Rod Blabbermouth: The “Fix Is In”

He has more audacity than sense

Sometimes in politics you have to know when to keep your trap shut. Rod Blagojevich doesn’t have that ability. Doesn’t he realize that all that yapping is what got him into trouble in the first place? Day one of his impeachment and you couldn’t turn the channel without seeing Rod Blabbermouth. He has more audacity than sense.

Those of you who know me know that I am hopelessly addicted to twitter. One of my favorite tweets is BreakingNewsOn because they are usually right on top of the story and it is continuously updated with new info. This morning I found these tweets, brace yourself:

The first one is funny, but it’s definitely the last two that made me laugh out loud. President? Really? You betcha. Considering that the memories of people are generally short when it comes to news stories it is very possible. In the light of future disasters to come after all, this hoopla won’t look so bad. I just wonder how much he’d be willing to pay.

Ice Storm 2009

Got Milk?

We got lucky this time, the winter storm skirted much of Martin TN. Just north of us Fulton got slammed, they have NO power. Obion county to the west of us has also has widespread power outages. There has been a run on kerosene and generators. Kerosene is still in supply, but good luck finding a generator. The hotels here are full of weather refugees trying to find a warm place to stay. As I say, we got lucky.

Update 2:00pm: It seems like stations are now running out of kerosene and gas. The amount of weather refugees is growing. There are unconfirmed reports of scuffles breaking out at Obion County gas stations. People are getting cold and cranky. Also, the cartoon above is closer to reality than I would have thought.

Public Records: They are YOUR records

I never could solve those damned things

They really are YOUR records after all because they are PUBLIC records. You should be able to walk up to the clerk and ask to see them without unnecessary red tape or extra fees tacked on to what you already pay for with YOUR tax money.
From Newscoma:
* File paperwork for “Inspection/Duplication of Records Request” It’s more paperwork than you would think.
* Government offices can deny a records request
* They can charge you for labor charges. Let’s remember we are already paying salaries with tax dollars, but, yep, they can charge you an “hourly” wage.

I’m not sure about all of ya’ll, but I despise extra paperwork. Here we are in the digital age and we’re still filling out little pieces of paper to get more pieces of paper. I also hate hassles. If you make me jump through hoops to get something, I’ll probably reevaluate my plans for the day and say “ah, fuck it.” If this seems like a pain to me, imagine if you’re just some average, non media Joe and you NEED those records for court or what have you and what you get is a stack of paperwork. What if Joe needs those records, like needs them toot-sweet? Sorry mate they can take up to 7 days to get them to you. What if the clerk is an in-law of Joe and hates him anyhow. Request denied. See how easy it would be to marginalize a person with pieces of paper?

The Obama Inauguration Day

Bear with me as I learn to draw the next president

Today I awoke to the smell of coffee and cookies baking in the kitchen. There was a light skiff of snow on the ground and She was there. Today is inauguration day, but it feels more like Christmas morning.

Andrew Wyeth

Andrew Wyeth, Braids, Tempura, 1979

Andrew Wyeth has died at the ripe old age of 91. He was a popular and very successful painter which brought him as much criticism as it did fame. His detractors accused him of only being an illustrator and too commercially successful, therefore not a real artist. I personally enjoy his paintings for their detail, texture and empathy for the subject and think it’s a bum rap that true artists have to eat crayons like Van Gogh to get any props

Below are some quotes, because although he was a secretive man (Helga paintings not discovered till 1986, never seen by his wife?) he really liked to talk:

“When people want to bring sex into these images, OK, let ‘em,” … “The heart of the Helga series is that I was trying to unlock my emotions in capturing her essence, in getting her humanity down”

“I do an awful lot of thinking and dreaming about things in the past and the future — the timelessness of the rocks and the hills — all the people who have existed there,” he once said. “I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure in the landscape — the loneliness of it — the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it; the whole story doesn’t show.

“I think anything like that — which is contemplative, silent, shows a person alone — people always feel is sad. Is it because we’ve lost the art of being alone?”

Billed to Death: feel the electricity

All I can say is that when me and Sweetie got our last electric bill we sat in stunned silence. The we burst into mutual profanity, “Holy fuckin’ shit, what the hell!? How!? Why?” Damn! Damn! Damn!” We’ve been robbed!”
After the dust settled Sweetie went on a caulking gun rampage and I started asking around.
What I found out is that that 20% increase from TVA looks really huge in the winter. Somehow 20% starts to look more like 50% and everybody is having high bills. For instance, in the apartment I used to live in, I never got a bill over $120 and that was dead winter. The Nice Young Man that lives there now says that it has doubled. I asked The Farmers and they had a $400 light bill (well, they do live in an old farm house). In fact most people I have talked to have complained that the cost is almost prohibitive. But there are odd exceptions: The Young Marrieds with their 20 computers that stay plugged in and on. The Neighbor Landlord who lives right next to us. Neither of them have these freakish bills. Why?

All I can hope is that next month our bill will actually be from the planet of reasonable numbers.

cowboy, jogger and?

This is what happens when I’m on hold and listening to “That Honkey Tonk Badonkey Donk” (which I hate with white hot passion). But the one thing that makes my ears friggin bleed are bad ring tones especially loud ones with bad resolution that sound like they are being pumped out of a tin can. Also, I don’t want to see every crap joke that your stupid crack head friend sent you. I really don’t want to see that Olive Oil and Popeye one again, EVER. In fact keep all cell phone porn away from me unless you’d like to wear your cell in a new and interesting place. No more need for that hands free device.

Corker takes a helicopter ride