Montana update from Dad

Dad replies with a note on voter initiatives in Montana: We had several initiatives on our ballot, also. There were several more but the Montana Supreme Court threw out the ones that had been foisted on us by some whacko neo-cons, because of widespread fraud in the signature-gathering process. One of the initiatives that happily […]

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My post-election day screed

Victoria and I had taken yesterday off to volunteer for the local Dems to get out the vote. Sadly, the local Dems were too poorly organized to take us up on our offer, so our big effort consisted of getting out our own votes. Candy walked us (about a mile downhill) to the polling place […]

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Let’s learn law with the DTWOF!

Alison Bechdel brilliantly defines habeas corpus in terms a grade-schooler could understand. If only Dubya were as smart as grade-schoolers. DTWOF #458: Below the Law And speaking of Alison Bechdel, her new graphic memoir is one of the most brilliant pieces of new literature I have ever read. Run, don’t walk, to your nearest bookstore […]

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I’m sick of the so-called "gay marriage" topic

First and most important, let us consider who has made it a topic: the people opposed to it. The people putting it on ballots, platforms, and advertising are people hoping to use it as a wedge issue to divide progressives. The rest of us have generally preferred to focus on things of much greater importance, […]

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It’s always the easy stuff that gets you

It’s a truism that when you’re writing, it’ll always be the bonehead easy stuff you get wrong. Anything tricky, after all, you’ll look up and confirm. The stuff you think you’ve always known will be where you make your errors, and of course you never bother checking the stuff you know. Turns out I know […]

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So often he does it better

My blog posts on the heat are topped by a Jon Carroll column. I don’t mind when he does it better; I’m just glad I get to read him. He’s right on, once again. Another “he” who done good: my boss wrote a song that’s worth checking out. You may recall from earlier posts that […]

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You know it’s hot when…

…two cats and a dog all do their dead-horse impressions within feet of each other in what they’ve decided is the coolest room in the house. …your black lab is too tired to get up and ask for a bite of your hot dog.  …your cat decides that the granite countertop is a good place […]

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Wicked hot

It’s been wicked hot here since Friday. Usually on the few days a year that this area gets hot, we get coastal fog by nightfall to cool it all back down again, and those days are usually at least in August if not September or October. July in SF is famously the coldest winter Mark […]

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Whoops!

Sorry about that broken link to the Deck: Before and After, Jr. photo collection. It’s fixed now. It’s bloody hot here–too hot to think clearly or accomplish anything. I need to cobble together some kind of swamp-cooler for the baking kitties.

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