team edward?

Normally, Andrew's tastes lean more towards a particular Edward, but apparently his travels have brought him in contact with this little gem...

In his words, "well, I already know a lot of the storyline, so it is good practice for language." In my words, "I am totally selling you out to Taylor."

Take that, State Department. Didn't think you'd be paying to get grad students well-versed in teen lit, now did you? You should have let wives come. 'Cuz I guarantee I wouldn't be reading any Twilight. Ana le uhib hatha kitaab hawla vampires. See?

long awaited day

Red tomato!

honey dear

I have been thinking a lot about family. Well, my dad, of course. And my mom's dad, Norm, who passed away 12 years ago yesterday. And my grandma's father as we try to solve a little family mystery. I was going through family things today trying to find answers when I found the letter above, from my great-grandfather Neal to his wife. At least I get to call.

In other cool things, check out my g-pa with Jim Lovell. He's the one on the far right with the now-back-in-style skinny tie.

NASA Photo ID: S65-57481 File Name: 10074125.jpg Film Type: 35mm Date Taken: 11/01/65 . Title: Astronaut James Lovell undergoes weight and balance tests. Description: Astronaut James A. Lovell Jr., pilot of the Gemini 7 space flight, undergoes weight and balance tests in the Pyrotechnic installation Building, Merritt Island. Talking with Lovell are (left to right) Charlie Beaty, McDonnell Aircraft Corporation; Karl Stoien, McDonnell Aircraft; NASA suit technician Al Rochford; and Norm Batterson, Weber Aircraft Corporation.

mo-rockin'

I was able to speak on the phone with Andrew today. The line was not awesome, and also perhaps this was going on in the background...

I'm glad that both the Soviet Union and the Chicago Bulls got representation there at the end, since the beginning was so, you know, female-centric.

did you know...

...the Supreme Court legally classified the tomato as a vegetable? They acknowledged that botanically it might be a fruit, but in common parlance it is certainly a vegetable. Nix v. Hedden, 1893. Ba-bam. I know being certificated to teach government was going to come in handy one day, and not just trying to teach a bunch of seniors the concept of NIMBY. They always thought NIMBY was a friend of Gumby.

(Just for the record I stole this Gumby picture from a blog that was debating

"Who is sexier, Gumby or Mr. Bill?")

biting the hand that feeds me... or used to feed me

In the interest of full journalistic disclosure, for the past three years, Andrew has received a small scholarship from BP through the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara. (Why, you ask? First, he's an awesome student, and second, massive oil company interested in kids who speak Arabic? Not really a shocker if you ask me.) This year, a new donor stepped in, so maybe that reduces my conflict of interest.

Anyway, you may have heard that BP execs met with President Obama today and settled on a deal where the company will set aside a $20 billion claims fund to satisfy legitimate claims or damages from clean up entities or individuals. Sounds like a lot of money until you average the total net income for BP's last four years... basically, BP makes $20 billion a year. That's income, not revenue.

I haven't figured out how I feel about this just yet. I do believe in companies taking responsibility for damages. I'm not too sure how I feel about a government commission administering it... sounds like more bureaucracy but heaven knows the MMS can't really be trusted to do it. Also, am I ok with a company just having to do cleanup costs, basically losing a year of income, or should they have to cover additional costs, like the loss of livelihood for a region and longer term issues? I have the sneaking suspicion that fancy lawyers will get most of that and not the actual people who need it.

All my laissez-faire pipe dreams are exploding. Pun intended.

In other, less contentious news, I have TWO baby squash in my garden.

let's say thanks

I like to visit this site from time to time to say thank you. It's a quick way to keep those serving our country in your heart.

congratulations

When I first met Ang, she was 11. When did she grow up... and get freaking gorgeous?!?!

elections

In case you have not studied your official voter information guide as closely as I have, I would like to share with you the highlight. Specifically, Republican gubernatorial candidate Douglas R. Hughes on page 43:

"As your governor, I will ensure all pedophiles will leave the State or volunteer to live confined to Santa Rosa Island, at no cost to Californians, as they will have their own self-supporting village, away from children."

Though I am not a pedophile-phile, I think this plan is less than ideal. Thoughts that come to mind:
1. How can I find more ways to use gubernatorial?
2. How does one get others to volunteer to join a self-sustaining village?
3. Does the tri-fenced border that features later on in his candidate statement come into play?
4. How does he guarantee the pedophiles will not procreate, thus creating children in the self-supporting village?

According to the Office of the Attorney General, law enforcement tracks approximately 85,000 registered sex offenders. Santa Rosa Island has approximately 84 square miles. To simplify the math, let's say 84 miles divided by 84,000 offenders... .001 mile. Which, google tells me, is 5.28 feet per offender.

I don't think even the famous island fox can run a productive self-sustaining village with just 5.28 feet per individual.

parental visit

My dad recently got this present at work. For those of you not engineers, it is an AC-10 autoclave and it is now the largest and hottest on the west coast.

His arrived with a crane, a large hole cut in a wall, many trucks, large rollerskates, and a lot of stress.

Mine arrived with double stuff oreos, lemonade, and designed to relieve stress.

Come visit anytime. :)

did you know...

... the Amish don't pay into Social Security? How do I get on that plan?