A chair, a bear
I recently swapped the upholstered chair in my den for two wicker(ish) chairs and I like them much better. One is pictured above. The bear is the one my Dad got me for Valentine’s day. His name is Bear because I am nothing if not original. Not evident in this photo are the horse-sized dust bunnies that magically reappear as soon as I have swept the floor making me wonder why I even bother.
Let it flow, it floats back to you.
I’ve written about the powerful side effects of Tylenol’s various liquid cold medicines before, and I realize that it would be somewhat difficult to definitively prove that the medicine is responsible for my weird dreams and whatnot, but there simply is nothing else in my environment to account for the fact that since I took some Tylenol Cough & Sore Throat a couple of hours ago, this has been running through my head.
Go ahead and click that link. You know you want to. After all, it’s an open smile on a friendly shore.
I’ll try to keep an open mind about this
…but it’s going to be difficult.
“A Botetourt County sheriff’s deputy accused of causing a scare by barging into the bedroom of a 10-year-old girl in the middle of the night now faces an investigation by the Virginia State Police. Commonwealth’s Attorney Joel Branscom said Monday he asked state police to investigate the incident, which first became public last week in a federal lawsuit filed against the sheriff’s office by Mark and Cheryl Hunsberger. The lawsuit accuses Deputy J.A. Wood and a second unidentified man of entering the Hunsberger home near Cloverdale the night of Feb. 1 without a search warrant. The Hunsbergers’ daughter was terrified to find Wood shining a flashlight in her bedroom while the second man tried to pull the covers off her bed, the suit claims.”
Lord knows what information may come out in this investigation. Perhaps the deputy and unidentified man had a really good reason for being in the bedroom of a 10-year-old girl in the middle of the night, but I cannot, for the life of me, imagine what that might be. Here’s one possibility: “Roanoke attorney Terry Grimes, who filed the lawsuit, has offered one possible explanation for the search, although he stressed that he has no solid information on which to base it. According to that theory, a man — possibly the one who accompanied Wood into the home — had called authorities earlier in the night after his 16-year-old daughter did not come home on time. The man and Wood then entered the home to look for the girl. But it remained unclear under that theory why they believed she was in the Hunsberger home.”
Isn’t there some sort of procedure for this sort of thing? Does it involve sneaking into someone’s home with a person who appears to not be an officer of the law? Does it involve terrorizing a child?
Like I said, I’ll try to keep an open mind about this but based the information I have thus far, I am having a really hard time seeing how this could be appropriate law enforcement behavior. Still, if someone can explain to me how this is, in fact, appropriate I’d like to be enlightened. The best kind of citizenry is an informed one, after all.
[via]
Back on track
I’m back on track with the whole reading thing and might actually make it to 50 books this year.* Thus far, I’ve read 14.
Just in case you were curious.
*Famous last words of course.
Let me tell you about my day
I woke up this morning with this cold (that I cannot seem to shake) sitting on my chest making it difficult to get up but also denying me any further sleep. After I wrestled the cold monster to the ground, I got up, endured Figaro’s plaintive wails about his (false) state of near starvation, showered, accidentally put too much mousse-type stuff in my hair, and tried to convince myself that it didn’t really look like I dipped my head in a vat of grease. I totally look like I dipped my head in a vat of grease.
I must have missed the memo declaring today National Walk in the Middle of the Sidewalk Day. Presumably some other folks missed it as well since they observed the share the sidewalk rules too, but a preponderance of the people I encountered this morning and afternoon walked right down the middle of the sidewalk completely ignoring other pedestrians. Listen, I understand that it’s messy out there with all the slush and mud, which is why I wore my snow boots instead of, say, a pair of precious patent leather stilettos. Honestly, dress for the weather. Tuck your goddamned heels in your gigantic purse until you get to work. It isn’t my job to accommodate your thoughtlessness.
Once at work, I discovered that my computer had … er, misplaced the hard drive. There is some hope this afternoon that it might be recovered but that didn’t and doesn’t help that sinking and bewildered feeling that comes when you are brutally reminded that you are entirely too involved with and dependent on said computer.
The rest of the afternoon has been spent doing some work, researching the best computer replacement options, and trying to ignore the fact that my head is starting to hurt because I am treating this cold with not much more than contempt.
Mouse ball musings
Not what you think. Get your mind out of the gutter.
I sent a friend the story about Wimbledon tennis balls being used as mouse homes “to encourage breeding in existing mouse strongholds” and received the following stream-of-consciousness reply, which I have reproduced here with his permission:
Mouse strongholds… Mouse strongholds. Strongholds of the Harvest Mouse… Strongholds… Strongholds. Fortifications. Mouse Held Territory. Major Mouse Offensive. Mouse Movements. Mouse Emplacements. Mouse Defenses. Mouse Forts…
Mouse Marines overran and took control of a woodchuck stronghold today….
What the ice gets, the ice keeps
“With a blow, the ship was knocked stern up, while a moving floe ripped away her rudder and sternpost; then the floe relaxed, and the beaten Endurance sank a little in the water. The decks began to break upward, and as the keel was ripped out, the water poured in.”
-The Endurance: Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition, Caroline Alexander
Reason #226 to love Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster is, at the time I am typing this, enduring being interviewed by Ryan Seacrest on the Oscars pre-show. He just commented that her eyes radiantly match her dress (or some such rot), and bless her heart, she rolled said eyes and said “I had them dyed especially to match.”
Awesome.
White coral
It’s snowing heavily right now. It’s not supposed to be, you understand. All of the meteorologists said we’d get sleet and rain today. But I’m not writing to bitch about the weather (although you know I could); I’m writing this post because one of the trees outside looks exactly like white coral and it’s slightly freaky and I thought I should share:
