An Update on the Ghost Stories

All first drafts are done. Which means they may be better than last year’s because I will have time to do other drafts!

Woo hoo!

The Situation in Milan

Trace has a story about Milan, Tennessee, which is facing the loss of their main industry AND having being made a nuclear dump (even in the face of  just the regular industry there leaking crap into their water) bandied about as a possible thing that might happen to them.

It’s depressing. Sometimes, I’m fairly certain large portions of our population are kept poor and uneducated so that they just have to take whatever happens to them.

Anti-obesity v. Anti-poverty

NM sent me this great post by Tom Colicchio from “Top Chef.” It’s pretty self-explanatory and I love the idea of making healthy and nutritious breakfasts and lunches available to all school children, period. And I love that he makes explicit that these “anti-obesity” efforts are more rightly framed as anti-poverty efforts.

But here’s the question I have–do you think it’s easier to get people on-board with anti-obesity campaigns because it means someone is being punished than it is to get them on-board with anti-poverty campaigns because it means someone, who might be undeserving, gets help?

Tennessee Democrats

The nice thing about writing about the Tennessee Democrats is that a gal can feel she’s always going to be second on their shit list after Woods.

I like my post, but I actually think Woods has written as astute an insight into what’s going on in the party as can be written. I don’t know what there is to be done with that knowledge, once you have it, but that’s where we are, folks.

The Dog and the Pool

I don’t know if y’all remember, but last year, I bought a kiddie pool for the dog and she did not get it. She circled around it and then, eventually, stood in it all dejected because, maybe, she was going to have to have a bath.

So, we put it up and thought no more about it.

Well, when the Shill and her family were here, I pulled it out, washed it out, and filled it up. And I will be damned if that dog didn’t finally get what the fuss was about. She splashed and splashed and splashed in it. She growled and barked at that water. She stuck her whole face in it and made a “burgurgleleypth” noise.

And last night, when we went outside for our evening constitutional, I got caught up in trying to figure out what color the coneflowers that are getting ready to bloom might be, and I lost track of the dog.

Where did I find her?

Standing in the kiddie pool. Just standing there. With this enormous grin on her face like there was no place in the world that could make her happier.