kidsmoke

It's huge, for one thing...I don't like to see the band looking like tiny little matchstick men!

Hahaha.

Good luck, Tony. It's a deserving photo. I always like your photography.

Ok, that made me laugh! I had sent him a complimentary message about 2 weeks ago, and he responded with a nice note back and then offered to autograph a book for me and mail it to me...how sweet is that? In the course of emailing about sending the book, I mentioned our reading thread here and all the great book recommendations I get from this thread, and said I was going to mention how much I'd enjoyed reading "Ladies and Gentlemen" here. Then you posted that you realized you knew him from college. I hadn't mentioned that to him, so my guess is he must've read your post here. He'd told me he

Happy Mothers Day to you too, Michelle, and to all the hard-working moms out there! That last paragraph you wrote totally speaks to me! I had my first at 31, middle child at 35, and my last at 40. I wouldn't change it, for so many reasons, but I'll admit that sometimes it's a real struggle keeping up with their energy levels. I was reminded powerfully of their younger days last night, since yesterday Brennan (now 21) brought home a tiny black-and-white chihuahua he'd found running loose on a busy downtown street. Collarless, of course. Then daughter Alissa went to spend the night at her olde

That rainbow SG is a pretty one!

I just bought this cool stacking planter from my local 99-cent store....each level is about 8" deep, shaped like a 3-leaf clover. The layers interlock with the leaves going alternate directions. I bought 6 which makes it a nice height, with 18 planting pockets. I plan to plant it mostly, if not completely, with basil. I love my fresh basil! I got one of these sets for my dad too, and we've planted it with "Lady's Paintbrush", a wonderful little flower that has a wander-y growth habit and these brilliant little vivid red-orange flowers. Little tufts. Just gorgeous. Want some seed? They are my

So are you getting overly ambitious out there? Hundreds of tomato plants, way too many zucchinis? I am puttering around slowly myself, with nothing yet in the ground other than an artichoke from last year, which is getting huge quickly. I noticed today that my Red Flame seedless grape vine, planted last year, has its first tiny clusters of grapes. Elsewhere around the yard I've got loads of sweet, sweet oranges and more Meyer lemons than I can keep up with. Oh and one overwintering Marconi bell pepper, which I just realized has 3 almost full-sized peppers! That's way at the back of the yard &a

I will be reading that as soon as it arrives in the mail! Good to hear that you loved it. Here's something fun, guess who just happens to be a huge Wilco fan? Yep, Adam Ross. Good taste abounds.

This is so great. Rest in peace, Maurice.

Is anyone here familiar with Adam Ross? I've just finished reading his short story collection called "Ladies and Gentlemen", and while I generally prefer full novels to short stories, these fascinated me. They tend to be on the darkish side, but the characters are so fully realized that the brevity of the stories isn't a problem...you feel as though these might be people you met on a bus bench (or airline seat!) who had only so much time to tell you their tales, yet still left you with their imprint wandering around in your head days later. I really loved the book. Tore through it in about 2 d

Aw, Sarah, that's lousy! I hope you can find some way to continue. Maybe someone on the board will have some useful advice.

Thanks, Oil Can Boyd!

Well, what do I know, but the book seems to think Tyson (the chicken, not the Mike) has a big presence there.

Ft. Wayne is mentioned several times in the book, Wendy. It has to do with the chicken packing plants, which hire a lot of hard-to-track Mexican illegals (not to start up that whole immigration debate!) who make it easier for the Mexican drug trafficking organizations to place sellers within that setting. I wondered that too.

Impressive setlist!

Ah, Sarah, those poor kids! As much as the foster care system is flawed, I hope those kids were taken away and now live with some form of stability! With the parents cooking, can you imagine how much exposure they had? And that poor newborn sure got off to a rocky start in life. Thank God they didn't wind up burning their house to the ground. How horrible for you to live next to that! Heat, it sounds like meth is thoroughly entrenched in NC. The book makes a strong case for pseudoephedrine (meth's precursor) to be available only by prescription, or for cold medicines to use other formulation

I love that Atlantic piece.

I'm deep into the excellent book "Methland" by Nick Reding....seriously disconcerting, very well researched, but very readable despite the intense subject matter. It got me to wondering whether those of you in other parts of the country, or the world for that matter, see the effects of methamphetamine use around you. It is said that my area is practically the center of the meth universe (southern CA, especially inland of L.A.) and I see local news stories all the time that, even when meth use isn't mentioned, show the hallmarks of people behaving with the classic meth paranoid delusions. I s

dboon is just screwing with you, Dennis. (Knock it off, dboon.) Sarah, I'm agreed that being there about 4 hrs. early is probably enough. Bring water and snacks, but usually the waiting time seems to fly. I've had many great conversations while waiting in line....something about the enforced "unbusyness" creates a nice atmosphere to just enjoy the company of your companions and fellow line-waiters. Return any chairs and other extras to your vehicle well before the doors are set to open, maybe a half-hour in advance. Don't be carrying a purse that will have to be checked, because that'll ho

Is the problem resolved, Charlie?

I loved Black Swan Green.

So, how'd that beery work out for you, Mart? I'm celebratory. We celebrated my Dad's 89th birthday today with a big gathering, and he was showered with love and gifts. Tomorrow two of my sisters are taking him to a Dodgers/Nationals game...they have tickets right behind home plate. Dad knows about the game, but he doesn't know that one sister contacted the Dodgers organization, the "ambassadors" they have....an ambassador will be bringing a bag of Dodger mementos right to their seats sometime during the game. Dad might even get stuff like an autographed baseball! How cool is that??!! I ca

You could almost hurt yourself just watching this lunatic! And try to resist that urge to constantly look up, haha. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIe6hYAdw_I DO NOT try this at home. Look out, dog at about 00:35!

Charlie, I'm looking into it. Is anyone else experiencing this?