.

I'm eating gerbil-food sandwiches.

Meh.

Congratulations to the White Sox. Great game last nite.

110 days

Security

Yesterday the "financial bailout" bill failed. While I'm not unhappy about this, it has gotten me to thinking about financial/economic security - mine, and that of others. Not to even MENTION how much I'm glad that Social Security did NOT get privatized like Shrub Boy wanted.

On my lunchtime drive, I heard someone on CBS radio making a very astute comment. I paraphrase:

GWB is telling the country that this is serious - deadly serious. However, this comes from an administration that has had us at Terror Threat: Orange for over two years! No wonder people aren't taking it so seriously.

The fear tactics of the Bush Junta have finally come to bite them in the ass. WOLF... AL QUEDA!!!... WOLF!!! AL QUEDA!!!!... WOLF!!!!... and now when there really appears to be a (self-inflicted due to deregulation) crisis, nobody is listening to the Frat boy who cried Al Queda.

I am, naturally, concerned about my IRA - although it is with one of the banks that so far has weathered the storm. My savings is at my local credit union, and they're doing fine. My mortgage company is hanging on, although they're rocky - but that should be OK too. As long as my job stays safe, I should be OK through this.

I'm pulling back on spending starting immediately, however. My "consumer confidence" is tanking. My $600 "economic stimulus" is in savings, and will REMAIN there. I remember my mother washing and reusing plastic bags and aluminum foil. My sister-in-law used to laugh at my mom about her recycling wrapping paper. I grew up with Depression-era parents. I know how to economise, although doubtless not as well as they did.

Hang on, folks. It's gonna be a bumpy ride - but we WILL get through it.

111 days.