Classy stuff

The Riches have such an enviable family dynamic. They are so supportive and respectful of each other, even when they argue. The parents are definitely in charge - but always willing to listen to the kids, always taking their needs into account as they make decisions about what's best for the family. It's beautiful to watch.
I'm still not buying Eddie Izzard's accent, though.

Today's book purchase:
Miss Manners' Basic Training; The Right Thing To Say, Judith Martin (Crown)
South with Endurance, Frank Hurley (Bloomsbury)
Games Magazine, July 2007


Today's earrings: Amethysts

Bedtime reading: High Stakes, Dick Francis

OK, so that Stacy is a piece of work. "They'll be lucky if they get fed"? I don't care that she had the good idea of voting off Edgardo, she's still functionally a remora. She is Wannbe, not Queen Bee. Her pampered ass does not get to say what camp life is like.

Strategery, Ho! They finally did one of those split vote things, which was nice. And for maybe the first time ever, a desperation vote against an ally had an effect on the immediate vote. Good on Alex, I guess. Prisoner's Dilemma in action.

But Backstab Boy might want to keep his mouth shut about other people's honor, or lack thereof. He gets to the final two ways: 1) he wins a whole bunch of consecutive immunities, or 2) he talks Stacy, Boo, and Dreamz into voting out Earl next ep. I don't think he can win all that many ICs. And talking up how the mean rats & snakes have mistreated him might queer his pitch with Stacy & Dreamz, who are the vermin in question, and Boo doesn't seem like the type to find whining persuasive. Especially since Cassandra, Earl, and Yau Man haven't broken any promises.

Boo's best move is probably to stick with C/E/Y and know he has to win the last couple immunities - given the jury pool, if he gets to the final vs one or two of them, Boo might take the money. (Be kind of funny if he did, since he's the last "white" person in the game. Kind of like Chris in Vanuatu was the last guy for the longest time, and won.)


Today's earrings: abalone footballs

Bedtime reading: To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

L words

Likenesses of my lively little nephew lingering on the lawn, laughing & living the light-hearted life. Lucky lad!


Today's earrings: llamas, lockets

Bedtime reading: Louie, Louie, Dave Marsh

Green eggs & jam

I have no pig earrings, and I have no Dr. Seuss in the house. Why do I have no Dr. Seuss? This is one sorry state of affairs.


Today's earrings: strawberries, citrine teardrops

Bedtime reading: The Hunting of the Snark, Lewis Carroll

The air is humming

I won! I got a 1965 copy of Richard Scarry's Busy Busy World off ebay for my nephew! WooHoo! Now I just have to wait for it to arrive.
taptaptaptaptaptap


Today's earrings: bees, typewriter keys

Bedtime reading: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Max Weber

A funny thing...

Turns out even on a rainy Saturday night my neighborhood is hopping. It's getting trendier, which means better restaurants, more people in from the suburbs, and it looks like the smaller thrift store across the street may have become an art gallery. Which doesn't explain why all those people were standing in front of it at 10pm, umbrellas in hand, but anyway...
The woman behind me in line at the corner market was totally fascinated by the ice cream I was buying. Stoned people are so cute.


Today's earrings: frogs, chocolate molecules

Bedtime reading: Breakup, Dana Stabenow

Conclusions

Went to the bank, retrieved my forgotten tomatoes & potatoes, drank wine.
Mission accomplished.


Today's Earrings: scarabs

Bedtime Reading: Does Anyone Else Have Anything Further to Add?, R.A. Lafferty

Swamp

I thought "Dreamz" might have more game than I'd realized when he voted for Michelle. that vote made an opening in the People I Like Alliance; without her, they'd need another vote. It kept the Smug Jackass Alliance sure of their dominance, and they still thought they were controlling him. Voting out Michelle, emotionally unsatisfying as it was for me, opened the most doors for Dreamz strategically with the smallest cost. All he had to do was smooth over Mookie after TC, then either work toward a f5 made up of the SJA+Cassandra, or join the PILA+Boo for f5. And he had another three days to pick a side.

Instead, he gave this week's performance... so little insight, so little self-control. He systematically betrayed everyone he'd ever spoken to, and did it so clumsily that everyone out there knows exactly what he'd done. And all because Mookie said out loud that he was angry that Dre had lied to him. I think Dre may be voted out 7-1 next week.

But it was extremely satisfying to watch the smug, smug faces fall, one by one. :)


Today's earrings: dragonflies, articulated alligators

Bedtime reading: Brewing Up a Storm, Emma Lathen

Going places

I should treat my boss with more respect. She's a very good boss, and a very big reason I like my job.


Today's earrings: hands, basketweave-pattern spoons

Bedtime Reading: The Driver's Seat, Muriel Spark

All the way down

Taxes in the mail.


Today's earrings: turtles, more turtles

Bedtime reading: Going Postal, Terry Pratchett

Stuck

Mass murder sucks.



Today's earrings: flies, amber teardrops

Bedtime reading: Going Postal, Terry Pratchett

Tangled webs

Spindles and spindle flyers, spinning ring and ring travellers
Shuttles
Reeds for looms, healds and heald-frames
Sinkers, needles and other articles used in forming stitches
- World Customs Organization


Today's earrings: spiders, webs

Bedtime reading: Atlantic, May 2007

Spring is here

Summer makes me drowsy
Autumn makes me sing
Winter's pretty lousy
But I hate Spring.
- - Dorothy Parker

Today's earrings: bees, flowers

Bedtime reading: Atlantic, May 2007

Free as a Bird

Most recent book purchase:
Raising Demons, Shirley Jackson (Scholastic)
English As She is Spoke, Fonseca & Carolino (McSweeny's)
The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Max Weber (Scribner)
History of Dentistry, Arthur Ward Lufkin, D.D.S., F.A.C.D. (Lea & Febiger)
A Child's Garden of Verses, Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith (Scribner)


Today's earrings: owls, liberty dimes

Bedtime reading: The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster (Random House)