Big Nose

Big Nose, originally uploaded by Jedinate.

i wish i'd taken this.

condi rice: the shinning!

don't suppose that was photoshopped, do you? or is she always that frightening?

if so, she's totally got my vote in '08. imagine her in a summit with north korea ... they'd all start muttering "brains ... brains" and the crisis would be solved.

up a tree, and other things

as i am on an extended work trip of the non-MotherShip™ sort, i noticed the sunset in a small southern minnesota town was too beautiful to pass up ...



believe it or not, this is the trunk of that same tree:

up a tree, originally uploaded by pr9000.

odd, how the red sunset disappeared once i got up close and personal. but as one person here noted, the time between us noticing the gorgeous sunset and getting outside to photograph it -- all of 45 seconds -- was enough to lose the full effect of what we first saw.

and while i'm posting ...



if you want to see an animated GIF of the entire first "star wars," click here for all the fun. or, if you have seen the first one, here's "empire" for your viewing pleasure ...

no, not this guy:

and in case anyone is wondering ... yes, she survived the first birthday party.

down the road to pete and mary 's

i had no idea i had black and white film in the camera ... i took this because the fall colors at my parents' house are amazing. too bad we'll never know ...

wet leaves

i took trotter out for his morning constitutional today, an hour before my alarm was to go off. i'm not sure why i got up early, but i did, and it was one of those times when you know there's no way you'll be going back to sleep. so i got up, threw on my coat, and took trotsky out to poop.

when i got outside, it felt as though the temperature had risen a bit overnight. it had rained all day and part of the night, and, being october, leaves carpeted the grass.

as i was waiting on trots to "good potty, boy, good potty!' ... i wondered what time my first class was.

i'm, what, 33 years old now? not that i'm ancient -- not by any stretch -- but i'm not in my 20s anymore. i wonder how long it will be until i stop defining myself by that decade. my first thought, as i took a deep breath of the crisp october morning air, was of college -- the incredibly painful joy i had while walking across the quad to class, or from class, or to the dining hall, etc.

cold, wet october days define college for me. it's been 11 years since i've been in an organized collegiate classroom, and yet every september i get excited, looking forward to ... what, exactly? it used to be the magical cycle -- summer, then school, then christmas break, then a whole bunch of stuff thrown together until summer. and for me, in many ways, it's still like that.

one of my favorite memories from those years: i'd traveled home for some reason on friday night -- i think this was my senior year -- and drove back to school early saturday morning. in the car i found the ohio state-penn state football game, and got back to my room by halftime.

it was late afternoon, late october, and the rain and gloom caused that odd dusk-at-4-p.m. atmosphere. i curled up on the couch with the blanket my grandma had given me before i started school four years earlier, made a big cup of coffee and watched the game. i don't remember who won -- i remember the cocoon i made on the couch, the way the heating pipes in the basement of curtis east gave my room a warm smell, and the total comfort i took in knowing that i couldn't do this in september (too hot outside) or november (no OSU games) or january (you don't curl up to watch the playoffs).

the only problem is that, in my current geographical location, "cold, wet october days" are a harbinger of nasty, brutish winters that last longer than any season has a right to last. i temper my inner excitement with the knowledge that these special october days are limited in number, and lead to bitter months ahead.

the scotus 9

what if the supreme court were a baseball team?

4. John Roberts: You want your Chief Justice cleaning up. He’s the engine that really drives the motor of the legal system in this country, and he’s got to be the linchpin of your order. I’ll tell you, too. John Roberts can really hit a hanging curveball a mile. See, a hanging curveball hangs - rather than drop down to the hitter’s knees, it stays up in the zone, about yay-high. When you pitch a ball like that to an experienced barrister like John Roberts, you’re in for a world of trouble. Just like David Wells the other night!

colder than a witch's ...

it's no secret that i live in the great north woods.

it's positively canadian here, which makes me feel for those poor souls who live in "southern" canada. i mean, it's oct. 7 and i go out to walk trotter p in the morning, to give him a chance to live up to his middle initial ... and there's frost everywhere. october freaking seventh!

anyway. frijolita and i are very concerned about the upcoming winter season, because natural gas prices are way freaking high this year. if we thought filling our gas-guzzling SUV was going to be painful ... just wait until january rolls around and we have to choose between paying our heating bill and buying food for trotter.

i did not just say that, did i?

trotter p and his duck

trotter p and his duck, originally uploaded by pr9000.

meet the newest member of the household ... trotter p, born aug. 1 and brought home oct. 1.