Mandatory Super Bowl Post

I suppose I might as well do a Superbowl post.  After all, it helps me keep track of how old I am — this is Superbowl XLIII, so I must be XLIII years old.  Which is, um.  Wait.  That’s a ten followed by fifty, so it’s forty -, forty -, uh, forty three.  I just turned 43. Makes life easier.

I cheer for two football teams — the Redskins (Dad was from the DC area) and the Patriots (Mom was from the Boston area).  Since neither one even made the playoffs, I look for teams to cheer against.  The Cowboys and Raiders missed the playoffs (YEAH!).  I will gladly cheer against the Eagles and the Giants (NFC East non-Redskin teams).  Then, if there are no teams to cheer against, I look for either a good story (Cardinals have been losers longer than me) or a classy organization (like the Steelers).  So I’m gonna be real wishy-washy here and say, “I’m gonna cheer for both teams.”  That’s not a cop out.  If I have no compelling reason to cheer against a team, and a compelling reason to cheer for both, I will cheer for both. 

“Let’s Kill Atheists for Their Body Parts”

Long before I began surfing the internet regularly, I knew that there were some truly scary people in the world.  The sheriff who lived down the street helped catch Charles Manson (Charlie really screwed up when he started fooling with the National Park Service construction equipment).  The right-wing Christians I’ve met over the years can be really scary.  But a year-and-a-half ago, when I started using the internet for more than maps and weather, I discovered just how scary scary can be.

Christian T-Shirts

Once or twice a week, I find my poor, innocent eyeballs subjected to Christian T-Shirts.  Luckily, this time of year the shirts are covered with sweaters, jackets, scarves, you name it (at least, they are up here in the frozen north — those of you down in the warmth of Florida or Australia are Shit Out Of Luck on that score).  I had assumed (stupid me, right?) that these shirts were homemade.  They all have the same cheesy iron-on-transfer quality that the famous, “I’m With Stupid ->” shirts had back in the late 70s.  Unfortunately, I found a site which sells religious shits.  Um, shirts.  Whatever.

Asshats are Unhappy With Obama’s Inclusiveness

One of the high points for me in Barack Obama’s inauguration speech was (along with his strong expression of support for actual science) his not to the religious diversity of America:

“For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness.  We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and nonbelievers.  We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this earth.

Training Our Children

I fly frequently.  Well, not all that frequently, but more than I would want.  Almost always, that flight is either to, or from, a fire.  Sometimes I can drive (which is heaven), but I usually fly.  And it is usually through Detroit, Cincinnati, or La Guardia.

When I go to a fire (or hurricane (Katrina) or national emergency (the WTC incident (which, admittedly, I drove to (in a 1984 Ford sedan)))), the process goes like this:

Prairie Muffins?

When I was a kid (actually, until a few minutes ago), the term ‘prairie muffin’ referred to this:

These were also referred to a meadow muffins, cow pies, cow chips (when dried), and (on one very uncomfortable day) third base.  Then I visited An Apostate’s Chapel (to be fair, I visit Chappies site almost daily) and discovered, down in one of the comments, a link to the Prairie Muffin Manifesto. 

Geographic Reality versus Authoritarianism

Tonight, whilst preparing dinner, my daughter pulled a bowl of baked beans (canned) out of the microwave ((Wife) and I had leftover angel hair pasta with ragu bolognese con salsiccio) and, reacting to the heat, said, “Washiita!” (at least, that is what her cry of pain sounded like).

 I immediately said, “Oh, that’s a mountain range down in Arkansas.”

Girl says, “Huh?”

Chinese Food and Christian Bumper Stickers

I went down to one of our local Chinese takeouts for dinner this evening (sweet & sour chicken, barbecue pork (boneless), fried dumplings, and Hunan triple delight).  As I pulled into the parking lot, making a legal right turn, a small sedan attempted to make an illegal left turn out of the parking lot in my lane.

A Scrabble Word

(((Wife))) and I were playing Scrabble yesterday.  Our game has been improving since we got the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary.  We’ve discovered lots and lots of new words.  Words like ‘za,’ ‘qi,’ and ‘zuz.’  (((Wife))) converted ‘rude to ‘prude’ by adding the word ‘tup.’

Cold Enough For You?

And remember, this is weather, not climate!