The lion roars?
Monday, 28 February 2011
Weird weather all day, and the worst is pending momentarily.
Musings
Under partly sunny skies
Sunday, 27 February 2011
I thought someone had declared today go-to-the-park day ’cause we saw so many people there. People and dogs. Cops on motorcycles. People on in-line skates and bicycles. People napping on blankets, playing with kids, dogs, other people. Mostly, folks were strolling. Like the Guru and I.
Sunshine…at the park
Saturday, 26 February 2011
Piedmont Park is donning its spring regalia. I present…an almost-open deciduous magnolia…branch…cluster…bloom-bunch.
Still gorgeous
Friday, 25 February 2011
The storm that came through last night brought a hard rain and wind that left our newly opened daffies a bit droopy.
And L has lots to celebrate tonight—the CA bar exam (three days!) is behind her…although she won’t know her score until, I dunno, June?
Leftovers reign by late-week
Thursday, 24 February 2011
Yesterday’s fine chili makes finer leftovers, with the flavors more complex and slightly mellower. I put in three kinds of mushrooms and three kinds of beans, plus a nice teaspoon of smoked paprika. Mmmm.
Concrete reality, maybe
Wednesday, 23 February 2011
I don’t know if it’s the angle of the bright sunshine or the statue’s shape—or both—but I find this hare (not rabbit, it appears—look a the ears,* size, and body shape!) rather menacing.
Rabbits, hares, well, the hoppy critters abound in folk tales—ancient and modern.
Of course, the most legendary modern rabbit** I can think of is, hmm, Google tells me the “real” name: The Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog.
I must admit that it really wasn’t the rabbit that I found most compelling about the Killer Rabbit scene, but the bit about the Holy Hand Grenade.
From the Monty Python and the Holy Grail screenplay, quoted in WikiPee:
And the LORD spake, saying, “First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin, then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it.”
Glad I spotted this beast in full sunshine…in the dark—whew!
* I’m a poet? (That’s FUUNN-EEEE!)
** Of course, there’s also Bugs Bunny, but he’s a cartoon, and not “real.”
Citrus extravaganza
Tuesday, 22 February 2011
On Friday when we were at the Real Market (one with lots of inexpensive fresh fresh fresh veg and fruit), the key limes were small but fine-looking. So I thought, hmm, key lime pie.
And today was the day!
Thankfully, the Guru helped me with the zesting (me) and juicing (him).
Backlighting fleurs; spotlighting power
Monday, 21 February 2011
Bloom from the ABG, but outdoors and not the camillia show…
Wisconsin’s current legislative tension is pretty simple to diagram: Governor Walker is making a major power play. Here’s Nobelist Paul Krugman in the NYTimes:
The bill that has inspired the demonstrations would strip away collective bargaining rights for many of the state’s workers, in effect busting public-employee unions. Tellingly, some workers—namely, those who tend to be Republican-leaning—are exempted from the ban; it’s as if Mr. Walker were flaunting the political nature of his actions.
Why bust the unions? As I said, it has nothing to do with helping Wisconsin deal with its current fiscal crisis. Nor is it likely to help the state’s budget prospects even in the long run: contrary to what you may have heard, public-sector workers in Wisconsin and elsewhere are paid somewhat less than private-sector workers with comparable qualifications, so there’s not much room for further pay squeezes.
So it’s not about the budget; it’s about the power.
This is because unions are the only non-Republican, non-corporations to step up with amounts of cash that can fund significant and effective policy responses—”counterweights to the power of big money,” Krugman terms it. Their absence, he notes, will result in essentially an “oligarchy.”
Yes, right here in the good ol’ US of A, land of one citizen, one vote. Except when it isn’t.
Remember that.
Meet Kate
Sunday, 20 February 2011
Kate is rambunctious. She is still a puppy. Kate lives down the street.
Her education goals for this year are to learn not to jump up on people.
Although she may not know this.
Shadows on stillness
Saturday, 19 February 2011
Gorgeous gorgeous day, so of course we strolled on over to the ABG. I love the Japanese Garden, or garden within a garden. We even had a few minutes there to ourselves, although visitors flooded the whole place. Also spent a few minutes indoors where the Camillia Club competition was underway….