Varitek is coming back.  I guess this is good.  But, it’s a strange world when a person is disappointed to receive only $5 million, with another $3-5 million guaranteed.  Nice work, if you can get it.

And, on the fourth day, we bombed Pakistan.  Luckily, this is only a bad thing when it happens under Republican Administrations–it is perfectly fine, even laudable, when Democrats do it.  Whew!  (I want to get Bin Laden even a little bit more than the average person, but I have never cared for double standards.)

We have established that I play around on Facebook.  A whole lot.  Lately, everyone’s passing around this nightmare “Write 25 random things about yourself” challenge.  It’s sort of horrid, when you have to sit down and do it–and yet, I really enjoy reading everyone else’s.

So, here are mine.  Feel free to add your own in the comments section–it would be interesting.

1.) I used to work in a factory wiring and assembling burglar alarms and computer fixtures. To my surprise, I was quite deft with tools. Sometimes, it’s nice to have a job that you don’t bring home with you.
2.) I totally love Battlestar Galactica, but it is the only time I have ever avidly watched a television show which I don’t completely understand. (even after more than one viewing.) When Roslin goes down, I’m going to be very upset.
3.) I meant to go to law school, but I forgot
4.) I spend too much time playing games on Facebook. But, it’s very entertaining, and I really like interacting with people from all over the world. It can be strangely grueling, yet psychologically fascinating.
5.) I am convinced I am about eight inches taller than I actually am. I am pretty sure that I am also probably Very Dangerous. But, in a good way–I hope.
6.) Cool Ranch Doritos are excellent
7.) I secretly enjoy really dumb action movies like Red Dawn and Die Hard. Hamburger Hill is one of my favorites.
8.) Chocolate doesn’t interest me much. I have always preferred vanilla or butterscotch
9.) I love photography, but will never be very good at it. It’s nice to do something creative, where there’s no pressure to have any actual talent
10.) I have a crippled, diabetic, neurologically impaired cat with no tail. I found her dying outside Yankee Stadium one afternoon, and on one else would stop to help her. Only the Red Sox fan. She has cost me so much money that I am _still_paying off her veterinary bills, and will be for quite some time to come.
11.) I am afraid that we will never, ever elect a female President, and if we do, it certainly won’t be a Democrat. This distresses me terribly.
12.) I flirt with Buddhism–and sometimes, it flirts back
13.) Not too long ago, I lost several years of my life to a freakish combination of horrible, disabling injuries, and recovered more than I ever would have expected. I am still trying to figure out what it all means, and how to make it work on a daily basis. The first time I managed to ski again, several people I know cried. I can sometimes even do black diamonds now. But, I wish I could see well enough to drive–and I can’t.
14.) It is embarrassing, but I am privately very fond of almost all of Shelley Long’s movies, especially Outrageous Fortune.
15.) I believe in reincarnation
16.) Once, I climbed a smallish, but steep, mountain in New Hampshire. I’d like to do that again, even though nature makes me nervous.
17.) I play both tenor and alto saxophone–not very well–and am very fond of hard bop. I can read music, but mostly, I just play by ear.
18.) Sleeping frustrates me, because it seems like such a complete waste of time, which could be put to better use
19.) I got to speak to Julie Andrews briefly last year, and had trouble not stuttering
20.) I really love cooking, and do so aggressively, but am inclined to improvise too much, and over-spice. Onions and garlic are thrilling. So is homemade curry powder.
21.) Sometimes–especially in recent months, I am quite convinced that I am in the wrong career, and should be doing something else entirely. But, I can’t think of a good fit–and would be delighted to hear suggestions.
22.) I would go to a baseball game–major or minor league; or even little league–every single day, if I could.
23.) I _always_ tell the truth, unless it would be unkind, in which case I try to avoid saying anything at all. If I fail to do so, I am extremely disappointed in myself.
24.) Rules–no matter how minor–are very, very hard for me. So, mostly, I have to break them. Laws, however, _matter_. Most of the time.
25.) I am still not sure if George Clooney can act, but I always enjoy looking at him.

Boy, it’s about time.  The Hall of Fame has been all about longevity, and numbers, for the past decade or so, and Jim Ed Rice would fall a bit short in both categories.  But, between 1976-1979, in my opinion, there really was no better player in all of major league baseball.

This is a guy who broke his bat while checking his swing.

Twice.

I have mentioned before that I have a tendency to play games on Facebook.  In fact, yet again this week, as a direct result of my propensity to befriend one and all, and send far too many messages, I received–yet again–the Dreaded Pink Box, from the mysterious, robotic, and feared Facebook Police.

When you get the pink box, it means that if you keep yapping endlessly to your delightful new chums all over the world, you are in danger of having your account suspended, and perhaps even–perish the thought!–banned entirely.  There is no foolproof way to avoid this fate, but the best strategy is simply to “run silent,” as they say.  Nobody is sure how long one must remain in this state, in order to escape punitive action–but, for lack of a better idea, I thought forty-eight hours would suffice.  All of which reminded me of Michael Keaton in Nightshift–a very underrated and hilarious movie, by the way–insisting to Henry Winkler, after he gets thrown out of Las Vegas for unruly, antisocial behavior, that he “got banned for being too good of a player.”

Me, in a nutshell.

Although, to my great surprise, I have turned out to have a bit of a knack for playing King of the World (a game developed by a man named Don Lee, to give great credit where great credit is due).  I started off as a lowly, somewhat bloodthirsty, but not particularly competent brute.  (KOTW term for “soldier.”)  I invaded, and plundered, and collected battle standards.  But finally, I caught on to the fact that the fun part of the game is making friends with the members of your alliance, and working together to–well–invade and plunder even more.  As it happens, I belong to the feared–and cruelly misjudged–Hitmen alliance, inaccurately thought by many to be unsportsmanlike bullies.  The reality is, that while the Hitmen are very scary, mostly they are just damn good players–and this infuriates other alliances.  (With the exception of our closest allies, 300 Spartans, Mercenaries, Knights Templar, and Ezekiel, and several others.  Don’t ask; just smile and nod–it’s easier that way.)

But, the funny part is, as time passed, I have risen in the game, and–if you read our roster carefully–I have been promoted to Diplomat and 2nd Lieutenant.  Which is actually really fun, because I end up interacting with people from every alliance in the game–and, as a result, from all over the world.  My own alliance has players from the United States, England, France, Turkey, Mexico, Egypt, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Honduras, Canada, Thailand, South Africa–and God only knows how many other countries.  (To my continuing amazement, almost everyone speaks astonishingly good English–and I am self-conscious about being unable to respond with the same sort of skill in any other languages.)

Today, with the help of my compatriots, I was made a member of the Royal Court.  My reign will last for but a single day–which doesn’t make it any less delightful. Tomorrow, I shall return to my normal diplomat/lieutenant/brute self, but being a Princess–ever so briefly–is really quite fun.

I like dogs. (Belgian Sheepdogs are neat, too)

And, luckily for me, dogs are not particularly controversial.  Although I am willing to say that I am strongly in favor–is dissent back to being okay in America, or is it still considered offensive and intellectually bankrupt?  I keep losing track–of shelter dogs. In my case, I am partial to fine, black setter mixes named Maggie who were found eating garbage outside somewhat seedy diners–but, others may not agree.  However, if you are among the people who hold alternate opinions, I am willing to let you still live in the United States, and shockingly, I won’t even chide you.  (I’m Irish to a fault; what do you want from me?)

My particular fine black setter mix named Maggie is a sensitive, delicate flower, and would not be suited to the task, but I would love to participate in search and rescue work, someday.  It has been on my List of Things to Do for a very long time, and ranks quite a bit higher than this.

Lately, I find myself–as happens periodically–spending a fair amount of time thinking about Vietnam.  There’s no explanation for it–the subject simply plagues me, sometimes.  This has been the case for many years.  (Dogs did not fare well there, I’m afraid–and this is something about which the powers that be should be very ashamed.  Individual dog handlers, however, are to be lauded.  Luckily, in Iraq, more humane practices seem to be being observed, insofar as the treatment of dogs is concerned.)

Reading this book recently made me think some more–as is my wont.  It led me to this, and this, and this–and, as is so often the case on the Internet, I ended up chasing my tail around for a while and not getting anywhere in particular.  But, it’s definitely nice to see another example of Excellent Progress.

Then, since thinking is very hard work, I suddenly began craving an order of Nathan’s cheese fries, to which I would never let them add bacon–except when I do.  I also checked out the hamburger column someone I know writes–and am now even more hungry.

It is very important to keep delicious snacks around the house for moments such as these.

Godspeed.

Because they are very, very excellent.

By about 11:00, Eastern Standard Time, I had planned to cry myself to sleep, and maybe not eat for the next few days.  But, I changed my mind.

Because they are excellent.

You know how they talk about that camel, and the proverbial straw?

Well, this is a god-damn haystack.

Enough already.  This is all getting scary–and we don’t need scary, with everything else that’s going on in the world.

The Democratic ticket may, in my opinion, err on the side of being ineffective leaders and disturbingly prone to opportunistic political expediency, but as long as they don’t continue to fall prey to the many wrong-headed calls for them to “take off the gloves” and “counter-punch” and stoop to endless “he said! she said!” invective and so forth, that is very different from the Republican ticket, both members of which increasingly seem to be extremely dangerous, and have always been inclined to be mean.

For a lot of people, this may not be a vote they make with wild enthusiasm and starry-eyed optimism (and for those lucky people for whom it will feel that way, do me a favor and don’t bother lecturing me about it endlessly or making smug, Kool-Aid driven comments, afterwards), but really, how many Presidential votes actually do fall into that category?  From national campaigns to local referendums, I have probably voted at least a hundred times in my life, maybe more (yes, I even show up for the local judicial elections), and I can think of only two occasions when casting my little vote made me genuinely happy.  Well, three times, if I count my first vote, which wasn’t for someone I strongly supported, but hey, I was voting, in an actual booth, at a real, live polling place–and that was pretty cool all by itself.

This is America, and people should cast any vote which makes sense to them, but I just wanted to make it very clear that even if, like me, you find yourself in “which one is the lesser of two evils?” territory, it is my very strong opinion that voting a Democratic slate is the way to go this time.  Straight up and down the ticket.

It is very disappointing that after this horrible, interminable, often ugly election season, I can’t ever imagine enjoying politics the way that I once did–but, a vote is still a vote; nay, an inalienable right!–and I wanted to make it very clear where mine is going this year.

These are good times.

Really good times.  Fabulous times.

Somewhere down the line, My People will forget how incredibly lucky we have been for the past few years.

The only saving grace is that it will be easier to get tickets.

Is it safe to talk about books these days?  I think it is, although I may be proven wrong.

I just finished Curtis Sittenfeld’s American Wife, and found it very unsettling, indeed.  Like Prep, I thought it was extremely well-observed, without being particularly engaging–or entertaining.  But, American Wife was a strange, and puzzling, choice, for a novelist to make.  The notion of a stranger publishing an extremely personal and speculative version of a person’s actual life is–I don’t know–unseemly. Rude, even.  It will certainly make the author rich, but I’m pretty confident that the author was already rich, so I’m not sure I see the point.  I would say that the entire project borders on stalking–except that I think it crossed the border, relocated to a new country entirely, settled down and began to grow crops.  (and if you find the Buffy reference in there, you’re good)

I suppose that Primary Colors was an unnecessary novel in a very similar way, but somehow, it seemed less–prurient.  Or, maybe just less scatological.  Then again, Joe Klein, for all his failings as a pundit, is simply a more compelling writer.  I suspect that Ms. Sittenfeld was aiming for Theodore Dreiser–which might have been a damned interesting creative choice, and a really good book–but, ended up with–well–Olivia Goldsmith, instead.  (It doesn’t help that the last third of the novel is a rushed blur, and clearly the result of trying to hit a demanding deadline schedule.)

American Wife is worth reading, and–sort of–ambitious, but after I finished it, I was left feeling as though I should go wash my hands.

I’m currently about halfway through Giles Blunt’s By The Time You Read This, which I’m enjoying.  A nice, solid book.  It won’t reinvent the wheel, but then again, it wasn’t designed to do so.

What else?  The Camera, by Ansel Adams.  Dense, demanding–and very informative.  Actually, I hope to read the entire series, but I’m starting with The Camera.  (Here’s a great article about photography, by the way, on an excellent site.)  Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey Il’s surprisingly not-as-dated-as-you-would-think Convention. A book about fishermen called Their Fathers’ Work.  Everything the Instructors Never Told You About Mogul Skiing–because, even though such things are probably out of my reach, it can’t hurt to try to improve.  Red Sox Rule–for no other reason than because I feel like it.

And I was completely delighted to pick up an affordable secondhand copy of The New Professional Chef, which I had wanted for a really long time.

I haven’t read The War Within yet, but I assume I will, at some point.

And–it scarcely needs saying–but, go, Red Sox!

I must be candid.  When I first heard that Senator McCain had chosen Governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate, I laughed my head off.  In fact, I laughed for about two days straight.  Not derisive laughter, mind you.  I laughed because the pick was audacious, savvy–and profoundly stupid.

Then, various pieces of information began to surface (nope, not going to go into detail about things most people already know, and which would further invade other people’s privacy), and the situation moved from funny–to bizarre.

Only, she turned around and gave quite a good speech.  Far better than the ones by the other three members of the two tickets, in my opinion–and for anyone who didn’t get the memo, a vice presidential pick is routinely expected to be an attack dog.  The fact that Governor Palin can be vicious–and still look so very cheerful and friendly at the same time–kind of appeals to me, and some (not all) of her criticisms of the Democratic nominee are concerns that I share.  I’m also not going to pretend to be upset about the fact that, in November, either a person of color or a woman is going to be elected.  How can anyone spin that into anything other than good news, and a sign of tremendous progress?

But, I have to say that if you kill wolves–or anything else, for that matter–you are not My Pal.  Not now.  Not ever.  In fact, it made me scrape up some spare cash and send it here.

I have also–grimly–purchased an Obama/Biden 08 hat, but I haven’t worn it yet.

Nevertheless, I am not a fan of people who decide that if you don’t agree with them on every single issue, across the board, you are evil.  Only the Yankees are evil.  Profoundly evil.  Inescapably evil.  Even when the issue involves abortion and choice.  I don’t like abortion, either.  Is there anyone who does?  But, the point, for me, is that people must be free to make their own choices about their own bodies and their own lives,and the government–or any religion anywhere–should not be involved.  However, I still allow for the possibility that reasonable people can agree to disagree in a civil manner–and I’m damned if I’ll make an “of course, I support the idea of women in public office, just not this woman” argument.  For people keeping score at home, that was the logic which destroyed Senator Clinton–who would probably have been a very fine President, and really would have won in November.  Judging from the many articles and blogs I have wasted countless hours reading lately, no one is spewing more invective towards Governor Palin than self-described liberal feminists.  What I have learned during this campaign season is that it is considered very, very bad if Republicans make unpleasant, inflammatory and divisive remarks; but, if Democrats do the same thing, it is excellent!  And if they are passive-aggressive about it or use clumsy surrogates (see Obama, Senator Barack), so much the better!

I say, enough already.  Governor Palin and I have many different beliefs.  So what?  I don’t have to vote for her.  I don’t even have to be fond of her.  But, I don’t have to spout out a bunch of spiteful things simply because we don’t share much common ground.  Senator McCain was quite right when he said (I paraphrase) that Americans are tired of everyone yelling all the time.  Although, honestly, we talk a lot about sexism and racism, and yet I can’t help wondering whether classism is what really rules this country–and this election.

Many Democrats seem to be enjoying having fun at Governor Palin’s expense, but I suspect it will all seem less jolly in November.  Instead, they should really be afraid.  Very afraid.

On a happier note, go, Patriots!