Hmm, I was unaware that we’d fixed the state budget

But apparently the Lieutenant Governor thinks we have money to burn on lawsuits we’re going to lose. The thing I love and am still most flabbergasted about with this whole states’ rights crap is that it isn’t actually about protecting the liberty of individuals. It’s about wrestling power away from the feds and then giving [...]

The Truth about Seeds

So, I’m still not understanding this whole “seed” thing, for which I blame men. Ha, just kidding. Seeing if you were paying attention. But I was partially confused, I think, by the conflation of “seed” with, you know, men’s seed. But a seed, it turns out, is more like a fertilized egg. There’s a shell [...]

An Update on the Redheaded Kid

“So, what did the doctors tell him yesterday?” “They still don’t know what’s going on. They’re leaning towards some kind of epileptic episode.” “Well, at least it’s not more stuff with his heart.” “Yeah.” “And no tumors or anything?” “Not so far.” “But damn, we’re getting to the point where we really need to be [...]

Plants are growing and doing stuff!

Naked Irises

I have been taking pictures regularly of my crocuses, as you know, so I have also been keeping an eye on the irises in that bed. I went out there today and someone/thing had uncovered all of the iris rhizomes. They weren’t pulled out of the ground. They were just all dirt-free. Who would do [...]

A Few Short Things

1. I have had a couple of hilarious things up at Pith, that make me laugh when I reread them, and neither have comments. There are 6 billion people in the world. Someone else has to find me as funny as I do, right? And don’t go over there and give me your pity comments [...]

Speak Softy, the Butcher is Sleeping

Oops. The Butcher told me he was going to be out all night celebrating St. Patrick’s Day and that he would see me tomorrow (today). So, I locked up and went to bed. Then I got up and called my dad and spoke loudly all over the house. I yelled at the cats who were [...]

An Evening with the Dead Relatives

Yes, of course, I still love the Tennessee State Library and Archives, but I was able to spend all evening, courtesy of the State of Michigan and this awesome website, with many of my dead relatives. The most awesome discovery? Oscar Phillips’s Death Certificate. Oscar is my Grandpa’s grandfather, Luke’s son. As you can see [...]

In Which I Get Serious about Luke Phillips

I have contacted the Oakland County county clerk’s office to try to find out about this “marriage.”  Yes, I am now indeed talking smack about my own ancestors. But I figure that Luke Phillips has had his chance to show up and straighten this nonsense out. I’ve gotten weird woo-woo crap from the Demunbreuns and [...]

Antler

Liz brought me a deer antler she found in one of my favorite cemeteries. It is, quite possibly, one of the coolest presents I have ever gotten. I have it sitting on top of my magical cabinet and I like to take it down and contemplate its weight and shape. It puts me in mind [...]

In Which I Ponder an Alternative History of Luke Phillips

In spite of what many of his descendants have come to believe, Luke Phillips could not have been born in Marion, New York in either 1804 or 1808 because Marion didn’t exist as a city until 1825. For that matter, he couldn’t have even been born in Wayne County, New York, because that didn’t exist [...]

Two Things

1. I know some kids who have John Tanner as an uncle in real life and, as far as I can tell, they don’t seem to be rolling in blueberry donuts. Sadly. 2. Yes, we get it, all the damn time, that men get to police women’s bodies and that they get to do so [...]

Caledula, the Mysterious Thing I’m Growing

So, I though it would be fun to grow some calendula this year, especially since I could get seeds for a dollar and a half. Now, on the website, they are listed as an annual. On the seed packet, though, it claimed they were perennials. Which is it, dear internet? I’ve poked around some and [...]

I Honestly Don’t Understand People

Anyone who could drown a sack of puppies… I just don’t even know. In this day and age, there is no excuse for it. Your dog should be neutered, for one. For two, puppies adopt out quickly so you could have brought them to any shelter in the area. Three, what the fuck is wrong [...]

Daffodils

For the second year in a row, I have noticed that my farthest north neighbor has gotten blooms on her daffodils first and our north next-door neighbor is starting to get some and I have buds on the daffodils that did nothing last year. I don’t have any buds on the daffodils I planted and [...]

In Which I Almost Have to Live in Bells Bend Park until Summer, but Then I Save Myself!

Since I got everything on my to-do list done by yesterday, the only thing I had to do today was to ask the Butcher if the Dracula in this movie was played by John Travolta. But that was interrupted by the terrible and scary news the Butcher had about the Redheaded Kid. Some folks get [...]

Is Stacey Campfield a Communist?

Campfield is trying to pass a law that would allow college students to not buy the assigned books for their classes if those assigned books are written by their professors.  I’m having a great laugh at this, just trying to imagine how the hell UT or other state schools are supposed to recruit top talent [...]

Wild Hairs

I really adore my gray hairs, in part because they’re silver and I love the idea that my head can spit out something shiny and beautiful. Also, because my gray hairs are totally “fuck it! Life is too short to behave.” So, I was trying to get some pictures for you, but I finally figured [...]

Blood Money

So, it turns out that the Memphis police department had its hands on two guns that later were used in high-profile shootings. I had no idea this went on. None. I’m naive I guess, but I thought that, if the police had custody of your guy one of three things would happen: 1. It would [...]

The Census, Revisited

I continue to find amusing the number of folks who seem to think that this year the census is some brand-new, super-intrusive overstepping of the government, especially in terms of asking you what your race is.  “Oh,” the cries ring out, “look at how they did things in 1790.” Folks, this is the era of [...]

Lock One is Awesomely Creepy

The sign reads: Heaton’s Station On this bluff in 1780, pioneers who came with James Robertson built Heaton’s (also called Eaton’s) station. It and two other forts (Freeland’s and Nashborough) withstood all Indian attacks and saved the Cumberland settlements. On the river below were successively a buffalo ford, ferry, and Lock No. 1. The home [...]

Futzing Around in the Garden, Part One

The folks up the hill at Tony’s Foodland are so cruel. Right inside the first set of sliding doors, to your left, where you can’t help but see them are all the seeds and bulbs. It’s like the grown-up equivalent of the candy aisle. I do not have enough self-control to walk by and not [...]

So, It Turns Out I’m the Incompetent Person at the Secretary of State’s

People, I have to tell you a story, in part because the kind folks in line at the Secretary of State’s office promised me that it would be funny to anyone I told. So, here it is. I go to get my tags. I stand in line. I let a nice gentleman use my pen. [...]

Outsourcing at Metro Public Schools

In the proposed budget, they’re going to “outsource” custodial work. There are two important passages in Garrison’s story that get to the heart of the matter: Though the custodial positions would technically be eliminated, Register has stressed that currently employed custodians would have first dibs on the jobs provided by a contracted outfit. and “It’s [...]

The Breast Milk Sale Post

Ha, I think this post ended up pretty funny and true.