And now, a moment of gloating.

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW!

After I win the lottery, this is where I will spend my days

I had a good week, though it got off to a late start. Beautiful early fall weather. Cool at night, warm in the day. Got some sun. Worked hard. Ate well. Slept soundly. Obsessed about plants. Obsessed about life (but not enough). Didn't catch any fish (to speak of). Felt like I left two seconds after I arrived. Cried my way from Ossipee to Portsmouth.

Back at work.

Reality bites.

So think about the good stuff.

Reflections of Oma:

Two bird-nerds and a plant-geek on the ledges:

The view of Big Dan Hole Pond and Roland Park from The Ledges:

A windy afternoon's fishing spot in Spring Cove:

I will have more pictures to share. But for now, a few quick observations:

1. Photoblogging on dialup sucks ass.

2. I slept very well in NH

3. I'm not sleeping well in CT.

4. So I better get to work on that. Goodnight.

ha

We've all seen variations on this birthday card before, but never have I seen one with a variation so suited to me:

Inside: "Those rocks would be perfect for landscaping my yard."

Thank you Moxie...

Weekend Update, belated.

Yes. To the best of my knowledge, a splendid time was had by all.

Democrublican didn't just lend a hand, he lent four or five. Don't ask. Suffice to say there were numerous guests who commented on the cleanliness of the house. And commented on the fact that it have never been so clean before. Or something like that.

Inspired by my friend Fink the chef, We had a vaguely churasscaria (sp?) style feast. We kept the grill hot and made up some delicious treats including:

Tuscan-style Ribeye
Peppercorn-Garlic Pork Tenderloin.
Wild Boar Sausage
Chicken Breast in Vinagerette
Swordfish (oops, apparently we're not supposed to eat swordfish)
Tuna in Soy-Lime glaze
Spicy Grilled Shrimp (w/paprika and garlic - orgasmic)
Portabello caps with marinade
Various grilled veggies.

And did I mention beer?

Anyway, a splendid time was had by all.

And now I am old.

And as birthday gifts go, how about dad, who is making me a fly rod. Not buying for me, making for me. Pretty cool.

Though this was pretty cool too:

Here's a first.

This would explain the pig I saw flying by my window when I woke up this morning.

Edited to add this quote (via Talking Points Memo) from John Kerry, who remains a smart and observant man, even if he was a terrible presidential candidate:

"The President has done the obvious, only after it was clear he couldn’t
get away with the inexcusable."

I'm not hungover

I'm just exhausted 'cause I was up all night drinking.

Plant Update

Bonsai post is finally up at Rich Planty Goodness, after numerous snafus and Blogger eating 4/5ths of my post when I was almost done...

Not only does the emperor have no clothes... he's ugly too.

Highly Peeved

Dammit, I have work to do. But this just really puts me off my bacon.

FEMA is preventing journalists from entering certain areas, presumably because of their desire for no photos to be taken of the deceased during rescue operations (they already refused to allow journalists to accompany rescue operation boats, even if they were in separate boats... with the very same explanation that they didn't want photos taken of bodies.)

Link.

Jesus Christ, they really are going to try to treat this the same way that they have Iraq. Thank you, oh blundering frat-boy doofus in chief! Please do your best Nero impersonation again! You know, Nero, that guy you didn't bother to learn about in school... oh, nevermind.

Maybe if we made W go personally fish corpses from the river, he'd finally wipe the smirk off his face.

Miscellaneous Complaints

Ah, how I love living under the "Words Speak Louder Than Actions" administration. To quote Billmon:

I guess this is what Bush was talking about yesterday when he called himself a "problem solver." But one of these days he and the Rovians really ought to take a stab at trying to solve other people's problems.

It really seems clear that job one for the administration is circling the wagons, covering their ass, and looking good, rather than seeing to the health and safety of the victims. There are numerous reports of Shrub's various visits being a string of staged photo ops, with rescue workers and equipment either delayed from or being pulled from rescue and recovery operations for all the president's pretty pictures.

Also, Barbara Bush is an incredible bitch:

"What I'm hearing which is sort of scary is that they all want to stay in Texas. Everybody is so overhwlemed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway so this (chuckle)--this is working very well for them."

We always heard that W takes after his mommy, not his daddy. Hell, Richard Nixon admired her for being a "woman who knows how to hate".

Also, here is a joke (admittedly in poor taste) that I heard from MeanG by way of Wonkette:

[paraphrasing]

It turns out Rehnquist actually died five days ago, but FEMA only found him yesterday.

And last but not least, the single best summation of the current political situation is offered by none other than Jon Stewart of the Daily Show:

Was there bureaucratic bungling? The short answer is: yes. The long answer is: YEEEEEESSSSSS!

Watch the whole Clip Here. It's brilliant. I just hope that the media stay awake and continue doing their jobs for the first time since 9/11.

I wonder if this terrible tragedy will FINALLY get the citizens of this country to notice that their arrogantly simple-minded emperor has no clothes?

Forgive me if I don't get my hopes too far up.

Odds and Ends

First, how embarassed am I about my earlier post about abandoning New Orleans? Not that I don't stand by it, because I do, though as the crisis has unfolded and appeared worse and worse every day, it becomes more clear that now isn't exactly the time to bring that up. But truly, the embarassing thing to me: I wondered if any politician would have the balls to suggest it publicly. And one did. But of all the politicians, did it have to be Dennis Fucking Hastert? I guess I should count myself lucky it wasn't Tom Delay. I'll still stand by the gist of my earlier statement though, and I'll admit that I agree with Denny about something (god help me). If we must rebuild in the exact same place, we need to do it in the same mindset of cities like San Franciso and Los Angeles. We need to assume that this will happen again, and we need to plan for it, or more importantly, engineer for it.

Second, the coolest picture I have ever taken, which I previously mentioned , is this one:

I have no idea why this picture came out so well, particularly since my digital camera doesn't autofocus very fast... hey ladies, as far as I know, he's single at the moment...

Great Falls

A fine weekend. There was an insufficient volume of "work" accomplished at the homestead, and I did almost nothing with the plants. But I still managed to do a lot of sorting and organizing in my basement, though it still looks rather cluttered. But things are making their way into piles and boxes, where they will live in little gated communities (or boxes, as some people call them) of stuff. There will be no fraternizing of sandpaper with model paints, and no commingling of scrap wood with scrap glass.

But I did manage to go out with the woman again. She gave me some shit via email for asking on short notice if she had plans this weekend. I was a little peeved at the tone, but oh well. Then, lo and behold, she called when her other plans fell through. After I returned shit to her regarding my status as backup, we met up and saw The Aristocrats. No, no, DEFINITELY not the Disney film The Aristocats. The tag lines says it all: "No Nudity, No Violence, Unspeakable Obscenity". I thought it was quite funny, but be forewarned, you should not see this movie with your: mother, grandmother, child, dog, or self. After the movie we went and had a few at DuClaw Brewing Company, which I will happily rate as the best chain/corporate brewpub I've been to. Much conversation, quite a few laughs, and a teeny something at the end of the evening that put a big smile on my face. There are a world of things I could write about this current situation, but I'll keep them under my hat for now - I'm trying not to think to much about the whole thing, because my brain has a tendency to ruin things like this before they get started.

Monday found me at Great Falls in Maryland with the Gay Bee. Great Falls is the series of rapids and waterfalls on the Potomac River about ten miles northwest of Washington, DC.


The falls occur at the "fall line", where the Appalachian Piedmont gives way to the coastal plain.

During the last ice age, when sea level dropped several hundred feet, the water quickly (on a geologic time scale) eroded a gorge through the metamorphic bedrock.

Which leaves us rock-scrambling along "The Billy Goat Trail" between the historic C&O Canal and the river. And watching some bad-ass kayakers do there thing in the rapids. After our hike, we met up with Mean G and had delicious food in Old Town Alexandria. Then home, then sleep. And another week is upon me. Tasks: firming up my plans for this weekend (Collosal Drunken Roar?) and for a few weeks from now (Roland Park, here I come).

interesting

This girl could be trouble.

Plants

Part 1 of the blogging of the Arboretum is up at Rich Planty Goodness.

My Friend, my friend...

My friend and cousin recently posted this testimonial about me:

[Gimpadelic], Bobert to his friends, is a scholar and a gentleman. Having nearly scaled the heights of Mount Shaw, having almost swum across Little Dan Hole Pond, and after much lamenting, didn't quite pick a pint of blueberries, he has been quietly accepted as a funny guy by his large and hippyish family.

Cracked my ass up. I had no idea my cousin had this creative streak in him. Cuz also has the distinction of being the subject of one of the coolest photos I have ever taken. Which he has chosen to use in his profile pic on at least one webpage.