Is it just me …

January 26, 2009 | I'm kidding,Internet,Television,Weird things

… or does Yahoo!’s Year of the Ox ox resemble Noggin’s moose?

Oprah: I KNEW it!

2008 campaign,Barack Obama,D.C.,Ethics,Fundraising,Politics,Television

OK. She wasn’t technically on Obama’s short list, but she apparently was on Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s short list. And that’s the next best thing to being there.

Taking his defense to the airwaves rather than his impeachment trial, Gov. Rod Blagojevich lashed out at his accusers Monday and revealed he had considered naming Oprah Winfrey to the Senate.

Reading winter weather signs

January 25, 2009 | Iowa,Weather,Winter

Remember the pretty sun dog I posted in December? I know what it means now.

Turn back! Go home! Lock up the kids! Stay warm! Hibernate!

Because if you don’t? You’ll have to drive on this.

And this.

And the wind will blow so hard that it will drift over your driveway, essentially snowing you in, which isn’t a good thing when your tractor/snow blower isn’t working properly and you can’t drive a shovel without coughing up a lung (or at least lunch) because of that cold you’ve had for two weeks now.

Come and whisper in my ear, give us dirty laundry

January 22, 2009 | Ethics,Journalism,MSM,Politics

A person close to Kennedy denied her “personal reasons” were concerns about the health of her uncle, Sen. Ted Kennedy, who is suffering from a cancerous brain tumor discovered last summer. The person wasn’t authorized to disclose the conversation between Kennedy and the governor and spoke on condition of anonymity.

So, umm, a person close to Becky at Deep Muck Big Rake wonders why the heck this got published. Someone at AP afraid of a little Gawker?

Everything, everything, everything

January 19, 2009 | I'm kidding

I just got this book called How to Cook Everything.

That’s great because right now? I could eat everything.

Dear Yahoo!

January 16, 2009 | Internet,Yahoo!

The new stuff? Don’t like it. Please don’t make me go to Google.

Just not sure how to play good news

Airlines,Journalism,Media,MSM

Have you heard about the “miracle on the Hudson” yet? It’s the plane that went down in the Hudson River yesterday. Everyone on board survived.

It’s nice to have good news, right? Sure, but our media seem somewhat uncomfortable with the whole idea.

I heard about the crash on Facebook, and I didn’t see anything about it on television until later.

I watched Larry King interview two doctors who treated people from the flight. One was in the studio. The other stood outside, probably getting dangerously close to this hypothermia he kept talking about. His nose was red, and his words got more slurred each time they went back to him.

Anyway, at some point, someone told King that everyone survived.

“Hunh,” King said, followed by a weird little silence.

This morning, I watched part of the news conference with the mayor and the rescuers. Some of the questions couldn’t quite get the whole “good news” idea.

“How cold was the water and how long would it take for someone to DIE in it?”

“How does this mission compare with others you have been on?” (You know, others where people DIED?)

The news conference was so relaxed that it even made time for a Spanish-speaking rescuer to take a question from a Spanish-speaking reporter … in Spanish … which CNN, of course, immediately started chattering over, recapping the unbelievable story in which nobody DIED.

We had a snow fort for about two days

January 14, 2009 | Iowa,Weather,Winter

Then we got a blizzard.

Before.

After.

It’s like hurricane season, only colder

January 12, 2009 | Barack Obama,Iowa,Politics,Weather,Winter

Much colder.

We’re at the beginning of the second (or is it the third?) blizzard of the season. I’d post a picture, but, well … got a printer? Got paper in the printer? Pull out a piece of that paper and hold it in front of your face. That’s what it looks like out there right now.

The kids spent two hours at school this morning before it got canceled. Then I got stuck at the end of the driveway on my way to pick them up.

Whee.

Don’t worry. I’m not wishing us back to hurricanes. I’ll never forget having two babies in bouncy seats. Under the kitchen table. In the dark. For at least three storms that took out a couple of trees.

Guess we’re just wacky weather magnets no matter where we live.

We will be layering in the coming week. You know it will be cold when they actually use the word “bitter” in the forecast. That’s just a nice way to not use lots and lots of cuss words. And the folks up here are nothing if not nice.

I better hurry up and call President-elect Barack Obama’s Blackberry (while he still has it) and see if he can add “making winter more pleasant” to his agenda.

Books: 2008 in review

2008,2009,Books,New Year

1) What did you read in 2008?
2) Anything not on my list that you would recommend?

Here’s what I read in 2008.

• Life of Pi by Yann Martel [Wasn’t as good as the author thought he it was.]
• The Girls by Lori Lansens [Amazingly sweet story.]
• Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson [Incredible, inspiring, exhausting.]
• The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
• A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown
• Tales of a Female Nomad by Rita Golden Gelman
• Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
• The Street of a Thousand Blossoms by Gail Tsukiyama [Slow read but definitely worth the effort.]
• The Bookseller of Kabul by Ã…sne Seierstad [Disappointing.]
• Final Salute by Jim Sheeler [Everyone should read this book. Everyone.]
• Rumors of our Progress have been Greatly Exaggerated by Carolyn B. Maloney
• Everything You Never Wanted Your Kids to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid They’d Ask) by Justin Richardson and Mark Schuster [Humorous and informative.]
• The Giver by Lois Lowry [Creepy.]
• Entwined Lives by Nancy L. Segal [Packed with information the author has studied her entire life.]
• Indivisible by Twoby Nancy L. Segal [In-depth look at some of the subjects from her first book.]
• Identical Strangers by Elyse Schein and Paula Bernstein [Touching and honest look at their incredible story of separation, reunion and confrontation of the people who controlled their lives.]
• The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson [Lively and entertaining historical account.]
• Iowa Curiosities by Dan Coffey and Eric Jones with Berit Thorkelson [Funny, interesting, informative.]
• Touch and Go by Studs Terkel
• Patriotic Grace by Peggy Noonan
• Hold on to Your Kids by Gordon Neufeld, Ph.D., and Gabor Maté, M.D.

I started several others that I haven’t finished yet, and I may have missed a few.

Actually, I just finished reading that one, Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression by Mildred Armstrong Kalish. It’s a great book.

I’m reading this one now: Involuntary Joy by Joy M. Newcom.