from THE CHANGLING

At night I ride a scorpion
And fight the gnats with blades of grass;
A minute seminarian
Communes me from a demitasse.

--Alvin Krinst, 1989

A Modest Proposal

If Obama wins, the racists and bigots who think it's morally suspect
to be a different color or religion move to another country. Really.
Go away, live elsewhere, hate elsewhere. Nothing here for you anymore.

And that goes for the racists and bigots in the media. Fox will be hiring...

November comes

"November comes
And November goes,
With the last red berries
And the first white snows.

With night coming early,
And dawn coming late,
And ice in the bucket
And frost by the gate.

The fires burn
And the kettles sing,
And earth sinks to rest
Until next spring."

-  Clyde Watson

Went to the Obama rally today. Pretty far in the back, with two small kids, but it was high energy and fun.

David Sirota has a nice blog piece about it, and I love the image he created.

Two Kinds of People in the World

Those who feel the need to tell you they read the New York Times Book Review.

And those who don't feel such a need.

Separating the "Pro-America" Areas from the "Anti-America" Parts

Joe McCarthy, reborn as the GOP VP for 2008.

Sarah Palin at a fundraiser in North Carolina, Oct. 16, 2008 as reported by Washington Post:

"We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation. This is where we find the kindness and the goodness and the courage of everyday Americans. Those who are running our factories and teaching our kids and growing our food and are fighting our wars for us. Those who are protecting us in uniform. Those who are protecting the virtues of freedom."

Now, Sarah, would you consider as "Pro America" that part of Alaska which supports the secessionist group to which your husband belonged and which you praised in a speech?

Reminiscence: The New Yorker Contest I Won

In the early 1990's, SAAB ran a regular (yearly?) contest in the New Yorker. A New Yorker artist would create a cartoon and readers were invited to submit captions. In 1993, I entered and won, the top entry of 2000 entries. My prize was a 6 month lease (with insurance) of a new SAAB of my choice, a trip to NYC for two, with a stop at the Liberty Science Center in NJ for the unveiling of SAAB's new model, dinner and a room at the Algonquin hotel, and a tour the next day of the New Yorker magazine.

Here's a photo of the cartoon (below) and one of me with the car (above).