A Couple of Random Thoughts Before We Hit the Road

I'm positively gobstruck right now--oh sure, I say I am all the time, but this time I mean it.

I haven't talked much about it because I've been very busy with World Cup, but I am a huge pro cycling fan and am (was?) looking forward to the start of the Tour de France tomorrow, despite my lack of training and preparation this year. (A dedicated fan must prepare, you know.)

There is breaking news this morning that several of the top contendors--Ivan Basso, Jan Ullrich, and several others are OUT, under suspicion of doping. Unreal. I'm sure I'll be able to formulate thoughts on this later but right now I'm stunned.

Uh, go Floyd?!

In other news, I've had the song Be Kind To Your Web-Footed Friends stuck in my head all morning. This is the tune used to sing "Eng-a-land, Eng-a-land, Eng-a-land!" and it is actually Stars and Stripes Forever, but the words I know for that tune are as follows:

Be kind to your web-footed friends,
For the duck may be somebody's mother.
And be kind to the ones in the swamp,
Where it's very, very cold and daaaaahmp.

Enjoy that little tidbit!

Up in Smoke

It seems a little odd to carry on with the rant I've been conceptualizing for today--Colorado's new smoking ban--in light of the fact that just 12 hours ago I learned my Aunt Alice has lung cancer. But alas, I'm going to.

Today is Friday, 1 July 2006 and Colorado will be smoke-free in less than one day. And I'm against it.

I was a social smoker a lot of my adult life. I guess I still am, but maybe just about 3 or 4 times a year now. It just doesn't hold the appeal to me that it used to. Technically, I'm a nonsmoker, but I'm not one of those nonsmokers. Granted, I don't want my house or office smelling like it but as an adult capable of making adult decisions, there is no reason why, if I should chose to, I cannot have a cigarette in a bar or restaurant.

Cigarettes are still legal, no?

Yes, I know the harm they do. I know the harm second-hand smoke does. But at the end of the day, they are still a legal product and therefore I believe this problem is being attacked from the wrong direction.

Don't want people to smoke? Make cigarettes illegal--don't make the act of engaging in a legally-purchases product illegal. It's like putting a band-aid on a serious gash. Yeah, I know why we don't do that. Heaven forbid we upset the tobacco lobby. All of our friends in Washington have loads of friends there. If we upset them we might not get their money or positions on their boards of directors when we leave public office.

But we're approaching this wrong. We're a society of rational-thinking people with free will, right? (Oddly, isn't that one of the things we pride ourselves on as a collective people? You know, it's one of those things that makes us different from them....)

Nigel has a perfect solution to this problem and one I whole-heartedly agree with. And it's really quite simple. Bars and restaurant owners that want to allow smoking in their establishments have to get licensed, just like restauarant owners do in the UK to serve alcohol. Don't want people smoking in your place? Fine, don't get licensed. Then, when patrons are decided where to go for a meal or a drink (or employees for a job), they know right from the start whether you're licensed or not. Everyone can make their own choices. What a novel concept, eh?

Colorado's law is just short of a disaster and the association of bar and restaurant owners are outraged--rightly so. There are at least 10 exceptions to the law, including (are you ready) your own home or car. Wow, you can still do what you want in/on your own property? Get out. But he one that has everyone up in arms is: "the retail floor plan of casinos." Guess which lobby has a lot of influence in Colorado? Either do it across the board so it's fair to all businesses, or don't.

I will say this though. After years of a piecemeal approach to this--where city after city was going smoke-free--at least it was taken up at the State level. It makes absolutely no sense to me that Denver would ban smoking (they didn't, actually; it failed at City Council last year) yet you could literally cross the street and smoke in Aurora. So, I'll give them an A for consistency.

Yet, my original issue remains. As long as cigarettes remain legal, adults should be able to chose for themselves if they engage or not. As an adult myself, if I didn't want to be in an establishment that allowed smoking, I simply wouldn't go (and I'd probably let the owner know that they've lost my business as a result.) Come on, we're all grown-ups here.

I'm sure there will be plenty of people who disagree with me. The reason I don't smoke routinely are concerns for my health. I do understand the health risks but my bottomline is that we're approaching this all wrong.

Oh, and for the record, Aunt Alice never smoked a single cigarette in her life, nor did she live with smokers. Turns out as many as 30% of all lung cancer cases in women are in women who never smoked, for whatever that's worth.

So, we're off to the great state of Kansas for the long weekend to visit Alice and the rest of the family. This trip was planned before she got sick and now we're really glad we're going. So please, be safe this weekend, don't set your cantelopes too close to the firecrackers (they'll explode; I saw it on TV), and if you're in Colorado, for God's sake, put that thing out.

May You Live in Interesting Times

That's an old Chinese proverb, and indeed, we do live in interesting times, in an interesting place. In addition to going to Tattered Cover on Sunday, this is what else we did--all at the same time, as the PrideFest parade went right past the pub. Yay!


I don't know these people but they were kind enough to pose for me, with their most excellent sign.


Eng-a-land! Eng-a-land! Eng-a-land!


This guy was sort of dancing, sort of with the Brazilian dancers.


England won! God Save the Queen!

A beautiful day in Denver.


Once the match was over, everyone went out to watch the parade. I think they were cat-calling to the Brazilllian dancers at this point, whilst singing English football songs.

It was a weird mix of cultures, but that's the great thing about Denver--it doesn't really matter. There were, of course, a few yobs being rude and piggish, but overall, everyone had a great morning. It just reinforced to us what an awesome city we live in, that before 11am on a Sunday morning you can drink beer in an English pub and watch World Cup and watch the PrideFest parade.

Here's Something I Heard on XM This Morning

that made me smile. I was listening to their World Cup coverage (which has been excellent, BTW.)

"[Ghana] is the Brazil of Africa but today they must face the Brazil of Brazil."

We Interrupt This Blog

to bring you an important action alert from ABFFE, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression. This came in today's email. My commentary to follow (but, of course!)

Flag Amendment Close to Passage

Efforts to approve the first exception to the First
Amendment appear perilously close to success.  As
early as tomorrow, the Senate is expected to vote
on an amendment that will allow both Congress and
the states to outlaw the burning of the American flag
during protests. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled
that flag burning is a form of speech and, therefore,
protected by the First Amendment.However, the House
of Representatives has repeatedly approved a change
in the First Amendment that would authorize laws against
flag burning. The Senate has blocked the amendment so
far, but the margin of victory has shrunk to the point
where a single vote may determine the outcome. If the
amendment passes, there is little doubt that it will be
quickly ratified by the necessary number of state
legislatures.

The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression
(ABFFE) and other critics of the flag burning amendment
have expressed concern that it will lead to the suppression
of a legitimate if controversial protest tactic. We also
believe that amending the First Amendment will create a
precedent that makes it easier to pass subsequent changes,
eroding the most important bulwark for free expression.

Opponents of the flag amendment should call their
Senators in Washington immediately.  Click here 
to find the telephone numbers for your Senators.

And now, on to the commentary. I agree wholeheartedly with ABFFE's position on this. Yeah, yeah, no one likes to see a burning flag. I get why it outrages people, but it is, quite simply, an act of free expression. It might be a distasteful one, but there are loads of those. If you start by banning this one, where do you stop? One of the rights we all should hold dear is the right to express ourselves in the manner in which we see fit.

I love our flag. I think it's beautiful. I'm the first one to be outraged when I see a tattered flag flying, or when someone fails to remove their flag in bad weather, or lower it at half-staff to mark a death. So, when someone feels the need to burn a flag, I have to believe that they are so angry or so frustrated that they simply do not know how else to express it, and they wish to get people's attention by doing so. And they generally do.

Our civil liberties are at stake here. I can hear you say, "But I'm not a flag burner, Kay!" Okay, maybe you're not, but if they take away this form of expression, what is next? No scenario is too crazy here. We live in a time of erroding civil liberties and challenges to our right to free expression--don't believe me, just follow some of the things being done under the guise of the USA PATRIOT act. We should all be concerned, even if it doesn't impact us directly today. It might tomorrow.

Please, take a moment and call your Senators.

Good night, and good luck.

A Movable Feast

Wow, what a weekend. I'll probably blog about the football/PrideFest experience later in the week but the best part was the bookstore move. Years ago I worked for Tattered Cover Bookstore, one of the finest indies in the country. It's a very special place.

They'd been in their current location for nearly 20 years, and it was time to move. They'd been a mainstay in the Cherry Creek neighborhood for more than 30 years, but were unable to come to new lease terms with the landlord of their 50,000 square foot building.

Tattered Cover is a community-minded business, and anytime they make a move or anything like that, customers come out of the woodwork to help. I didn't want to miss this one. I've got some great memories of my years as a TC employee and I'm always excited to be part of anything they do.

Last night at 6:00 pm, owner Joyce Meskis made the store's final "closing announcement"--May I have your attention, please. The time is now six o'clock an the Tattered Cover is closing for the evening..."--to a round of applause, and then the tape guns started. Keep in mind that the store stayed open for business as usual all day on Saturday. This is a three-story bookstore!



Hundreds of us learned our assignments and got to work, packing boxes (Spine up, in shelf-order only!), labeling, moving boxes to pallets (40 boxes per, 30 pallets for the first shift), and moving pallets to trucks (Two to the new building before the end of first shift, with the third ready to go first thing in the morning.)



In addition to the work part of it, I got to see old friends Jim, Hank, Ellen, Ruthie, Steve, Jocelyn, Neil, Suzanne, Cathy, and many more. That was cool. It's amazing how many people are still there--and I haven't worked there in 12 years. I can't believe that the guy we honestly (I mean honestly) thought might be the Unibomber still works there. He was (is?) a freaky-scary guy but one helluva cook. I spent Thanksgiving at his house once with about a dozen others and it was magnificent. Well, magnificent and weird being surrounded by dark and surreal art, antique weapons, and every book imaginable on military history and Adolph Hitler... Yep, he's still there.

It was so fun to talk about old times and great memories--doing overnight inventory in our pajamas, the time we dismantled (fully) my manager's office while she was on vacation, the "tribute to onions and garlic" potluck, and the time Scott and I called from London, interrupting Rich's performance review, to tell him we'd just seen the Queen.

The part of the evening that gave me the warmest fuzzy of all was hollering out to Jim, the phys-ops manager, "Hey Jim, it's warm in here--would you mind turning up the AC?" To which he gave his standard (and meaningless) reply, "I'll get right on that, Kay", complete with a wink and a smile.

We ended up ahead of schedule last night, and they stayed ahead of schedule today. Nigel and I went over to the store after the England v. Ecuador match (Eng-a-land!) and took some pictures for one of our book industry trade journals.

I was blown away.

The Bonfils Memorial/Lowenstein Theater has been empty in Denver for years. I remember going there with my mom when I was a kid, but I don't remember it being open for at least the 20+ years I've lived right in Denver. It's a beautiful old theater, in the art moderne style. It's on the National Register of Historic Places. It's a gem.



And now it looks like this:



It's going to be an amazing bookstore. The poetry section is in the orchestra pit! The newsstand is in the lobby! The business and psychology sections are on the stage (and if you look up, you can see old red velvet curtains and riggings)!

As soon as TC made the announcement of the move, the naysayers appeared. Customers wrote and called--some expressing their support--but many expressing their disappointment that Joyce would leave the Cherry Creek store (or "Creek" as it's known in TC-speak). They said she was making the biggest mistake of her career, blah blah blah.

I've been a long-time supporter of the move. Joyce is a pioneer. She opened her first Creek store on 2nd Avenue before the area was the upscale shopping destination it is today. She opened a store in Lower Downtown (LoDo) when there was little there beyond her friend John Hickenlooper's brewpub. Maybe you've heard of him; he's our mayor now. She is a mild-mannered and modest maverick--how's that for some alliteration?

Now, she will be a part of the East Colfax redevelopment. East Colfax has a jaded reputation. It can be rough--it's where you find the hookers, the dealers, the hourly motels, the tattoo parlors, and a whole lot of Denver color. But there are also homes that sell for more than half a million dollars just off it. Our condo is on Colfax, less than a mile from the new TC store--yay, property values! There is so much happening on Colfax today, from live music to bars, restaurants, "Greek Town" and much, much, more. Joyce Meskis has, once again, proven she is an astute business woman and I cannot wait to shop at her new store. Thank you, Joyce.

As lovely parting gifts last night, we were giving wicked cool Tattered Cover t-shirts, but honestly, I would have done it even without the promise of a t-shirt. Well, maybe....

Let's Go on a Field Trip!

Yay! It's Friday, it's summer, so let's pile in the station wagon and go to everyone's favorite store:


Archie McPhee is a Seattle institution. It's in the Ballard neighborhood and it is a sight to behold. Where else are you going to go for all of your unnecessary plastic objects? Eh? Archie McPhee is it.

The first time I discovered Archie's glory, was on the Great Northwest Road Trip with Amanda. It was sort of a surreal trip with the magic fairy forest (Jedediah Smith National Forest) and more Paul Bunyons than you can shake a stick at (I don't know how many that is, technically, but it's a lot.)

We were visiting our friends Gary and Megan in Seattle, and since Amanda and I had never been there before, Gary took the day off work to show us the sites. We went to Elliott Bay Book Company (a most excellent bookstore), Ruby Montana's Pinto Pony, and the glorious 211 Billiard Club, whose motto was "No bullshit. No noise. Just pool." But the highlight of the day was our trip to Archie McPhee's original store--back when it was in the Fremont neighborhood.

I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. We must have spent an hour in there, playing with rubber eyeballs, plastic hearts, urine specimen bottles, action figures of various types, and ooohing and ahhhing over the nickel glow-in-the-dark chamber. I think I spent all of $10.

They claim to have more than 10,000 items for sale, and I believe it. Where else are you going to buy a smoking monkey?

A giant ear?


Or a corn dog air freshener?

So, have fun playing at Archie McPhee today, kids, and remember--if you break it, you buy it!

(And yes, they ship. You could have all these wonderful things, and more, on your front porch tomorrow morning!)

In Summer, the Song Sings Itself

Late spring/early summer is my favorite time of year in Colorado. Everything is bright green, the days are warm and sunny, and an open window at night generally produces a lovely, cool breeze.

This year, it's been hotter and drier than usual (we've been saying that a lot the last handful of summers....) but it's still wonderful. It used to be that every afternoon around 3:00 or 4:00, the clouds would bubble up and you'd get magnificent thunderstorms--the product of warm air hitting the foothills' cool air. It doesn't happen so much anymore but we love it when it does. Nothing beats a good thunderstorm.

Here are a few pictures taken last week of early summer in Colorado. The first two were taken near my office. That's Table Mountain (actually, North Table Mountain). Because of the clouds you can't really see where fire burned last summer, but it burned the first 1/3 of the mountain, though I guess calling it a butte or plateau would be more accurate, really. Way off on the right side--you can barely see them--are the mountains known as the Flatirons.


The next one is of a stream near the office (well, it's probably actually an irrigation ditch, truth be told--we haven't had an ounce of rain to fill up any streams). I love all the Cottonwoods when they're in full leaf. So pretty. I love the plains maybe even more than I love the mountains; the beauty is more subtle.




And this last one is of my view driving in to the office--at least part of the way in. I never get tired of seeing that. Look at all those beautiful trees.


(And the title of this post is from William Carlos Williams, in case you were wondering.)

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Alas, Dear Readers, I did not abandon you. At least not permanently, anyway. No, I've been to Las Vegas! (And didn't have time for a fair-thee-well post.)

So, our trip was a little different than Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo loading the Great White Shark with drugs, booze, and explosives. I'm a middle-aged woman who wears flannel monkey pajamas. It was a lot different.

Nigel was going to Vegas for a conference and I got to tag along. I hadn't fully considered 100 degree heat when we made these plans, but given that Denver has been hotter than Vegas, I guess it was a bit of a break, actually.

I've got a love-hate thing with Las Vegas. I'm fascinated and intrigued, yet appalled all at the same time. When you're there with friends it's different--you're drinking, you're gambling, you're caught up in it all--the kitsch, the excitement. When you're there virtually by yourself (Nigel was in classes from 8am until after 5pm each day), the excesses are glaring and many of the people just seem sad.

Still, I had a good time. Mostly, I checked out the new hotels/casinos since it had been 10 years since my last trip and tried to stay in AC. Some of the hotels were really amazing such as Wynn and Bellagio, but some such as the Venetian and Paris just came off as tacky caricatures. It was like being at Casa Bonita (which I had to explain to my mom was not a good thing.)

For the uninitiated (or those not familiar with Denver), you can learn all about the Good House here: Casa Bonita.


But I digress. Let's leave Casa Bonita for another post. I spent a lot of my time sitting in air conditioned sports books, watching football. That was great.

The weirdest thing of the whole trip--and I'm bummed I didn't get a picture of it--was a penguin-themed slot machine where you could score a (are you sitting down?) "Global Warming bonus". I didn't play to find out what exactly that meant, because frankly, I was a bit scared.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip.

Just in case you forgot for a moment that you weren't really in Paris. Yes, you're in the United States, moron. Don't sue us.


And then there is this one, from the soon-to-be-flattened Stardust Hotel. (Shame that, it's one of the last great classic hotels and they have the best marquis on the Strip, hands-down.)


I have to confess that I was intrigued by the concept of "Hypnosis Gone Wild" but alas we didn't go to the show. If you did and you want to post a review, please let us know if it really was Hypnolarious!

An Inconvenient Democrat

So we saw Al Gore's movie this weekend. You know him--the one who won the Presidency in 2000. The guy who invented the Internets? Him.

I'm guessing you've heard about this movie. It's called An Inconvenient Truth and it's been doing fantastically well at the box office. Oh sure, it's no "The Breakup" (I wonder if he considered casting Jennifer Aniston?) but when you look at ticket sales per screen, it's doing amazingly well. Yeah, it's on fewer screens, but it's selling them out. But I digress.

Good movie. Go see it.

That's my review. Okay, that's not my full review. Here's the problem.

Brace yourself for some gross generalizations. Either you're on board with Gore's message or you're not. Either you like Al Gore or you don't. I believe that if you're the sort of person who is already hip to the dangers of global warming and you're already working to change your behaviors, you're probably somewhat of an Al Gore fan. And if you're not, well, you're not.

What I'm trying to say is that Gore is preaching to the converted. Except for some rare cases, he's not going to win over anyone new. Either you're down with the message or you're not. Maybe there are a few people whose opinions will be swayed, but overall, he's just talking to his base. Sure, he's giving us some great talking points, but there is a percentage of the American public who loathes Al Gore and will tune out the second his name is brought up. It's a shame--he's smart and competent and he's got some really important things to say.

Here's the other issue. Some people just don't care. Sure, the surface temperature of the earth is rising. Sure, the ice caps are melting. So what? I'll be dead in 50 years--what's it matter? I mean, really? Isn't the earth supposed to change?

I've long believed that he world is divided into two types of people--those who are concerned almost exclusively with their corner of the world and how any given issue impacts them directly, and those who believe in and work for the "common good"--that thing that is bigger than any of us individually. Yeah, I told you to brace yourself for generalizations and maybe this is a simplistic way to look at things, but I believe it holds water.

I've long been an outspoken champion of civil rights, particularly those involving First Amendment and free speech issues. Time and again, the response I'll get from people on any given issue is, "Well, it doesn't impact me so why should I care?" You should care because it impacts us all, one way or another and eventually. I'm one of those "common good" people.

So, while most people (unless they're hiding behind the anonymity of an online message board) would never say "So?" that blatantly, their accusations of "fuzzy science" or claims that the "left" (hahahahaha) is just trying to scare people and the threat really isn't that great, their perspective is fueled by an underlying belief that since it doesn't directly impact them (yet), what does it really matter?

It does matter, and to those skeptics I would ask that they step out of their comfort zone and go see An Inconvenient Truth. Go in with an open mind and see what happens. I can't make you change or open your mind. I'm not really even here to try, all I ask is that you give it a shot. Al Gore, like him or loathe him, makes some important points and it does impact us all.

Watching the Football

That's an Englishism that's always struck me as odd.

"We're going to Mick's to watch the football."

Watch the football do what? No one can ever give me a good answer.

Anyway, in case you hadn't heard, England won yesterday 1-0 against Paraguay. It wasn't the greatest game in the world, but they won and right now that's the most important thing. We watched it with about 50 other ex-Pats at our favorite English-owned pub. At 7am, the pints were flowing.

The loudest eruption of all, beyond England's score (no one kicked it in--the ball went off David Beckham's boot, off a Paraguayan player's head, and into the net) was the collective groan when one of the play-by-play commentators accidentally referred to England as "Germany". Oops.

Here is a picture of team captain Conrad Gates, erm, David Beckham.


Maybe you've heard of him--he's married to a Spice Girl.

The exciting match of the day was Sweden v. Trinidad and Tobago. Sweden has been in something like 34 World Cups, while TNT is in their first. And they drew. That means the score was tied at the end--in yesterday's case, 0-0. Some might think that's a terrible result (What? No goals?) but it was a fantastic result.

TNT were not given any chance in this tournament, despite the fact that many of their players play for teams throughout Europe. Keeper Shaka Hislop--the man of the match--plays for West Ham in England. The fact that they held off Sweden's offense is huge, and it's even bigger given that they did it one man down.

In football, a "red card" penalty gets you thrown out of the match and you cannot bring in a replacement. Avery John was thrown out, for reasons I won't go into, and they weren't allowed to replace him. Bummer, hunh?

Well, today's matches include Mexico v. Iran, so I'm off to watch the football.

A Guest Blogger! (Well, Sorta)

So yesterday, I emailed Nigel a link to one of my favorite new (to me, that is) blogs, Jew Eat Yet? Danny Miller is a gifted writer and has an excellent piece up on gay marriage. Check him out if you haven't--he writes on topics from politics to the arts to Las Vegas. Nigel replied to my link, and here's what happened next.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Nigel, today's Guest Blogger (Well, Sorta):

That’s a good piece. Speaking of right-wing loonies, it occurred to me that Ann Coulter is the embodiment of the 30% of the electorate that still thinks Busholini is doing a good job. Ugly, shrill, stupid, and obnoxious. So blinded by self-righteous prejudice that she is unable to see how objectionable and irrelevant her opinions are to the real world. And for some reason, the real world still feels the need to pander to, and give a platform to, Coulter and the dwindling minority she represents.

You can use that on your blog if you like.

Nxxx.

To which I replied:

You can be my guest blogger. Write a piece on Ann Coulter for me. I'll feature you tomorrow.

And this is what I got back:

That’s all I’ve got to say about that bitch that you’d want to put on your blog. I refuse to expend any more time & effort on somebody who I regard as being beneath contempt.

You can use that, too.

And so, Dear Readers, there you have Nigel’s Guest Blog (Well, Sorta). I hope we’ll be hearing more from him in the future!

The Slow Tease

The Rockies suck.

Again.

Still.

Yeah, it's a bit early to be giving up on them (usually we wait until the All Star break) but they've sunk already to the bottom of the NL West and there just doesn't seem to be much hope that they're going anywhere else. ::sigh::

But then yesterday there was the tiniest glimmer of hope.

Driving home, I passed a half-empty Coors Field. I got home to check the score (I hadn't realized there was a day game) and sighed when I saw 11-2. Getting spanked again. But wait. I gave the scoreboard a second look. They were winning. Oh happy day! Maybe it isn't over yet? Maybe they can pull it out?

We baseball fans are a tormented lot. We want to remain optimistic. The season is so young! We still have a chance! Gooooooo Rockies! But then we know the reality. Season after season of false promises and dismal prospects. It's heartbreaking. At least Cubs fans have some good seasons to look back upon fondly.

Maybe that's why so many of us have backup teams. I'm a long-time Red Sox fan, and many in Denver are Cardinals or Cubs fans that go way back. It's weird to go to Coors Field when either of those teams are in town--the out-of-town caps and jerseys far out number the home team's. Backup teams allow us to keep hope alive.

" A baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into nine innings. " --Earl Wilson

(And yeah, the Rockies won this one 16 - 9. Coors Field is a hitters' park and if they're going to decimate another team they do it at home....)

And Now, a Few Words From Robert Browning

The year's at the spring
And day's at the morn;
Morning's at seven;
The hill-side's dew-pearled;
The lark's on the wing;
The snail's on the thorn:
God's in his heaven,
All's right with the world!

--Robert Browning

Things I Don't Understand

Oh, there are many. Today's "things I don't understand" focus on religion.

Okay, so I'm Jewish, born and raised. My nieces are Catholic. Mom's thrilled.

Yesterday was my baby niece's baptism. But I thought it was a christening. Sometimes it's been referred to as a "baptism" sometimes as a "christening". I don't know why and I'm sort of embarrassed to ask because it seems to me one of those things everyone understands. Everyone but me. If someone would like to explain this to me without laughing at me, I'd be forever in your debt.

Then, on Friday I went to get a christening card. Some of the cards say "christening" and some say "baptism". Again, I didn't know what to make of that and there was no one Catholic-looking nearby, so I opted for the ubiquitous blank card. But here's the thing that really struck me.

All of the cards were Jesusy.

Yes, I do understand that if you're being christened or baptized you're probably a Christian. But what about creating cards for those of us who aren't? Work with me here.

As a Jew, I have not "accepted Jesus Christ as my savior", nor do I think I will be anytime soon. Hey, you have and that's cool by me. The world is big enough for all of us. But I don't understand the concept of the Trinity, I'm not hip to the concept of being "born again"--we just don't do that.

All of the cards have messages such as "We were all baptized into one body" or "Reborn in Christ". Um, well, not me. I get that the card is for the recipient, not for me, but I want to have at least a little buy-in with the message I'm sending.

I think there should be a line of cards with messages such as "I don't buy the "Jesus is my savior" thing but you do and that's cool." This would be very helpful for those of us who would like to acknowledge an event but are not of whatever faith or belief system is being celebrated. Maybe I've found my calling? I can't believe I'm the first one to think of it.

(Ha ha. I misspelled "baptized" all through this. Thank you, spell-check!)

And All the World is Football-Shaped

It only just recently struck me that this line from XTC's "Senses Working Overtime" was referring to a football-football, not an American football. I don't know why I never connected that before, but uttering this realization aloud prompted a stunned and sputtering Nigel to proclaim, "I don't even know you!"

Alas, all the world is football-shaped and that's not an American football. It's a real football.

Football, or soccer as it's called in the United States, is the most popular sport in the world. Period. In 2004, 95 million viewers watched the Super Bowl. In 2004, 218 million watched the World Cup final. The whole rest of the world is mad about football yet it's been slow to catch on here.

Maybe that will change. (Well, probably not but that's a topic for another entry....) It's time for World Cup, kids!

Just what is that, you ask? FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) is the governing body of international football and every four years they hold championship playoffs and finals. The event is a month long with 32 teams competing for bragging rights.

There are some great sources of information, chief among them, Wikipedia where you'll find everything you ever wanted to know about FIFA, the World Cup, and football in general. There is also a new book of essays from Harper Collins called The Thinking Fan's Guide to the World Cup. There is a nice excerpt from this book in the current issue of National Geographic.

And, Discovery Channel is even getting into the fun with a new series kicking off this week called Drew Carey's Sporting Adventures. Turns out Drew (yes, that Drew Carey) is a bit of a footie fan, too, as well as an amateur photographer and this series combines the two, bringing the world of football and the World Cup to American fans (all twelve of us) and soon-to-be fans.

The FIFA site is invaluable and for those of you following England (ahem, who isn't following England?), the BBC site is your best source of information. It looks like ESPN will be showing some of the matches at least but really the best way to watch is to find a pub.

We follow England (natch) so we find the bars and pubs where the ex-Pats go. There is one English pub in particular we love and last World Cup we found ourselves and the rest of the ex-Pat community gathering at ungodly hours (5am or so) for a cup of tea, a Full English Breakfast, and some football. It's a great way to watch if you can't be there in person (and most of us can't...) and you'll learn a lot about the game.

It's a beautiful game to watch and often appears to be orchestrated chaos. The clock doesn't stop in football, so the average player runs 6 to 8 miles a match. These athletes are among the finest and strongest in the world and they make it look so simple. If you've never watched a match, go. You'll have a great time--watching the rabid fans, if nothing else.

So, get ready for Germany v. Costa Rica on Friday and let me just say Eng-a-land! Eng-a-land! Eng-a-land!

Are you ready for some football?

If Sleeping Were an Olympic Sport

Kenneth (aka Daniel Striped Tiger, Bug, Prince Herbert, Danger Cat) would win, hands down.

Kenneth is my baby and this is him power-sleeping. It's what he does best. We have loads of pictures of Kenneth power-sleeping.

He is the best cat in the whole world and this is why. Despite not having a penis, he is very happy. He loves me a lot. He gets really sad when I go out of town. He gets freaked out by the leaves when it's windy outside. He tells me when he wants to eat, usually by nipping at my leg. He does the best "happy stretch" in the whole world. He sees dead cats. He watches TV (he likes figure skating a lot. Seriously.) He knows how to lower the front window blind when the sun is too hot. He's a mamma's boy.

These are a few pictures of him, including one of his impression of a sad roast chicken. He does this when he knows I'm going out of town.



One of the funniest things about him is that he acts like Prince Herbert, the prince from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. You know, the prince who isn't terribly bright who seems so overwhelmed by it all? The prince who just wants to sing? That's Kenneth. Sometimes you'll walk into a room and Kenneth is "at rest" but seeming somehow completely put out by it, too, like he works really hard for his life of privilege and pampering. It's a lot of work being Kenneth, you know. ::sigh::



He got the name Danger Cat when he flew out a second story window last year--through the screen (the leaves! the leaves!) and our patio table umbrella broke his fall. We close the window now when it's windy outside. He's spent more time, and money, at the vet than any of the other cats combined. But we love him anyway.

Kenneth is one of four cats. In due time, you'll meet Alice, Celia, and Ernest, too. For now, enjoy these pictures of the Fabulous Kenneth.