3 Ring Binder

1. Baked sweet potatoes loaded with butter. 2. Secretariat, the horse AND 2010 movie (I have deemed that this counts as only one). 3. Driving the long way home so we could enjoy the rest of this song in the convertible. Yes, I'm going to totally ignore the fact that my blog has been languishing for many months and post what I want, when I want, and not you, nor any of your dismissive non-comments can stop me. Have a lovely day!

Object of the Game:  To remove green dots from the field before they randomly eat the other dots. Remove all green dots from the field before they eat the other dots and you win. How to play: In the field of colorful dots, it is your job to protect all other color dots from the destructive green dots. Once you spot a green dot, you have two options of play: you may either destroy it or immobilize it by separating it from the other dots.   Immobilize: Place marker on top of dot and drag to the perimeter. Destroy: Place marker on top of dot and click once. Hazards: It is sometimes necessary or desirable to immobilize non-green dots if they are preventing further pursuit of the green dots.  If you immobilize more than five non-green dots without destroying any green dots you lose your turn. At any time, any of the dots may change to any other color. While the chance that any particular dot will turn green is small, the pool of green dots co...

Welcome to a tiny glimpse into your future, the rest of America. Here in Massachusetts, we've been lucky enough to beta-test the individual mandate of Obamacare. Unlike what you've been told, however, it isn't simply a matter of carrying insurance, or even of proving that you carry minimal creditable coverage ;   that proof needs to be transferred from the government-mandated form you receive from your insurance provider -- at what cost, I can only imagine -- to the government-mandated IRS form. It's just a little exercise in toleration for you. So, what's the problem with a little more paperwork if it means that everyone in this wealthiest of nations gets access to excellent healthcare, right? Oh. Then, that everyone gets access to decent healthcare? Oh. Then, that everyone gets access to a company that bargains with providers for mandated services? Oh, I mean, then . . . who gets what for my hassle, exactly? But it's simple enough, right? I mean, we'...

As we continue to ask why, to look for some small amount of justice to the heinous, random murder of innocents at the Boston Marathon, we seem to want to skip the initial act as if it were an accident or metaphysically given. By striving to ignore the overwhelming evidential link between terrorism and the religious choice of Islam we do ourselves a grave disservice. We prefer to think there is a magical tale of why behind each horrific act done to glorify the name of Mohammed rather than because it is prescribed in the Koran and fomented among its adherents within and without mosques.     No, not every mosque is a hotbed of Islamic totalitarianism through violent jihad, just as not every fundamentalist Christian church lays out plans to kill abortion providers. But it is those who fully attend to their medieval religious duties, those who are fed the idea that liberalism and individual freedom are evil, those who see themselves as soldiers of mystical, murderous ...

Melissa Harris Perry wants us to know that our children belong to the whole community. When her MSNBC Lean Forward ad got some flack, Ms. Harris Perry went on to explain what she really meant . She wants you to know that your Tulane student belongs to her because she does her job of correcting their papers (for which she is paid handsomely, no doubt) and does not send the papers back to you to correct. Of course, she jests about this part, but she further explores where she got the idea that everyone’s children belong to everyone – beyond that antiquated notion that their parents are responsible for them.  Because her parents volunteered for a non-profit daycare center and spent time as a community basketball league coach while her third grade teacher went that extra mile for her, Ms. Harris Perry reports that they taught her about collective responsibility.  All she wants is for all kids to grow up without fear and she feels we can do that through a collective responsi...

So many tools under one dome.

It’s been a while since I've obsessed over a song; released in January 2006, this song is over seven years old and yet new to me.  From a little black-berrying by my husband regarding the singer Neil Hannon, of the Divine Comedy, to God Help the Girl , a story set to music project by Stuart Murdoch of Belle & Sebastian , a Scottish indie-pop group, Funny Little Frog is a little bit of musical magic.   Okay, I'm a sucker for its particular mix of nostalgia, romance, innocence, and sweet sensuality. First of all, it sounds like it's out of the early seventies with its string orchestration and simple, but sing-a-along-compelling arpeggio chorus. Then there are the words – clearly written for a man to sing, but the singer (in the video ) works it well.  In fact, maybe that's why it works. Honey, lovin' you is the greatest thing, I get to be myself and I get to sing, I get to play at being irresponsible, I come home late and love your sou...