"I cannot live without books" - Thomas Jefferson

On July 7th, 2000, I had just finished watching the news.  Nightline came on, and they were live at a bookstore.  In every scene, I saw hundreds of kids and teenagers, many dressed in costumes.  As the reporter conducted interviews, 11 and 12 year-olds described lemonade stands, mowing lawns, and babysitting to save up dimes and quarters and dollars.  All of them were waiting to buy copies of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. 

Liars and Taxes and (Medi)cares, oh my!

Are you constantly amazed by our elected officials in Washington?  It is like watching a bunch of Kindergartners throwing temper tantrums and pointing fingers at each other.  Nobody seems to understand the real issue, and everyone is blaming someone else.  Obviously, the issue is just too complex for our simple politicians.

Here is your chance to make a difference!!  Just print out the letter below and send it off to your Representative or Senator.  Don't worry, it has lots of pictures so they can understand.  (And besides, they all have staffers who are literate and can read the letter to them.)

Don't you have something better to do?

All it takes is a few minutes listening to talk radio, watching the news, reading the paper, or even having a conversation with coworkers -- the conclusion is inevitable.  The world is going to hell in a hand basket, and seems to be in a big hurry to get there!  Wars and economic crises, abuse and crime, lousy jobs, inconsiderate "friends", lazy husbands, undisciplined children, nit-picking wives, noisy neighbors -- everyone has something or someone to complain about.  It is no wonder half of the US population will suffer from anxiety, depression, or other mental illness during their lives (according to NIMH).  And it is no surprise that half of US adults consider themselves "regular" drinkers (from CDC).  (No report seems to study the correlation between those two sets of people.)  Our world is really a mess, right?

Nobody that knows me has every confused me with an orphaned Hayley Mills playing the "glad game". But...

I'm open! Give me the ball!

The NFL labor talks are stalled as the lock out continues.  The NBA lockout started this week, and both sides are digging in their heels.  (The Round-Mound-of-Rebound has said repeatedly that he doesn't think there will even be a season this year.)  It is almost 90 degrees outside (120 degrees according to the photos from my Arizona Facebook friends), so I can't force myself to think about hockey right now.  True, baseball season is reaching its midpoint, but does anyone care?  If you are like most fans, you love going to the stadium... for the food.  (A good friend once described the price of a baseball ticket as the cover charge to eat stadium food.)  Do you really want to watch baseball on TV in July?

What is a sports fan / addict / junkie (pick the most appropriate term) supposed to do?!?