tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111098642012-01-09T20:27:31.699+03:30Your home for scattered bits about language, my kid, feminism, things that happen to me and things that cross my mindOrangenoreply@blogger.comBlogger6761100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-85553242644118967332010-08-23T20:55:00.003+04:302010-08-23T21:19:40.883+04:30

If you've ever watched the Disney Channel shows The Suite Life of Zack & Cody or its successor, The Suite Life on Deck, none of what follows will come as a surprise. The series have been a big success for Disney and its teen stars, and the shows' reliance on tired stereotypes hasn't gotten in the way of making money. Here are a few things Suite Life's young viewers have learned over the years:

Orangenoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-85114448165139177412009-11-02T21:53:00.003+03:302009-11-02T22:03:54.443+03:30

A couple years ago, I wrote about my problem with a stinky washing machine. I tried that smellywasher.com product but it only helped a little and I wasn't inclined to keep buying their proprietary powder.I started using borax (the stuff in the 20 Mule Team box in the laundry aisle) every time I did a load of towels, but the towels never regained their fresh, clean smell.And now! I've switched to

Orangenoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-12479731891653830272009-10-01T17:26:00.002+03:302009-10-01T17:29:32.161+03:30

Hey! Have you always enjoyed Flea's "One Good Thing" blog? (For my money, she's one of the best writers on the internet, and I keep getting on her to assemble her stuff into book form because it's that good.) The old blog's coming down in a few days and the new one's up and running at a new location. Click over and bookmark it, or set up an RSS feed like I did so you'll never miss a tasty bite of

Orangenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-33176369155335618992009-07-09T22:14:00.003+04:302009-07-09T22:18:20.470+04:30

Read m. leblanc's Bitch Ph.D. post, "Talkin' 'Bout Real." She explains why we should, in fact, embrace "identity politics." Why it's pernicious to play the "us and them" game in determining who fits the category of "real Americans" and who doesn't.The impetus is recent talk about Sarah Palin, Ross Douthat's NYT column about "the democratic ideal" that seems to be "even mediocre white folks can

Orangenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-33717456762978242782009-07-05T17:15:00.002+04:302009-07-05T17:16:19.982+04:30

A friend and I co-created today's crossword in the New York Times. W00t!

Orangenoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-15287830048953638502009-06-25T00:34:00.004+04:302009-06-25T00:49:11.207+04:30

(Not the weather. The weather is quite warm now.)Cool Thing the FirstIn Salon Broadsheet, Lynn Harris has written a short essay about legislation that proposes to mandate insurers who cover obstetrical services to also cover IVF and other treatments for infertility. There are some compelling arguments that women/couples with insurance coverage for IVF would be less likely to use turbo-charged

Orangenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-77210888119343183532009-05-13T01:20:00.002+04:302009-05-13T01:25:41.227+04:30

My Mother's Day gift from Ben was a book of poems he wrote about me. The kids worked on these all week at school, and these poem books—bound with fat yarn—are impossibly cute.Here's one, called "My Best Mom: A True Exaggeration Poem"My mom is the best.She gets A's on every test.She can do crosswords at light speed.And lead the Navy in their deed.Me and dad love you more than the fanciest cars.But

Orangenoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-48540510195775915462009-05-08T04:41:00.002+04:302009-05-08T05:15:34.496+04:30

No wonder my traffic has eroded so woefully—I haven't been keeping up this blog. I'm blogging every day—sometimes twice a day—at my 1⅓ crossword blogs. Between that, an uptick in freelance work, the persistence of the whole laziness/procrastination nexus, Facebook, and Twitter, yeah, I don't take the time here. Sorry. There does seem to be a rash of blogular lethargy these days, though. I can

Orangenoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-91491908486880286462009-04-24T04:29:00.002+04:302009-04-24T04:37:42.561+04:30

So, Ben's ninth birthday is imminent and he's been receiving checks and cash in the mail with his birthday cards. You know what he wants to do with this money? Save it. Put it in his wallet or his savings account and never take it out.Sure, he'd like to reserve the right to buy any desired loot he doesn't receive as gifts—but he'd like to buy those items with someone else's money. Birthday money

Orangenoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-29369894371826506322009-04-18T03:01:00.002+04:302009-04-18T03:17:48.671+04:30

Winter is over, so the seasonal summer beers have returned to the store shelves. I just popped open a Buffalo Bill's Brewery Orange Blossom Cream Ale. Yes, it is an orange-flavored beer. Refreshing, and it totally matches my blog.I found out I passed the online Jeopardy! test in January (I had 40 or 41 out of 50 answers right), and I get to audition in Chicago on May 28. W00t! I have several

Orangenoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-69322393102774028292009-04-16T17:35:00.002+04:302009-04-16T17:55:24.126+04:30

1. It took three tries to get my almost-9-year-old into a shirt he could abide this morning. First shirt: Tag itches. (The tag is sewn flat, and he has the same shirt in three colors. Wore them all fall and winter without complaint.) Second shirt: The inside of the buttons on the button placket itches. Third shirt: Neckhole tight, hard to pull over head, but he can make do. His primary remnant of

Orangenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-31909581747369336462009-03-27T22:02:00.002+04:302009-03-27T22:07:59.541+04:30

I've been holding off on buying a Prius because I think it's an ugly car. I don't like its back end at all. I much prefer a standard (yet sleek!) sedan look.I just saw an ad for the Ford Fusion Hybrid. 41 mpg city? That's not as good as the Prius, but it's a midsize sedan (which is what I'm used to after nine years in a VW Passat) with better mileage than the hybrid versions of the Camry and

Orangenoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-56513886745579604732009-03-17T18:04:00.003+03:302009-03-17T18:22:10.301+03:30

On behalf of my friend Anne, I need to ask the internet what the best way is to handle a knotty romantic situation.Here are the details: Anne met Brad online a few months ago. Neither of them was looking for anything long-term, and he's coming off a bruising divorce. But they hit it off and are quite compatible together. They can both see this turning into something long-term, but nobody's

Orangenoreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-31057653528811027912009-03-14T01:31:00.006+03:302009-03-14T01:43:45.177+03:30

There's been much ballyhoo about President Obama's plan to roll back the Bush tax cuts and restore the tax rate for top earners to 39.6%, up from 35%.Assorted Republican and Libertarian types have hurled themselves into a full-blown tizzy, swearing that they'll work less and take on fewer clients so they can keep their annual income under the $250,000 cutoff, thereby avoiding the increased tax

Orangenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-27766238315815674202009-03-13T02:14:00.002+03:302009-03-13T02:30:39.860+03:30

I haven't posted in nearly a week. "Oh, that Orange, she must be too busy to write anything. What a whirlwind life she leads! Those crossword celebrities, they're in the big time, you know."Uh, yeah. I have the time. I just can't think of anything to talk about. There's some stuff that, you know, violates relatives' privacy. So I won't go there.Shall I stoop to talking about the weather? Dang,

Orangenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-75407927603197832032009-03-07T05:18:00.002+03:302009-03-07T05:23:31.778+03:30

I've been writing more bloggy stuff over at Facebook lately than here. So you know what I'm gonna do? Copy and paste, edit to remove certain identifying information. They call this "25 Random Things About Me" at Facebook.1. When I realized that book I wrote would be published a month before my 40th birthday, I set a retroactive life goal of "publish first book by age 40." Hey, why set goals you

Orangenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-41801436407345612402009-03-05T22:24:00.002+03:302009-03-05T22:33:07.130+03:30

I just got these fancy new "hearing instruments" with Bluetooth capability that will allow me to use an iPod for a change, without having to use earbuds or headphones. (If you already have things plunked in your ears, there's nowhere for earbuds to go.)The Shuffle is out. I want to be able to choose what music to hear.There's the Nano, which has the advantage of coming in ridiculous colors. (And

Orangenoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-73988066582620895022009-02-26T03:47:00.002+03:302009-02-26T04:24:21.635+03:30

Narya gave me five words she associates with me. The deal is that I write about those five things and then if you want blog fodder yourself, leave a comment asking me to give you five subjects/things I associate you with. Then post this in your blog and elaborate on the subjects given.Crosswords: So timely! I leave in 36 hours for the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. I like crosswords

Orangenoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-49846849205111929492009-02-17T02:50:00.002+03:302009-02-17T02:59:11.245+03:30

Gendered language is well nigh inescapable. There are words that exclude or marginalize women—consider chairman, boy wonder, and Jack of all trades, all of which serve to elevate maleness. There are words that debase women—bitch, harpy, shrew—but generally are not used for men. There are woman-specific words for which there's no true male equivalent—mistress, debutante, "the other woman," maid.Do

Orangenoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-65654592470812610622009-02-11T00:09:00.002+03:302009-02-11T00:19:25.752+03:30

Salma Hayek is working with Unicef on various children's issues in Africa. She even nursed a sick newborn boy while she was there:Isn't that terrific? She just shot way up in my estimation. She does drama! She does comedy! (She's been good on 30 Rock this winter.) She lactates unselfishly! She uses her fame to call attention to important issues. And she does so without wearing dorky sunglasses

Orangenoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-22821199471618953762009-02-08T22:12:00.001+03:302009-02-08T22:12:42.081+03:30

Discuss.

Orangenoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-8707455484133437662009-02-06T00:07:00.002+03:302009-02-06T00:12:02.424+03:30

Like me, Roger Ebert is politically liberal and not into religion. His main job is reviewing movies, but he also writes a blog for his newspaper where ventures further afield. I appreciated his latest post, which is about Bush, evolution, the Bible, prayer, dinners with wealthy benefactors, the film The Reader, Rush Limbaugh, lying and shame, and whether you have the wherewithal to speak out when

Orangenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-44445993647586309762009-02-05T03:32:00.003+03:302009-02-05T04:47:57.208+03:30

Are you too old to be a Gen Xer and too young to want to group yourself with the Baby Boomers? You may be part of Generation Jones.My friend Dean Olsher wants to compile a list of generational markers for his fellow Joneses. "Dean knows he's Generation Jones because he couldn't care less about where you were when JFK was assassinated." That resonates for me because hey, JFK was assassinated

Orangenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-84856938892157608452009-02-03T02:32:00.002+03:302009-02-03T02:32:48.997+03:30

...the kid says, "Ahh, I love the smell of chlorine in the evening."

Orangenoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-90844590720465531482009-01-30T22:27:00.003+03:302009-02-06T04:18:42.421+03:30

...because they let me provide bloggy little updates in a fraction of the time.But I owe you more than that.Have you seen the commercials for the new Dora the Explorer Suds and Styling head? Because that is what was missing from the character with a feminist/humanist basis—that a girl can be an independent explorer and problem solver. Hair-styling! Dora has short hair, so let's make a big head

Orangenoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-25057799945640833442009-01-13T22:25:00.001+03:302009-01-13T22:28:56.099+03:30

He hasn't gotten a haircut since last spring.

Orangenoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-70200450950742382382009-01-12T03:07:00.002+03:302009-01-12T03:17:28.245+03:30

All righty, here's the deal: Ben's 8, and he's a quasi-spoiled only child who's not expected to do much around the house. He has no specific scheduled chores, though we sort of put him on empty-the-trashcans duty. We haven't started giving him a weekly allowance, but I'm wondering if it's time.So: What are you doing, if you've got a kid of allowance age in the house?How much money per week (or

Orangenoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-154702332016456502009-01-10T10:47:00.002+03:302009-01-10T10:58:16.209+03:30

You know the best thing about living in an apartment or condo? If you're not on the top floor, you can use the phrase the man upstairs to talk about a real person.I shoveled the sidewalks 12 hours ago and they were clear. Now it's snowing again, with an inch or more blanketing the sidewalks and a few more due by morning. But no worries! The man upstairs will take care of things. He's going to

Orangenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-72628368879558490842009-01-10T00:56:00.002+03:302009-01-10T01:01:19.886+03:30

You know the Snellen test, don't you? You may think you don't but you do: It's that eye-exam chart with the big letters on top and the teeny ones that I can't discern on the bottom.From now on, I'm boycotting any eye doctor who doesn't switch to the texter's eye chart:I love it, and I don't care if it hasn't been scientifically validated as a vision screening tool.

Orangenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-54309851079299485672009-01-04T07:43:00.002+03:302009-01-04T07:50:00.227+03:30

It's Saturday night, and you know what that means—quiz time!Identify the location of this true-life scenario:There is a man.He is in a silver Hummer.And not just the little H3. It's the bigger H2.The driver's window is open.The music is blasting ridiculously loud, reverberating within the concrete walls of the subterranean parking garage.He is smoking, and the stink fills the enclosed space.And

Orangenoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-2283360634579008622009-01-02T09:34:00.002+03:302009-01-02T09:53:18.458+03:30

Mr. Tangerine recently observed that if you're starting a food business and you want crunchy affluent folks—the sort who shop at Whole Foods—to flock to your product, you want to have a brand name that's a first name. To wit:Stacy's All Natural Pita Chips. I love the cinnamon sugar ones.Amy's vegetarian frozen foods.Annie's all-natural Mac n'Cheese.The entire Trader Joe's store.Robert's American

Orangenoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-18318968076304670552008-12-31T20:23:00.003+03:302008-12-31T20:59:43.229+03:30

Apparently, a blog that doesn't get updated often tends to lose its readership. Oh noes! I must do something about that.Here's a year-end, hit-and-miss update:January: I don't remember a thing from January 2008.February: At the end of February, I went to Brooklyn for the first time, for my fourth American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. It's always good to geek out among my fellow travelers for a

Orangenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-75448391150299102382008-12-22T17:15:00.000+03:302008-12-22T17:15:07.060+03:30

I'm not really blogging today. I am asea, on a cruise in the Caribbean. Blogger lets you write posts in advance and schedule them to publish later on. "Asea" is one of those words that shows up in crosswords way more than in daily conversation. Now that I have a chance to use the word for realz, dammit, I can't pass it up.So I'm writing this last Thursday night, and it'll go up on the blog on

Orangenoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-69447076628117201052008-12-18T18:14:00.005+03:302008-12-18T18:31:43.994+03:30

I'll be on a plane away from winter in 48 hours. Whoo-hoo! Chicago's weather is cooperating in making this cruise a much-appreciated, well-timed trip. Temps in the teens and 20s? You betcha. Snow and ice? Oh, yeah. We got 6" on Tuesday, and 6" to 9" is expected by midday tomorrow. I will feel like the luckiest bastard on earth to be heading to the Caribbean on Saturday. Sure, returning from a

Orangenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-69632114859598673422008-12-12T20:46:00.002+03:302008-12-12T20:55:45.032+03:30

You know what sucks? In that 76-page federal indictment, I believe there was one bit of dialogue attributed to the governor's wife, Patti Blagojevich. She had two F-bombs and an SH-glob in two short sentences.So why are so many people running around saying that she's worse than him*—more profane, more venal?This is sexist bullshit. Rod cussed on tape many more times than Patti did—and he was an

Orangenoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-73777594471772757942008-12-09T18:43:00.002+03:302008-12-09T18:49:38.961+03:30

First, our senator, South Sider Barack Obama, is elected president. The presidential transition headquarters are here in Chicago, and the next administration is taking shape nicely. Next, Republic Windows closes a factory, the workers demand their due, and the story balloons into a national emblem of the financial, credit, and manufacturing crisis. (Workers of the world, unite!)And then this

Orangenoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-71137716125806846642008-12-07T01:03:00.003+03:302008-12-07T01:25:30.216+03:30

I sure don't feel like getting the Christmas tree all set up, and I haven't begun addressing holiday cards yet. I'm probably way behind on my shopping for friend and family gifts, and I should be aiming to finish everything up by the 19th because then I'm leaving for a week's vacation.But the holiday spirit whomped me when I read this heartwarming/heartbreaking article in the Trib. Each year,

Orangenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-19547147084832534062008-12-04T03:00:00.002+03:302008-12-04T03:09:42.507+03:30

I just changed my relationship status on Facebook from "married" to "in a relationship."Why? Because of A Marriage Manifesto by Tom Ackerman, a gay man. He says his beliefs no longer allow him to recognize marriage, so he's referring to straight people's legally recognized spouses as their "boyfriend" or "longtime companion." The result, Ackerman says, is "instant, eyebrow-raising recognition.

Orangenoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-88607371940984538082008-12-03T18:15:00.002+03:302008-12-03T18:20:15.524+03:30

Who among us hasn't always had a bit of a crush on Roger Ebert? Not because of the sweaters he used to wear on TV, not because of his "thumbs up"—because of his writing.Ebert's latest blog post humorously yet rigorously eviscerates Ben Stein's "documentary," eXpelled, about "intelligent design." Did any of you see that? I'll bet you didn't. Why give any of our money to the people making a movie

Orangenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-78884688054669363982008-11-26T21:43:00.002+03:302008-11-26T21:53:53.885+03:30

We attended the variety event of the season this morning: The third grade's multimedia spectacular, "Goin' Green." Ben's part was to portray a very knowledgeable guy in a PSA about carbon footprints. They filmed the PSA yesterday and showed it on the big screen this morning. Mr. Tangerine and I couldn't have been more proud—not only did Ben have more lines than the other three kids combined, but

Orangenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-32214475575267643812008-11-25T18:09:00.003+03:302008-11-25T18:24:51.079+03:30

If you can spare a little money this time of year, click over to the Chicago Sun-Times Season of Sharing and request some "Dear Santa" letters.Kids in the Chicago Public Schools whose student population is almost all low-income write "Dear Santa" letters to request a present. Season of Sharing sends these letters out to volunteers, who giggle at how impossibly sweet the letters are, shop for the

Orangenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-53002082417543160522008-11-20T08:17:00.002+03:302008-11-20T08:31:12.209+03:30

I've been a member of the imaginary Roger Ebert Fan Club since I was a kid reading his reviews in the Chicago Sun-Times. You've probably heard about the salivary gland cancer that robbed him of his voice and his face—but his ability to write and to love movies remains unchanged. Actually, that's not quite true. He recently wrote about how much easier the writing comes to him now, how he's merely

Orangenoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-13163016077800263422008-11-15T02:28:00.003+03:302008-11-15T02:35:34.721+03:30

Well, I just got the rug pulled out from under me an hour ago, and a juicy job offer vanished into nothingness. I hadn't told too many people, so it wasn't hard to e-mail almost all of them with the disappointing news. So far, everyone has used a swear word in their reply e-mails. These are my peeps! So goddamned supportive. I love my peeps.And then a couple minutes ago, FedEx delivered the new

Orangenoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-25110143112871222942008-11-14T01:37:00.000+03:302008-11-14T01:37:42.868+03:30

All righty, I'm only going to say this once:Bemused ≠ amused.Bemuse means this:1. To cause to be bewildered; confuse. See synonyms at daze.2. To cause to be engrossed in thought.See? It doesn't mean "To find things funny or droll." It rhymes with "confuse and it also means confuse? This should be so easy to remember. Maybe this will help: A Spanish translation of the verb is causar estupefacción

Orangenoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-63120213372030767482008-11-08T23:19:00.002+03:302008-11-08T23:36:06.249+03:30

I don't know about you, but ever since Tuesday, I have been having a Daily "Moved to Tears" Moment™. Usually several such moments, in fact.Just now, it was spurred by Judith Warner's latest NYT post. Colin Powell being puffy-faced and moved. A beautiful photo of a little girl with her sobbing mother in a Harlem church, which Warner said looked like the future reaching out to heal the past.Other

Orangenoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-48161204215463454342008-11-07T22:35:00.002+03:302008-11-07T22:45:33.479+03:30

The ever-righteous ding has laid down the law over at Bitch Ph.D. today. Her post is called "Party Over: A Primer on Equality and Prop 8 - From a Brown Straight Girl!"Some in the media and the blogosphere have laid the blame for Prop 8 passing squarely at the feet of black or Latino voters, especially the churchgoers among them. Au contraire, says ding:Let's cut to the chase: it was straight

Orangenoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-58579440794468926742008-11-05T22:08:00.002+03:302008-11-05T22:11:31.462+03:30

I called my health insurance company to check on some benefits, and I had to keep asking the representative to repeat herself because her voice was so hoarse. At the end of the call, I said, "I hope your cold gets better."She replied, "I don't have a cold. I was just up late yelling and talking last night."How awesome is that? The customer service rep can hardly talk because she was whooping and

Orangenoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-9438341202523453132008-11-04T18:38:00.003+03:302008-11-04T18:43:57.653+03:30

Yesterday evening, Ben said, "I want to be the president." (He's got another 27 years before he's old enough to be eligible, of course.)I replied, "Hey, you could be the country's first Asian president."He thought that would be pretty cool. "I could be in history!"He could also be the country's second biracial president.He could also fail to make any sort of history, because in the next 27 years,

Orangenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-58288118200690044282008-11-01T07:53:00.002+03:302008-11-01T08:06:42.758+03:30

At one huge new house in a city neighborhood full of old houses, it took a while for anyone to come to the door. Finally, a middle-aged couple opened the door. He looked like an attorney, in a crisp gray suit. She wore a white apron over her clothes. They gave the kids their candy, and when the kids headed towards the next house, the distinguished gentleman turned away from the doorway—revealing

Orangenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-37640354828452400852008-10-29T02:56:00.002+03:302008-10-29T03:13:53.954+03:30

Vote No on Proposition 8!Really. Because love is what marriage is about, and straight people don't have a monopoly on love. Fairness is what marriage rights are about, plain and simple. Nobody's talking about making it hard for a man and woman to wed, or about changing what churches do. It's simply about letting two people—any two adults—declare their love for one another publicly and secure

Orangenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-61831284270531754752008-10-26T23:11:00.002+03:302008-10-26T23:32:53.616+03:30

When I was a tween, I was fond of this thin paperback from the youth section of the local library, a book about the Bermuda triangle and other specious creepy phenomena. (Ghosts, spontaneous human combustion, all that.) I don't think I ever believed that these things were true, but I was magnetically drawn to these eerie tales.Now, a story even more unbelievable has happened to me. What you are

Orangenoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-50116164935533959202008-10-22T16:15:00.003+03:302008-10-22T16:50:27.581+03:30

Read Ta-Nehisi Coates' short and sweet post about Barack Obama's mom's parents, and how they did the right thing in embracing their daughter and grandson despite the race thing.A dear friend of mine (hi out there!) grew up not knowing her white grandparents because they chose not to accept their daughter's interracial marriage and the three amazing grandchildren it produced. What a terrible,

Orangenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-47300600906573508052008-10-21T22:09:00.002+03:302008-10-21T22:14:56.409+03:30

I saw a rainbow today.I voted early! It took about 20 to 25 minutes, including waiting in line and using the touchscreen voting machine. Not too shabby—November 4th surely will involve longer waits.This one SUV in a downtown parking garage has caught my eye a couple times. It's got consulate license plates. And a bunch of dog-lover decals on the back, celebrating a few different breeds. And also

Orangenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-78957483576390414062008-10-20T21:35:00.003+03:302008-10-20T21:41:52.949+03:30

Feral Mom!Remember a month and a half ago when I offered a free Entertainment Weekly subscription to whoever wrote the funniest haiku asking for it? Her Ferality submitted this one:I live in L.A.I should read a newspaperPlease send one my wayIt is important to keep up with one's local news, so this was a compelling argument.I keep my EW copy in the bathroom, and it sees me through the week's pees

Orangenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-63957434136035003592008-10-16T19:27:00.002+03:302008-10-16T19:30:26.234+03:30

My 8-year-old son asked me this morning why he can't vote.You know what? The vote should be extended to children who pay attention—and withheld from the folks who remain "undecided" less than three weeks before the election. Really? They still don't know which candidate is a better match for their values? The undecided crowd apparently has loose dirt inside their skulls in lieu of brains.Ben has

Orangenoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-62588878970116332342008-10-16T17:16:00.002+03:302008-10-16T18:00:51.987+03:30

McCain seems to disdain allowing abortion for reasons of the "woman's health," air-quotes and all. That's so effing disingenuous. You know the straw woman the anti-choicers always trot out—the woman who's feeling cranky about having a child and gets diagnosed with serious depression so she can obtain a late-term abortion on a whim? I think she's the same woman who makes false accusations of rape

Orangenoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-66372755420622655672008-10-15T18:02:00.002+03:302008-10-15T18:21:24.115+03:30

If you live in Cook County, Illinois, you might be wondering which judges on the retention ballot need to be dumped (answer: very few; Casandra Lewis is the only one with mostly negative ratings) and who to choose in the competitive judicial races. Help is here! The Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening has compiled a chart of ratings from 10 different bar groups in the area:

Orangenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-46229348259043425532008-10-11T17:48:00.002+03:302008-10-11T18:20:46.438+03:30

Pam Spaulding has a nice wrap-up, complete with videos. I liked the Clay Aiken interview on Good Morning America.Pam writes: For my straight readers: -- are you “out” as an ally? -- are you able to talk about gay friends or relatives with others?-- are you comfortable shooting down homophobes when they spout off during a conversation?My answers are:-- Yes.-- Yes.-- Hell, yes! I do not shy away

Orangenoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-24211021609132209742008-10-08T21:22:00.002+03:302008-10-08T21:33:00.641+03:30

Visit Becky the Absent Minded Housewife for her eminently reasonable take on boobs.Visit The Assimilated Negro for Kelly Tsai's spoken word piece about political candidates' shorthand of "black, white, whatever," with the inclusion sometimes of "purple, green, silver" but hardly ever "yellow, red, brown." The yellow, red, and brown folks are out here too, you know.Watch Tim Wise discussing the

Orangenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-77096976138863210972008-10-08T07:45:00.002+03:302008-10-08T07:57:39.820+03:30

In tonight's debate, McCain again harped on Obama's not having defied his party as a negative.Sure, McCain has bucked the GOP party line, oh, about 5% or 10% of the time lately. It should have been more. His party sucks and tries its damnedest to ruin everything that is good and right.Of course Obama has toed the line with the Democratic Party's prevailing positions. Those have been the best

Orangenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-37537102538372191622008-10-06T18:54:00.001+03:302008-10-06T18:58:02.441+03:30

This morning, Ben explained something over breakfast."You know what happens to souls when you die? They fly up into space and go in a black hole. The black hole is really a hot tub, and the souls hang out there."(No, the boy has not learned about the Christian take on the destination of souls.)

Orangenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-15927957787504501622008-10-05T05:30:00.002+03:302008-10-05T05:41:07.699+03:30

It's gotten chilly this week, and the temperature in my bedroom has dipped down to 65 or 66 degrees. I am not one who demands a cool sleeping environment, so this is not good. Our condo building is over budget for the year on gas bills, and an upstairs neighbor is replacing some radiators in the coming week, so we're gonna tough it out and not turn the boiler on just yet.So it's chilly, and even

Orangenoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-23649488062099888012008-10-03T08:31:00.002+03:302008-10-03T08:34:05.256+03:30

It's a simple enough question. I'd like to hear your answers.What's my Achilles heel? I have demonstrated again and again that I am a speedy editor, and also, I'm going on a Caribbean cruise over Christmas.

Orangenoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-81153804871145443782008-10-02T16:42:00.002+03:302008-10-02T17:00:20.963+03:30

At first I was looking forward to the Biden/Palin debate with great relish. But now? There's some trepidation.Palin has set the expectations for her performance so low—below the second subbasement level, encroaching on the magma beneath the earth's crust—that all she has to do is not be 100% ludicrous and incomprehensible, and it'll be touted as a Palin win. If she manages to avoid the "moose in

Orangenoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-38466074848298769382008-09-30T07:15:00.004+03:302008-09-30T16:56:20.991+03:30

Millipedes.Centipedes.The possibility of dropping my keys down a storm drain.Anything being pointed at my eyeball.The plastic-faced giant Burger King man on the commercials.(And no, I'm not kidding about that last one. I had to shield my eyes from the TV a minute ago because the creepy Burger King was on.)What's the weirdest thing that gives you the willies?

Orangenoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-154084669673639812008-09-29T16:39:00.002+03:302008-09-29T16:51:54.315+03:30

I live in the liberal lakefront wards of a solidly Democratic city in a blue state that Barack Obama calls home. My car sports an Obama magnet. I see other Obama magnets and bumper stickers on many cars, plus Obama window signs, t-shirts, buttons, and caps, but try as I may, I've yet to spot McCain paraphernalia around town.Until yesterday, that is. We were driving to the 'burbs to visit

Orangenoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-14030498300464915872008-09-26T06:09:00.002+03:302008-09-26T06:26:48.445+03:30

Mr. Tangerine enjoys the various high-definition television channels. In fact, he's one of those guys who will only watch HD. He cannot abide the regular crapola-definition programming.There are a couple HD music channels, so he's been watching a lot of concert performances from the Isle of Wight music festival and whatnot. Right now, he's watching some sort of documentary/concert combo on

Orangenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-10384170350263241162008-09-19T22:11:00.003+04:302008-09-19T22:31:15.189+04:30

A friend of mine who's in academia and prefers to remain anonymous has written a terrific essay about the culture wars, the Reagan-era roots of Gen X cynicism, the divide between the ivory tower and NASCAR fans, and the current presidential campaign. He started it as a blog comment here, but it expanded into a full-out essay. Read on:The Palin nomination made me sad in a way I would not have

Orangenoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-20436326316495798382008-09-17T16:31:00.002+04:302008-09-17T16:48:10.641+04:30

One of the lines the GOP speechwriter crafted for Sarah Palin's speech at the Republican National Convention was this:“We grow good people in our small towns, with honesty and sincerity and dignity.”I don't like this glorification of the small town.We grow good people in our big cities, too. In the comments at Pandagon, FlipYrWhig responded to my sentiment with "You just have to use espalier

Orangenoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-80329002809469186482008-09-14T09:44:00.003+04:302008-09-14T09:56:14.902+04:30

Do you see it? The dramatic frozen stare accompanying "In what respect, Charlie?"—couldn't you see Mariska Hargitay with hair extensions playing Sarah Palin in the Lifetime movie, Hell in an Alaskan Handbasket?Or maybe Michael Moloney, the interior designer from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition:Either one's a dead ringer. The glasses make people think of Tina Fey, but the face is all Hargitay and

Orangenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-8323350108019863792008-09-10T08:50:00.002+04:302008-09-10T09:07:40.970+04:30

Here are two handy links from Bitch Ph.D.'s latest post (and she herself got the links elsewhere, and her post was called "Links to share," so I'm covered):I don't agree with people being swayed by politicians' promises of tax cuts because yo, tax revenues pay for a lot of important stuff. Schools, parks, highways, medical research? I'm for 'em. But it's not fair for one candidate to rouse the

Orangenoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-16654555848628968862008-09-06T20:20:00.003+04:302008-09-06T20:49:51.398+04:30

Ben started school this week. So far, so good! He hasn't had much homework, but did collapse into frustrated tears one day. I plan to put a new time-out strategy into effect—the moment either of us starts getting too frustrated, we call a two-minute break. We've had a bad habit of feeding one another's tension.The third-grade homerooms are roughly sorted out by reading level—so the kids Ben knows

Orangenoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-91006883085306886342008-09-01T21:05:00.002+04:302008-09-01T21:09:35.461+04:30

I think Amanda Marcotte has nailed it, with a simple clarity. Key excerpts:But for the small cadre of hardcore anti-feminists, you have to understand that they’re deeply invested in a fantasy and in the fantasy that they can vote that fantasy into existence. That fantasy is, as cliched as it is to say, a fantasy version of the 1950s, where women knew their place and everyone was happy all the

Orangenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-66116156675662386742008-08-30T03:54:00.002+04:302008-08-30T03:58:54.328+04:30

It's time for me to renew my Entertainment Weekly subscription, and though I'm not so pleased with their recent "redesign" (fewer book reviews! and shorter reviews! less to read!), I'll subscribe again.There's an extra incentive this time: I get a free gift subscription to give away.You want it? Explain why, in haiku form. Funniest entry wins the gift subscription. (You'll need to be willing to

Orangenoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-80889021277244956702008-08-27T22:17:00.002+04:302008-08-27T22:24:29.321+04:30

This summer, a couple moved into a condo in the building next to mine. She's a smoker. She doesn't want to stink up her home, so she goes out in the front yard or on the back porch to smoke. The breeze wafts that damned stink right into my house, and by the time it wafts to where one of us is sitting, it's too late to shut the window.Cigarettes in general are stinky, but there are some brands (no

Orangenoreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-9428301256210912382008-08-26T06:38:00.002+04:302008-08-26T06:45:29.204+04:30

I greatly admire Ted Kennedy and all he has done in the Senate, and was delighted so see him speaking with righteous liberal passion at the Democratic National Convention. He looks surprisingly robust.Ben's watching with me. He had one question:"Does he have a neck?"I cackled.Kennedy's relative necklessness and expertly wrangled hair (obscuring pretty well his surgical site) all looked fine. But

Orangenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-5626379778058306332008-08-26T01:17:00.003+04:302008-08-26T01:32:27.163+04:30

My favorite meal is not one I have every day, because if I had second breakfast every single day, I would have to buy an ever-larger wardrobe.I typically start my day with a bowl of cold cereal and a hit of cold, bubbly caffeine. It doesn't always tide me over until lunchtime, but pouring cereal out of a box is about all I've got the wherewithal to do first thing in the morning.I love nothing

Orangenoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-87450355931118931362008-08-20T21:46:00.002+04:302008-08-20T21:54:58.327+04:30

Yes, I'm going to give myself props for belated cleverness on a very, very small scale.As you may recall, I've had a collection of orphaned socks for many moons.Yesterday, I noticed that Mr. Tangerine's sock drawer was uncommonly empty, waiting for clean socks to refill it. I was struck by an epiphany: I should take all the remaining socks out and see if there are any orphans that match up with

Orangenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-28443865463997764842008-08-20T03:12:00.002+04:302008-08-20T03:35:25.393+04:30

Yet another "praising myself for an insignificant 'accomplishment'" post—the bedsheets are in the laundry. (Recently, DoctorMama misunderstood my "I finished another book" brag as being about writing a book rather than reading one like the rest of you do all the time.) Why, it's been scarcely a month since they went on the bed! Ben did relocate himself to his parents' room and drool on the bed

Orangenoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-26434192471941945342008-08-12T04:18:00.003+04:302008-08-12T04:44:59.266+04:30

Today, Ben was outlining the things kids need to do before they leave for school in the morning. (Chicago kids don't go back 'til after Labor Day, so that's a few weeks off for him.) Eat breakfast, get dressed, brush your teeth...and make the bed. "Make the bed!" I exclaimed. "You never make your bad." Neither do I. It's not the way I was raised. Mr. Tangerine's mom expected him to make his bed

Orangenoreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-38159326358972995232008-07-28T18:37:00.002+04:302008-07-28T19:13:36.204+04:30

So many people have iPods and other portable music players these days. Sure, they're pretty much hands-free, but not everyone cares for earbuds.I saw a man downtown the other night, walking down Michigan Avenue. On his shoulder he bore a music-playing device the dimensions of which approximated 12" x 8" x 3". It was a wireless marvel! No cumbersome wires to tangle, nothing wedged hotly and waxily

Orangenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-66399618916444507202008-07-27T07:09:00.000+04:302008-07-27T07:11:52.472+04:30

The tongue of artistic concentration.This message was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture. To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime� 6.5 or higher is required. Visit www.apple.com/quicktime/download to download the free player or upgrade

Orangenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-86910026590301065912008-07-26T08:27:00.002+04:302008-07-26T08:34:44.071+04:30

Mr. Tangerine was surfing the TV listings. The ABC Family channel is following Pat Robertson's 700 Club with syndicated reruns of That '70s Show. Yes, that's right: A Christian talk show (which I had no idea was still on the air) is in the same programming block as a sitcom featuring a lot of weed and beer, teenage sex talk, and neighbors' nudist parties.

Orangenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-36924424213616340862008-07-25T06:58:00.002+04:302008-07-25T07:09:43.239+04:30

Hip-hop video blogger Jay Smooth has the goods on how to call someone out for saying something racist. Key point: Focus on what the person did or said, not on what they are. I.e., saying "You're a racist" is a dead-end argument.I hadn't heard of Jay Smooth until a friend-inside-the-internet sent me a YouTube link to the above-linked video. I clicked through to Ill Doctrine and scrolled down to

Orangenoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-65835784643933028722008-07-24T04:43:00.003+04:302008-07-24T04:59:53.426+04:30

I was at 7-Eleven yesterday and saw not one, but two new fruit-flavored chewing gums in orange-hued packaging. Orbit White in Fruit Sorbet? Non-whitening Orbit in Fabulous Fruitini? Both crappy. I tried them both, spit them both out, and had to chew a third kind of gum to get the horrible flavors off my tastebuds. I had been afraid my purchase of Fresh Fruit flavored Spry gum was overly

Orangenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-34700908656976091662008-07-22T08:22:00.003+04:302008-07-22T08:44:13.689+04:30

...but Ben wanted me to register his vote for winter as his favorite season. You can, he points out, have snowball fights during the winter, and who doesn't love pelting and being pelted with snowballs?I was surprised that the 100% statistically valid poll results indicated that fall is a landslide winner (57%) in the race for favorite season. Who are you people who like fall the best? When all

Orangenoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-52745261904304839152008-07-13T18:27:00.002+04:302008-07-13T18:55:17.179+04:30

It's true! I have read two whole books this summer! I have gone beyond my usual rations of blogs and magazines and newspapers and read actual books. Besides Fun Home, I read The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts.If you were a fan of Chris Farley or have an interest in addiction, check it out. The book takes the form of an oral history, weaving together stories recounted by people who

Orangenoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-9196845835789214962008-07-10T21:30:00.000+04:302008-07-10T21:32:19.702+04:30

Yes, it's been weeks since I posted here. Don't think I don't feel bad about it. It's all part of my Grand Procrastination Package, the deluxe model. Procrastination was, in fact, the topic of the day at therapy on Tuesday. The piddly things I put off—clerical crap, household stuff—there's no real payoff in tending to those things. What's the fun in calling the plumber? There isn't any. This

Orangenoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-8007450969343211512008-06-18T01:15:00.002+04:302008-06-18T01:27:05.152+04:30

Did I ever tell y'all about my fondness for Trident fruit-flavored gum? It came in an orange package, and the gum was light orange in hue. The flavor was mellower than Juicyfruit, but because it's Trident, it was sugar-free. It was my favorite gum, but it was discontinued by 1997 or so. Don't give me that "Tropical" or "Strawberry Breeze" or "Citrusmint" malarkey—none of those gums have anything

Orangenoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-62476870984534732612008-06-10T05:01:00.003+04:302008-06-10T05:54:01.860+04:30

You know what's a fun way to buy a new purse, handbag, clutch, messenger bag, or diaper bag?(1) Go to an 1154 Lill Studio store (in Chicago's Lincoln Park, Boston, Philadelphia, or Kansas City) or their website/(2) Choose a style.(3) Mix and match with about 150 different fabrics to design your very own super-cute bag.Today, I ordered the Sophie bag with pink and green fabrics (key lime twill,

Orangenoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-25594875985603356652008-06-07T22:37:00.003+04:302008-06-07T22:48:20.535+04:30

The Chicago Tribune reports that the Chicago police will start publicizing the crosswalk laws this week. It's about time! There are so many crosswalks at small intersections or in the middle of a long block—without stop signs or traffic signals. Most drivers seem to assume that these crosswalks don't give pedestrians the same right of way that they're granted at corners with stop signs or red

Orangenoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-41344507778455703802008-06-07T09:03:00.002+04:302008-06-07T09:05:08.069+04:30

This is my first attempt at posting straight from my phone. I fear you will need to tilt your head to see the Police concert photo.

Orangenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-67055693643697557042008-06-05T03:56:00.002+04:302008-06-05T04:02:35.049+04:30

Why bother writing my own post about going to the Police concert on Mother's Day weekend with Flea when I can just link to her write-up? My own version wouldn't make fun of me like Flea's does, but I am willing to accept a little public abasement if it means getting out of doing some work.Speaking of getting other people to do my work for me, does anyone know if there's a way to send a photo from

Orangenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-29867600533171780832008-05-25T19:52:00.002+04:302008-05-25T20:26:56.370+04:30

Breastfeeding is a brilliant invention of evolution, isn't? Mammalian mothers can magically nourish their offspring with food produced by their own bodies, and that food turns out to offer optimal nutrition.But sometimes it doesn't work. If you have ever had a scornful thought when you saw a woman feeding her baby with a bottle, please read Julie's post, "The breast-laid plan," and the comments

Orangenoreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-76206213428169897642008-05-21T22:10:00.002+04:302008-05-21T22:16:29.792+04:30

I've been shunning Hostess Ho-Hos and Ding-Dongs and their other crappy snack cakes for years because the ingredient list couldn't commit to vegetarianism. The "May contain one or more of the following" list of oils always included beef fat. The message I got from that was "We're gonna buy whatever we can get by the tankload for the cheapest. Maybe it's hydrogenated vegetable oil, maybe it's beef

Orangenoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-20225588718159371442008-05-19T18:02:00.002+04:302008-05-19T18:18:39.861+04:30

The New York Times reports on "purity balls" today—those father/daughter dances in which dads promise to protect their daughters' "virtue" and the teen girls “promise to God and myself and my family that I will stay pure in my thoughts and actions until I marry.”It's such a crock. Where are the mother/son purity balls? Oh, right. Boys will be boys, but girls need to be kept on a tight leash lest

Orangenoreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-20543179532821540912008-05-15T03:21:00.004+04:302008-05-15T03:37:23.516+04:30

My blogging to-do list:Flea and I went to the Police concert last weekend; reflections, ruminations, and a pictorial comparison of the mini-flower pots her son and my son gave us for Mother's Day. The contents of the pots are, quite frankly, the best part.Pictures from spring break and whatnot. I pull out my phone and take pictures of things that amuse me, but then the pictures seldom make it to

Orangenoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-68748604223442846132008-05-07T04:56:00.002+04:302008-05-07T05:02:32.245+04:30

I got a Mother's Day card from my mother-in-law yesterday, one of the rare "to my daughter-in-law" cards. This spurred Mr. Tangerine to exclaim that he needed to send his mom a card.I think that for nearly all of the past 17 years, I have been buying and mailing the Mother's Day cards we have sent to his mother (and mine). Today, he called me from work to ask for his folks' new mailing address

Orangenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-76382346070464419332008-05-05T04:37:00.002+04:302008-05-05T04:43:46.708+04:30

I need to know, dammit. I need your advice. I don't know what to do. I'm lost.I have a laundry basket that never gets emptied out, even though the contents are always clean. There are some socks going stag in the basket. A lot of socks. Approximately seven black socks, six tan socks, seven white socks, and a couple miscellaneous stragglers of other hues. Some are mine, some are Mr. Tangerine's,

Orangenoreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11109864.post-49707038310699026242008-05-01T01:37:00.002+04:302008-05-01T02:08:58.357+04:30

Hey, did your parent(s) ever tell you what you'd have been named if you'd been born with a different chromosomal package? I would have been named Anthony, which makes little sense. It's not a family name. Perhaps my mother had a thing for Anthony Hopkins or Anthony Perkins (Norman Bates!) in the '60s?Ben might've been a Julia Rose. We had plenty of girl names we liked, but hadn't settled on a boy

Orangenoreply@blogger.com15