Now Casting Role of "Friend"

Maybe I should try this:

Shoot: ASAP – 2015 [Or longer, as yet undetermined.]
DESCRIPTION: FRIEND will be funny, smart, good-looking but not too good-looking, free on weekends for hanging out and sometimes Wednesdays after work.
Must like: Thai food, Dr. Who, brunch.
Must read: Tumblr, so he can tell me about up-to-date internet memes and we can laugh at them.
FILMING: All filming will be done clandestinely so you will never actually see the camera. We will just hang out like friends and do things like go to the movies or watch How I Met Your Mother—but we’ll never tell people we actually watch that show and it will be a funny secret we have. Don’t worry, though; the web series is real, I promise. Maybe think of it more like guerilla theater. Just keep in mind that the footage may be deleted if it isn’t perfect, so that’s why you may never see it, OK?

Really, Kansas City? Again?

The Kansas City, MO. school district loses it's accreditation again.

The Ridge, by Michael Koryta

When I downloaded The Ridge, I thought it would be a serial-killer book, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover a good ghost story. 

Why did Wyatt French build a lighthouse in the middle of the Kentucky woods?  After his death, a small-town sheriff's deputy and a local newspaper reporter begin to suspect he wasn't just a crazy old drunk, but was, in fact, one of the few people who knew the secret of Blade Ridge.

This book brings a nice creepy vibe without being terrifying.

East Tennessee History Fair

I'll be missing the East Tennessee History Fair due to a prior commitment, but it sure looks like fun.  Friends of the Library is having a history book sale and Jack Neely will be signing books.  There will be music, free trolley rides and open houses at the various historical sites near downtown.  Maybe next year.

Pork Carnitas Tacos

My husband used to have a job where he was pretty much never home for dinner. If he did show up, it was on 30 minutes notice.  So now, he's coming home for dinner every night. Suddenly, I need to cook.  Having a repertoire of four meals just doesn't cut it when you need dinner 7 nights a week.  So, I've been trying a lot of new recipes. The results have mostly been "meh" and have occasionally been "well, who's up for pizza?" 

But here is one that rocked.  Pork Carnitas Tacos, made in the crock pot with a Boston butt roast and a few spices.  So yummy.  Kroger only had a roast much larger than the one called for in the recipe, but I just cooked it all and ended up freezing enough for 2 more meals.  Yay!

By the way, I did not make the salsa from scratch.  I just bought a jar.

Mrs. Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Even though Mrs. Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is classified as young adult, I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It's part mysterious ghost story and part coming-of-age adventure tale.  Jacob is nearly 16 when his grandfather dies violently.  His last cryptic words send Jacob to an island off the coast of Wales where his grandfather, as a child, had taken refuge from WWII.

Old photos, meant to be the ones Jacob's grandfather showed him, are included throughout, adding to the creepy atmosphere of the story.  The clues are laid out and secrets are slowly revealed as Jacob unravels the mystery of his grandfather's youth, discovering in the process that his grandfather's grisly fate could also be his own.

There are a few violent deaths that might make this inappropriate for younger children, but the gore isn't excessive. It should be fine for junior high and up.

Regularly scheduled elections...

happen every 2 years in every state in the union, except in Wisconsin, where they happen over and over until the Democrats win.

Washington's New Clothes

The Emperor didn't actually have a problem until that little sh*t pointed out that he had no clothes. So, technically, it is correct to blame the Tea Party for the downgrade.  Until the Tea Party Caucus forced the issue, everyone, including S&P, was willing to go along with the polite fiction that we were just about to address that looming debt problem.  Any minute now. Perhaps after the next election. Or the next.

I suspect the problem was less the Tea Party Caucus threatening not to raise the debt-limit and more that even with the Tea Party Caucus threatening not to raise the debt-limit, this Washington-style spending cut ("we were going to borrow $10 trillion we can't pay back, but we'll be frugal and only borrow $7 trillion") was the best offer available.  That essentially told the markets that we have no intention of putting on some clothes dealing with the debt.

I.O.U.S.A.

The documentary I.O.U.S.A is currently available to stream on Netflix.  It's a nice overview of the problem with the size and rate of growth of the national debt.  It doesn't focus on how to fix the problem. Instead it mainly focuses on convincing people that there is a problem which is only getting bigger.

This film was produced in 2008, well before the election, so it does not contain any distracting attempts to fix the blame for the current budget debacle on Bush or Obama. Just understand that the numbers are nearly twice what they were then. It's almost quaint to watch people freak out over a "mere"  $8 trillion in debt.  I guess those debt clock guys had to buy a new clock, because the debt clock in this film only had space for 12 digits.

Even though it's only 3 years old, this film is a valuable primary source document on the rapidly changing politics of the debt. First, many people from both parties were concerned about the debt, even before the election of a black man.  Someone tell the New York Times.  Second, Paul Tsongas, candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in 1992, co-founded The Concord Coalition, a non-partisan fiscal responsibility group. In this film, he sounds like a Tea Partier.  Fiscally conservative Democrats are not the unicorns of the Washington, D.C. They really did exist.  Third, Republicans love them some deficit spending.  That's why there's a Tea Party.

Recommended

Avoid This

Do not get the audio version of David Brooks' The Social Animal. The. narrator. speaks. in. a. very. slow. monotone.   I narrowly escaped slipping into a boredom-induced coma. 

Perhaps the producer was going for a sophisticated tone.  "We don't need all that vocal variation to entertain our erudite audience." Yes, yes you do.

Is It Just Me?

TARP: OMG! We need $800 billion right now or we're doomed!!!!
Stimulus: OMG! We need $800 billion right now or we're doomed!!!!
ObamaCare: OMG! We need (trust us, you can read it after we pass it) right now or children will die in the streets!!!
Debt Ceiling: OMG! We need $2.4 trillion right now or we're doomed!!!

Perhaps the wolf is among the sheep this time, but how could we ever know?

U.S. Debt tops 100% of GDP

Yes, that's right. The entire economy produced $14.53 trillion last fiscal year, and the United States now owes $14.58 trillion.

But, if I may paraphrase the NYT's editorial page, you'd have to be an insane, hostage-taking, commie-nazi, terroristic vampire of a tea-bagger to be concerned.

How Washington Defines Spending Cuts

Alternate title: Why We're Still Doomed

You rent an apartment for $500 a month. 
You want to upgrade to the $1000 unit.
At the last minute, you choose to rent the $750 unit instead.

Boehner:
Congratulations!  You just reduced your housing costs by 25%.

Reid:
"Greedy monster. How dare you slash so much from housing"

In which smart people make me question the value of a college education:

So I made the mistake of going out onto the Internet to read up on the debt-ceiling thing.  We're clearly doomed if this thinking is representative.  Fareed Zakaria:

To come at it now after the budget has been passed is like getting your Visa bill and calling up the company to say, "Actually we don't want to buy all that stuff we bought." That's not how it works. First you pay the bill, then you can change your spending habits.

Where to start?  How about with the fact that we haven't had a budget since the fiscal 2009.  Fiscal 2010 and fiscal 2011 never managed to capture Reid and Pelosi's attention. House Republicans passed a budget for fiscal 2012 budget (due in two months), but it went to the Senate and hasn't been seen since.

And, of course, if you don't change your spending habits, you're not likely to have the cash to pay the bill.  Especially if you've already hit up dad, your brother-in-law and your best friend for loans.  Fiscal conservatives want to cancel the cable TV, drop the daily Starbucks, and perhaps, vacation in Branson instead of Honolulu. Would that be OK with Fareed?

I'm going back to my bubble until the apocalypse arrives. Shouldn't be long now.

99 cent mystery alert

If you read or saw the movie version of the Lincoln Lawyer, you may not know that Mickey Haller has a  half-brother, Hieronymus Bosch, who's been the star of his own series for almost 20 years.

Amazon now has an electronic version of the first book in that series, Black Echo, for $0.99.

Update: Well, that deal is over, but Black Ice, another Harry Bosch novel, is available for $1.99.

Anderson County Fair This Week

The Anderson County Fair starts tommorow. I haven't been to a county fair since I was a child. Hopefully, we'll make it to Clinton to check out some prize winning pigs and 400 lb. pumpkins.

Fightin' the Power at Market Square

Picture by Glenn Reynolds:

Earth Fare coupons

If you register at Earth Fare's website, they give you some great printable coupons. I got two: a free chicken with a $10 purchase and 5 free ears of corn with a $5 purchase.  Then a new coupon is delivered by e-mail each week.

They also have a page of printable coupons that you can use without registering.

"Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" and Urban Farming

I've been enjoying Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. She describes her family's move to a small farm in southwest Virgina and their attempt to grow all their own food or buy it locally for one year. 

I have never harbored a secret desire to farm, but this book has inspired in me a desire to grow asparagus and... keep laying hens.  So I was delighted to discover that residents can now keep hens inside the city limits of Knoxville.  We're civilized here though: No chicken coops in the front yard.

Cades Cove

The in-laws were in town, so we decided to do a little touristing and take them to Cades Cove.  It's in the Smokies, about an hour from Knoxville.  The drive is very pretty once you pass Townsend, but be warned, the twisty road made my 10 year old very car sick.

Just before the park entrance, there is a great little picnic area with a creek just right for wading:

The cove is looped by an 11 mile, one-way road. Along the road are a number of buildings original to the cove.  Some are at the side of the road, some are an easy hike into the forest.  A guide book describing all the sights can be purchased for $1 at the entrance.

The cove is a great spot for wildlife viewing. We saw deer, wild turkeys and a tiny black dot in the distance that was rumored to be a bear.  The park is notoriously crowded in the summer and on the weekends. We visited on a Thursday morning in June and found it somewhat crowded, but we didn't experience any traffic delays.