The Burrow

We dragged the Cuters from the mid-west to California and then left their lives behind when we moved to Arizona.  When they protested, wondered, expressed dismay and were generally unhappy about leaving their friends, we told them that this was our life and when they got to be grown-ups they, too, could take that opportunity to ruin the lives of their children. But, for now, it was our turn to be the mean ones, and they had no choice in the matter.  Contrast this to the reaction of the people who bought our last home in California. A family of 4, the parents saw a bright future in the green hills of Marin. The 14 year old son, however, was not amused. No way. No how. After 2 weeks in their new (our old) home, they packed up, bag and baggage, and returned from whence they'd come, leaving the homestead empty for nearly 2 years until they could re-sell it. No child should have that much power. Just imagine what he'll be like as a husband....... I have been thinking a...

I had a hard time getting out of the house on Friday. TBG had the cold from hell (Swine Flu? The sign at the airport listed all his symptoms.....) and decided not to risk his eardrums by flying. So, off I went, on my own, to visit the Big Cuter and San Francisco. “Off I went” is a fairly sanguine (the same word two posts in 2 days.... uh oh.... am I in a verbiage rut?) description of my morning, however. Up at 6 to the sound of coughing, then a quick nap til 7 when the alarm reminded me that I had plants to water and bills to pay and patent medicines to arrange before I could say that I was on my way. Late winter/early spring is my favorite time in the desert southwest. We've had lots of rain and seeing the wildflowers is on everyone's list of “what I'm doing this weekend.” Though I know that Marin will be beautiful and lush and green, I'm a little sad that I'm missing the California poppies which are blanketing Arizona's highways and byways. Knowin...

What would induce me to sit inside on a sunny San Francisco afternoon?  Sitting on a plaid recliner in a studio apartment, 10 feet away from a 50" flat screen, with windows open and sirens and breezes blowing through the blinds, I bond with my boy over March Madness.  We hoot, we holler, we high five, we call TBG (whose cold-from-hell kept him from joining me on this jaunt) and through it all we don't miss the great outdoors.  Only this event keeps me from the sunshine. ***** My brackets are toasted, and still I watch.  I must be a fan, after all. ***** The Little Cuter and SIR chose all the Indiana teams they could find, and it's serving them well.  I followed Cornell's Big Red and had them beating Kentucky, which might well have happened if any of their 3-point-shots had fallen.  Still, spending a week reading article after article describing the 15-bedroom house in which the team and a manager reside (if graphic depictions of the living spaces of col...

My first readers are my most faithful.  The ones in my family are also the ones who call me to task the most often.  Listen in on this g-chat I had with the Big Cuter this afternoon. BC: Read your post today.  I'm not super worried about the tea-party idiots causing '60s level unrest A/B :   So sanguine, so young. BC:    They don't have a unified goal or enemy; they are too fractured to actually acomplish anything A/B: But they are armed BC :   They might do some stupid stuff at your "bring your guns" rally A/B :  They are certainly being urged to do "stupid stuff" BC:   I just think, if you look at the demographics of the teabaggers vs the hippies it points to them not being as sustainable at being pissy. Allow me to interject here, that we were not being pissy ... were were frightened and felt ignored and that led to rage and fury and demonstrations and the closing of universities.  Pissy wasn't it at all. BC: Middle-...

Something's coming.... and it doesn't look good. Watching MSNBC this morning as they replayed Rachel Maddow's interview  with the former leader of the Alabama Constitutional Militia .  The subject was the Bring Your Guns to Washington Day (an event whose slogan is: Don't Retreat, Instead, Reload) and the whole thing was an enlightening experience.  I had been unaware of the preparations for this and the many similar events scheduled for April 19th.  Ready for another special way to spend the day? How about the group encouraging you to throw bricks through the windows of your local Democratic Party headquarters? April 19th is the anniversary of the Battle of Lexington and Concord, which, in 1775, effectively started the American Revolution.  It's also the anniversary of the 1993 FBI/Branch Davidian standoff in Waco, Texas. Talk about the Law of Unintended Consequences..... do you suppose the FBI gave any thought at all to the historical resonance when then lai...

"That's true, isn't it?" "No, but it's accurate." Sally Fields is torn apart by that difference at the end of Absence of  Malice.  She goes on to question her ability as a reporter and her perceptions of her relationships, and then she walks off the pier into the sunset.  And I am left thinking, once again, of truthiness. Listening to The Great Health Care Reform debate is near to pushing me over the edge.  Things are accurate but not true and yet everyone is yelling at the top of their lungs.  No one is listening, because we all know our own truths and accept their veracity unquestioningly.   Before the vote, I received robo-call after robo-call reminding me to call Gabrielle Giffords' office and tell her that re-election was in jeopardy should she support the reform bill. The buzz words were caustic and designed to intimidate and I was furious.  Nothing they were saying was accurate, because there was no bill increasing my taxes and forcin...

USA Today is also into the Cornell/Kentucky game.. here is the link. .... if you know nothing about the game, this would be a good place to start.  It will make you smile, if nothing else. Thanks, Torchy, for sending this my way.

I love playing Scrabble.  It was my favorite "junior game";  the flat cardboard squares had letters and pictures and there were pictures on the board to help you create your words.  G'ma wouldn't help me spell - " Look it up" was her consistent reply - so I learned to keep the dictionary on the table by my side. We had rules - mostly designed to let me win.  I suppose that's why I love it still.... I'm hardwired to smile and feel accomplished when I think of it.  But that's okay, because it's not as if I'm in love with methamphetamines, after all. I played with the Cuters and with G'ma and with roommates and with strangers on long train trips.  There's a group which plays at the local library , but I've yet to devote an afternoon to joining them.  I'd thought that G'ma and I could've incorporated that into our lives, but her brain is less plastic than it needs to be and playing is frustrating for her.  She know...

The Big Cuter sent me this link to one of his favorite sports blogs ---  even "real" blogcasters love Cornell it seems.  I just had to share.

I've spared you much bloviating on March Madness and my pool and such but there are some things that must be said : GO BIG RED - I've heard from high school classmates who went to Ithaca with me and from Chicago-land friends watching Wisconsin lose on CBS's main feed while I sat, mesmerized and chatting on-line with the Big Cuter, as a team - my team - with no scholarship players (there are no athletic scholarships in the Ivies) crush not one but two nationally ranked teams.  You may have picked them to win, but did you expect the scores to be so lopsided? ****** Michigan  State was down by one.... got the ball off and through the net for a 3 as the clock turned to 0.0 in the frame just behind the basket.  The Maryland players were on the floor, shocked, looking at their navels as the Michigan State kids pile on the shooter laughing and hooting...  like puppies..... like boys having fun.  Sometimes it's really wonderful to watch other people's kids play sports...

Who knew that Antonio Banderas was producing animation?  Not I, that's for sure. But he is.  In the tradition of Up (if something produced last year can be said to have a tradition) an obviously old person remembers love and lives with loss and makes a decision but someone knows better and then all hell breaks loose.  And it's not really their fault.  Either time.  They had plans and those plans were good and somebody else decided to help.  The Lady and The Reaper was nominated for Best Animated Short Film at the 2010 Academy Awards.  If you've not seen what we used to call cartoons in a while, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.  Watch it..... it's a fast 7 minutes or so... and be sure to stay til the credits have rolled.  You'll feel incomplete if you don't.     That was fun, wasn't it?  Did you see the reaper's last scene to get the incomplete mini-joke up above?  Are you noticing a theme here?  The...

Losing in the first round of the NIT when you're playing in your home town is one thing.  Losing at the buzzer... really, after the buzzer...... as the ball goes around and around and around the rim and then falls in.  Ouch. ***** Did you submit your brackets ?  It's an open group and I think that means you can join in any time.  The first games start today at 12:15pm ET.  ***** There's a spring smell in the air here in the desert southwest.  The mornings don't have that frosty freezing feeling and the breeze is moving but not particularly cooling.  We've had no rain for the last few days, and the weeds are springing up faster than I can spray them with Round-Up .  I have to admit that it is lots of fun to walk around with my spray container spritzing things I've decided are weeds.  ****** I received 5 agave pups from a Master Gardening friend.  Three went in direct sun and two were nestled in a shady corner with a north-eastern exposure...

The brackets are out. Wondering what I'm talking about?  Confused about the title?  Then you're probably going to be aggravated with me quite often during these next three weeks.  It's my favorite time of the sports year, and, in my new role as blog-caster to the masses, I've decided that it is my obligation to entice you to join the fun. First, the background.  The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) is the much maligned " voluntary organization through which the nation's colleges and universities govern their athletics programs ," according to ncaa.org.   Governance implies an organizational structure, but just try to find it on either of those websites.  Google NCAA PRESIDENT and the first few listings take you to Myles Brand, who died on September 16, 2009.  That should give you a clue as to the efficiency, efficacy and enlightenment which the NCAA brings to the the table.  Their rules are arcane and there's really no way to s...

Are there things in your life which you just don't want to think about? Things which make you sad, which have no solution, or whose solution is so far out of reach that it might as well not exist at all?  Things which exist in your world but which are out of your control ... for whatever reason that might be..... do they make you as crazy as they make me? My New Year's resolution* places the burden of my happiness squarely on my own shoulders.  I've left myself a reminder on my new phone's welcome screen, and usually that's enough.  But sometimes.... These things hit me unexpectedly, not creeping up slowly but slamming into my face and my heart with a suddenness that would be jarring even were they bringing me strawberry shortcake instead of  poop pie. I cross my arms on the desk and rest my forehead, caring enough about myself to leave my nose free for breathing.  Though I try to feel the stimulation of my 3rd eye and create the understanding and detachm...