The Thinking Minority

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Republican Party

Judges Cite Nonsense Poem in Guantanomo Case

There is also a chapter in Alice in Wonderland in which the Knave of Hearts is on trial for having stolen the tarts, and a nonsense poem (a parody of a then-contemporary poem) is introduced into evidence against the Knave. It is purported that the Knave wrote it; the Knave denies writing it, says it isn't in his handwriting, and notes that no name is signed as the author. The King takes this as incontrovertible proof of the Knave's deceit and, therefore, his guilt.

We are the new Victorians: we see evidence where there is none, and declare the end of theoretical science, as if we had somehow reached the end of discovery.

9 months is a long time, until it's not.

If I asked you what your plans were for next March, what would you say? Too far ahead to think about, right? I felt that way back in December: 9 months is a long time.

At 4 weeks, Mr. B and I felt like 8 weeks was FOREVER to wait to tell people. And I think being constantly sick made the time go by kind of slowly.

At 12 weeks, another two months to find out the gender seemed like FOREVER. August still seemed far away, and I was (for some reason) eagerly anticipating "showing."

Finding out that the alien growing inside me was a boy made things a little more "real." But still, I was only halfway through this thing, and it was (barely) spring - late summer was still FOREVER to wait.

Now? We've seen our first 100-degree days, so summer is here. The list of "Things To Do Before The Kid Shows Up" hasn't gotten much shorter, and yet my google countdown keeps on ticking (64 days!). Suddenly we have a childbirth class and a meeting with the pediatrician and a tour of the maternity ward scheduled and a guess-the-date-and-weight game in the works and a lot of cleaning to do to satisfy my nesting instinct and holy cow this is really only two months away...

Yes, 6 months later, we're finally almost done with the basement. We've been a little busy...

We installed the 5 cabinet doors we were waiting on, 4 on the corner cabinets at the bottom of the stairs and 1 over the electrical box (175-179) and assembled the shower (180). Assembling the shower, by the way, was about 63 steps all by itself, and took 4 people with at least 7 or 8 degrees.

In case I never blog about it, the final parts that are left: putting up a towel rack (181), finishing the bottom edge of the back door (182), hang up pictures (183), and bring home the baby (184). That is, after all, why we started this project... :-)

Hoo! Hoo!

Way to go, man. We're proud of you.

I wish I could say the sleepless nights are over, but, well, yeah. :)

Seriously, can't they secede from the U.S. or something?

I was listening to NPR yesterday (the other car, with XM, was in the shop) and caught a little tidbit about the role race played in the primary in West Virginia (or, West Virgina, if you please). You can listen to it for yourself, but here's the interesting parts [with some sarcasm for your enjoyment]:

"Hillary Clinton's overwhelming victory over Barack Obama in West Virginia has revived a common question this primary season: How race influences voters decisions.

"One in five white West Virginia voters said race helped determine their choice.

"On Tuesday, we asked West Virginians who they voted for, and why, as they left the polls. We heard a lot of this:

"I don't want Obama in there. I don't like his background. They're putting the man in because of his race. And I don't, uh, I'm not ready for that." -Gene Morris [you're right, because the best thing a black person has going for them in this country, and your state, is his race]

"Mr. Obama doesn't have much of a chance here because they will not vote for a black man in West Virginia. And they can't stand the thoughts of a black man telling a white man what to do." -Joetta Koon [she actually gets it]

"Whether he is a Muslim, uh, I guess he's not, I guess it's just everything that's going on in the Middle East; a little scary being unknown." -Thomas Caldwell [um, he's not Muslim, as if it matters, and the only unknown in this equation is what's taking up the space between your two ears]

"You know I didn't vote for no colored. [laughing]" -Morris King [yep, we know]

"They're all West Virginians who voted in Tuesday's primary. We should add that none of them were asked specifically about race."

One word: WOW!

Sick-Leave Abuse Prompts Calls to Compensate for Unused Time

"For weeks that had a holiday falling on a Monday, 27 percent of all sick leave at the IRS was taken on a Tuesday in 2005 and 2006, the report said. And 24 percent of all sick leave taken by IRS employees during non-holiday weeks was on a Monday. "

Now, I can't even decipher what the first sentence means. But for the second sentence: Well, if it were just random chance, you would expect that 20% of all sick leave would be on a Monday - and 20% on Tuesday, and 20% on Wednesday, and 20% on Thursday, and 20% on Friday. So 24% doesn't seem that out of line to me...

Well, they kinda tell you...when you're pregnant, all of your other internal organs get squished. Your bladder is squished and you have to pee all the time, ha ha, right?

But no, seriously, they all get squished. Space is at a premium, so there are trade-offs: if, for example, you eat a large meal, then you can't breathe. And there is very little wiggle room (literally): when the kid kicks, he's likely to strike the bladder, ribs, stomach, and all kinda of fun stuff. And I imagine that the internal-organs-as-punching-bags phenomenon is only going to get worse...

Yes, it's all worth it. But it's WEIRD.

Ok, there are a lot of things that no one tells you about being pregnant. But what's really odd is this: you feel the kid move. All the time. It's not just that sometimes the kid kicks and you can feel it - no, you're sitting at your desk, and he's moving. You're walking to your car, and he's moving. You're in a meeting, in the shower, watching TV, trying to sleep, having a conversation, doing dishes - and he's moving. Kicking, squirming, poking. Imagine someone following you around for four months or so, poking you in the stomach. Except that you love this person a lot, so it's not as annoying as you'd think.

It's weird. It's cool, but it's really really weird. That's all.

We had our 22-week ultrasound on Monday, and from the weird and alien images, it appears to be a healthy, growing, perfect little boy!

"I check their underpants to ensure there is only one penis."

And this one gets a big "That's what she said."

We find out on Monday if it's a boy or a girl, so if you haven't made your guess yet...

The bulb that spawned this beautiful flower was in a bag that was sitting in the corner of our kitchen next to out sliding glass door. It had been there for at least four months. This was growing out of the bag. Lots of sun and no water...

I have had my first drill since I was sent off to learn the law of the military and it could not have been more exciting. Many things have changed, many have stayed the same, and I am stuck in the middle with you (sorry, I couldn't resist).

20 weeks today!


(Yep, Livin' On A Prayer is stuck in my head. Figured I'd put it in everyone else's heads as well. Sorry.)

This is Jimmy A's guitar. Jimmy started me out with a few chords last year at "Old People's Beach Week" in North Myrtle Beach. I've since learned Margaritaville and the opening to She's Gone. Thank you Jimmy A. Thank you.

Well, not just those two songs, but those were the most exciting to learn. When I get done with the oppressive tedium of academia, I'm gonna take lessons. I can then I add Slow RIde and Freebird to my repetoire.

Dear DB (think about it and you'll know what insult I'm using),

When you decided to up and leave town, the blog went all Greek. Then, terrorists started shooting at people from the side of the highway. Yes, I said terrorists - I'm now afraid of the highway. WTF?

What the hell happened to the blog? Why is it no longer in American?

I figured I'd start posting stuff from Flickr here. This was one of our better days in New Orleans. The engineer...what do you call the guy that drives an electric train in 2008?...was pretty nice. He picked us up even though we had no tickets and took us to the place to get tickets. Afterwards, he didn't even make us use our tickets. If you need streetcar tickets for New Orleans, just let me know.

Our next ultrasound is scheduled for April 21st at 11AM...so if you want to take a guess as to whether it's a boy or a girl, you have until then.

I'm really not sure, so I can't help you. :-)