Puritanism is alive and well in New England

Driving through the rotary to go over the BU bridge this morning at 8:46 am, I saw a white truck with red and green block lettering painted on both the back and side of the truck. Closer inspection revealed the following:
"SATAN SET UP CHRISTMAS TO MAKE A MOCKERY OF JESUS WITH LIES ABOUT SANTA CLAUS, FLYING REINDEER, TREES AND PARTIES"

I kid you not.

Between that and listening to David Sedaris sing "Away in a Manager" in the style of Billie Holiday, I damn near drove off the road.

Blue Christmas for Red Sox Nation

Dear Johnny Damon,

Congratulations on your multi-million dollar deal with the New York Yankees. I hope that the money the team is everything that you hoped for.

In particular, I hope that you enjoy your new short haircut and clean shaven look. I hope that people still recognize you, and more importantly, I hope that your game doesn't pull a "Samson" on you.

Mellie

PS. Please note that I only said nice things to you because I want to stay on Santa's good side. Because I have to rely on Santa and his presents and not George Steinbrenner and his $52M checkbook.

Alien Ant Farm

In case you weren't aware of this, there is a case that was just decided today in Federal Court that "intelligent design" cannot be taught as part of the biology curriculum in Pennsylvania schools because it is unConstitutional. You didn't really need a law degree to figure that out, right?

Things I would say if this were a perfect world:
The thing that I don't understand is why intelligent design and evolution are/have to be mutually exclusive. If you think of this planet as a sort of ant farm, which is how I look at it, it is obvious that the strong survive and the weak don't. But someone still needs to BUY the ant farm, preferably from Target, although when Co-Worker Nina and I discussed this topic earlier, she suggested that this particular ant farm was probably purchased from Walmart.

Happy Jane Austen's 230th birthday everyone. :)

My dad, who HATES all things British (or at least he says he does to spite me and my mother, who is a fellow anglophile,) went to Pride and Prejudice under duress with my mom a few days ago. He called me right after the film to say he loved the film and the story and the locations. Also, he now has a mini-crush on KK and one on Pemberley (he really loved those houses.) I can't figure out when the pod people grabbed him exactly, as he has offered to go see it again with me when I am home for Christmas!! I am not complaining about this; it just is entirely unexpected.

I learned today from the Writers' Almanac on NPR that after World War I, they used to read Jane Austen's books to English soldiers recovering from shell shock. Doctors discovered that the books helped the soldiers to find a way to reconnect to the world that they had known before the war. I wish that someone had passed that information on to Septimus Smith in Mrs. Dalloway before things got so bad.

Winter Wonderland

As you may have heard, read, got caught in, there was a wicked blizzard here in Boston on Friday. Thunder, lightning and blinding snow. I can't ever remember another snow storm accompanied by lightning. It turned my 3.5 mile commute down Memorial Drive and over the BU bridge into Allston from a 15 minute ride into a 2 hour one. On the upside, I made friends with the lady in the red minivan that was beside me. After observing me observing her laughing at something in her car, we ended up rolling down our windows and having a lovely chat about the the nice men pushing cars out of the icy slush and seeing the Christmas spirit in action. I also spent two hours listening to NPR, catching up on the news of "The World". We had to have gotten about 10 inches worth of snow by 3:00 p.m.

I nearly slid off the road twice, but I managed to get home in one piece and made myself hot chocolate, threw on my pajamas and watched "Rudolph" and "Frosty" on dvd as I put together holiday cards. Regardless of the date on the birth certificate, it is pretty obvious that I am nine. Between the holiday cartoons and the Christmas music, that stuff still able to hold some magic for me.

I think that it is pretty ridiculous that you HAVE to have iTunes installed to use QuickTime (as I just learned trying to check out the X3 preview.) Apple Co., that reeks of desperation; you will never win me over to iPod, iTunes or their limited use files. I loves me my little Creative Zen.

Why parents shouldn't be allowed to go to the cinema: my mother decided to use Pride and Prejudice as an example of why I should "take a risk" and do online dating again.
BLASPHEMY!!! Sorry, Mom, but Lizzie Bennet + Mr.Darcy do not= eharmony.com

Boston beat

I had to go out of the office at lunch time today for an appointment at the chiropractors. Because the doctor's office is about a half hour drive from work, I take a long lunch hour and have been known to pop into the drive through at the MacDonald's next door for a lunchtime treat. Has anyone else noticed the rising cost of lunch at MacDonald's? I had a small McNuggets and a small shake, and it cost nearly $6. So much for fast and cheap. The service today was neither. Still, it was real tasty.
::Stop shaking your heads. I went to the gym yesterday and am going again tomorrow morning.::

Too late after my tire popping episode on the streets of Boston, I found out that the City will allow you to make a claim against them for pothole damage to your car! You have to be within the time frame, and they have to have known about the pothole beforehand. (Personally, I think that they should take your word for it. This city is LITTERED with potholes.)

I made the mistake of going to the Boston Crime website and looking at the entry for my neighborhood. Sister K asked me the other night if I felt safe walking around my neighborhood at night, and I assured her that I had never had any problems other than the occassional leer, unlike Sister B who gets harrassed by US Airmen while walking her dog at dusk in Virginia, although that is another story. But now, I feel a little more concerned about the 'hood, especially when you read things like: Sun, 11/13/05 9:00:00 PM ASSAULT & BATTERY D/W - OTHER ON MY CORNER!! on a Sunday night!!! (although maybe somehow it was football related. That would be okay.)