Maybe if a celebrity says it, people will start listening.

Matt Damon, I may not love all of your movies, but thank you for using your stage (one that most of us don't have) to say what needs to be said:



(And thanks to Tart for posting it first)

Might I add that on today, of all days, it's important for us as a nation to reflect and consider what the best course for the next four years might be? At a time when the confident, but humble diplomacy of a Benjamin Franklin or a Winston Churchill is needed, a hockey mom from Alaska is not what I'm looking for.

I got a new car!

Well, new to me. :) A head gasket on my old car (ten years old; 150,000 miles) blew, so it made sense to get something newer, with less miles, and better MPG. So above is my "new" 2003 Saturn L200. I pick her up on Friday morning!

Also, I had both my first pumpkin spice coffee & my first pumpkin ale of the season today. Life is good.

Forget about "Sisterhood" - I want a good VP!

If this is true, it makes me sad. And angry. Don't forget angry.

If you're on Facebook, don't forget to join the group "Intelligent Women Against Sarah Palin."

Also, don't for one second let the title convince you that I am not interested in women's rights (unlike Palin). My point, along with many others', is that she is unqualified & I refuse to vote for her JUST because she's a woman.

Oh, and also that it's a disgusting ploy on the part of the McCain camp to think that women will vote for her for that reason. Another reason why I want John McCain to be my adorably crazy old uncle, not the President of my country.

UPDATED: Here is Dooce's (and her readers') take on the issue. As usual, she's said what I'm thinking, but in a much more clever way. ;)

Fenway Faithful is Right

Tonight makes 456 consecutive sellouts at Fenway. This number breaks the previous MLB record, held by Indians fans (455). So here's to the fans. It's no coincidence that the Sox have a much better home winning record than a lot of other MLB teams.

My favorite parts of the evening:

• Lester marking the occasion by throwing 7.2 scoreless innings and 9 strike-outs.
• Winning, of course. We are now a half game back from first place in the AL East.
• In the video they showed at the park (and on NESN), Tito says, tongue firmly in cheek, "Thanks for the all the advice." ;)

Today in New England Sports

Yesssssss:

Tampa Bay	85	56	.603	-
Boston	84	58	.592	1.5

But, noooooooooooooo!

Goodbye Summer!

Well, Labor Day weekend is over & I'm back to school this week. While it won't be fall for a few more weeks, I'm moving into my fall routine & that deserves a look back at the summer that's ending.

It was a good summer, on the whole. I spent a lot of time working, enjoying beverages with friends, and generally just enjoying my first summer in Portsmouth. I spent a number of good weekends at the lake with my family (most notably, Thing 1 & Thing 2). And I spent my customary wonderful two weeks on PEI.

However, I was apparently having such a good time that I mostly neglected both my "summer to-read list" and my "summer projects list." Of the 30 books on the former list, I finished just 3: Devil in the White City (which was brilliant), The Weight of Water (which was terrible), and Sons of Providence (which was ok). I did re-read a number of old books & read a number of books not on the list, though. Does that count for anything? ;)

Now for my "summer projects list." The ones in bold are the ones I actually did:

• Sand rusty vintage patio chairs & repaint
• Sort through old clothes & donate to Goodwill
• Take photos of "hidden" patios, gardens, backyards around Portsmouth
• Improve recently written article & submit for publication?
• Plant window boxes: one w/ annuals, one w/ herbs
• Maintain Museophilia
• Secure an internship for the fall
• Migrate Enigmatic Snippets to this site (tried, but alas . . . )
  
• Answer calls for papers for fall conferences
• Take a cooking class?
• Plan a January trip to Scotland or Jamaica?

Ah, well, there's always next summer!