Mom and Ron flexing those political muscles

Mom and Ron played a pretty significant role in history yesterday, by attending the Barack Obama speech at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota. I'm thrilled for Mom and Ron, and the thousands of Sarasota folks who got to see Barack Obama speak, and what a cool story Mom and Ron can tell their grandchildren.

Our house is still buzzing with the news!

Happy Halloweener

My daughter is clearly British...she's got the accent, the vocab and all the cultural references. However, when holidays come around, and I mean any holiday, she is pure American in her enthusiasm for celebrating. This morning she gave the residents of Chez Storms-Hewitt Halloween presents (all from her own stash of odds and ends...I got a beaded necklace).

A sign of the times and a few random thoughts

The Christian Science Monitor ceasing weekday paper editions for on-line only is indeed a sign of the times, but also incredibly forward-thinking. I'm all for going paper-less, if practical and effective, and this seems like an ideal situation for it. And as a librarian, I'm thrilled a prestigious authoritative paper is leading the way...

Hey Mom, this looks like something you could enjoy for days and days...

This silly stunt has been in the news all week. It's obvious the call was in poor taste, but that isn't the shocking part for me. The shocking part is that this stupid thing is actually in the news; the world is pretty shaky at the moment and all the UK press can do is make a huge fuss over two immature extroverts making prank calls. Ugh...

How many times a day do I use Merriam-Webster OnLine? I know it's a lot and I know I'm grateful for this fab resource...

Remember that snow I blogged about last night? It's still on the ground this morning.

Never underestimate the strangeness of English weather

I've lived here since January 1995 and I still can't get my head around the weather. This summer we had about three days of summer sunshine, in late May, and now, tonight we had snow. Real snow, everyone, and it's not even Halloween. I only put my summer clothes away yesterday (yes, I do have a summer wardrobe and a winter wardrobe, which I change around, weed through for no-longer-needed items, and pack away as seasonally appropriate), and now it's snowing! (and Bailey reminded me TVs can blow up in rain/snow storms, thanks to some drama-in-real-life anecdote zil told Bailey whilst we were enjoying the Key West vibes...I asked Bailey how she knew storms can damage appliances; her reply? "Because Liz said so.")

Endorsements I've enjoyed

I'm not unbiased in this Presidential campaign, nor am I being discrete about my endorsement. We have Barack Obama photos up in the television room (Time magazine cover from 1 September 2008), one in the kitchen (from Barack Obama's Senate website), and one in the dining room (postcard size of his Vanity Fair Africa issue cover). Oh, and Bailey has a Florida for Obama poster up in her bedroom window. With all this pro-Obama feeling around here, it takes quite a bit for an endorsement to impress me, however, the New York Times' op-ed from last week was fantastic (and their interactive on the history of their endorsements is very cool). The other recent endorsement I've read that completely stopped me in my tracks (because the writing is concise, effective and emotive without being over-the-top...I wish my writing had half that fine quality) was The New Yorker's from 13 October... read it here.

Another fiscal woe and culture link

Yesterday it was linking Starbucks outlets to the depth of fiscal drama; today it's marking hard financial times with the placement of AC/DC in the music charts. I'm no fan (but I of course don't wish them harm either...) but this seems a little harsh.

Fiscal analysis based on coffee grounds

A correlation between Starbucks and the current financial woes? Check out this article by Daniel Gross.

Friday musings

It's my day off and an especially fine one because I have Monday off too. Life is good.

I've browsed the papers and my e-mail this morning and came across the following items of note...

The beloved Alan Bennett (the residents of Chez Storms-Hewitt adore this man) has done the right thing and donated his entire archive to the Bodleian. As a librarian and admirer of his work, I'm thrilled.

It looks like there was a very cool Obama rally in Sarasota, crossing the John Ringling Bridge. Check out the pics.

This one is just for Jamie, for the next time she visits her family in Ireland. OK, this can be shared with everyone, of course, but please give a big-up by viewing her "More about Jamie" video clip on her Hammock Publishing page.

And to wrap it up this morning, here's my favourite latest addition to my delicious, Voices of the Armistice podcast. Cool, cool, cool.

Busy week but I'm still on the ball

I've had a crazy-busy week so I will write some more insightful passages as things calm down but in the meantime, I must explain what I saw yesterday on the Hempstead Road. The car in front of me had a Domino's Pizza box in the back window, right next to an oversized copy of the Qu'ran. I admire the passengers for being ready for anything on that journey.

Also, from the "being a parent is so very entertaining" category, yesterday over breakfast, out of the blue, Bailey belted out (in tune with Irma Thomas' version) "Time is on my side, yes it is". I guess the constant iPod music in the kitchen has had a tiny impact on her...

Greece is the word

The Greeks obviously have their priorities in order. Check out this national holiday.

Cool, in a commercial way

I know this ad campaign is from a huge mega-store, but it's still cool to read these artists' inspirations (and the interface is pretty fun too).

Women of distinction

Well done to Royal Mail for their Women of Distinction stamps issue. And a follow up of kudos for including Marie Stopes, the still-controversial family planning pioneer.

Not related to anything whatsoever

I use a very funny journal/desk diary for keeping track of some aspects of my life. Each week has some silly saying or cartoon, rather fringe-y humour but I like it. Here's a great entry from a few weeks ago...

Heaven is where the police are English, the cooks French, mechanics German, lovers Italian and all is organised by the Swiss.

Hell is where the chefs are English, the police German, the mechanics French, the lovers Swiss and all is organised by the Italians.

Indeed!

Relaxing and pondering

There's a mellow feel in the house this morning. Bailey is still recovering from the amazing amount of fun she had with the Dibs family at Legoland yesterday. Simon and I are recovering from being sans child most of the day (what did we do?? Browsed mags and books at Borders then came home and did lots of little jobs...the cult of domesticity, indeed). But even in this morning's calm state of mind, I have a few thoughts to ponder...

Althought I'm completely out of the game (I doubt I ever was in the real game anyway), this article on what types of men to avoid when dating is very enjoyable...

If you haven't already, please read this essay from the 13 October 2008 issue of The New Yorker, on why Barack Obama is the best person to be the next president (and if you're running late and still want the spirit of it, just read the last paragraph). It's a compelling read...

In fact, if you haven't yet seen this election issue of The New Yorker, just read the entire publication. Good stuff on every page...

Please tell me this is a very early April fools joke...

In closing, a huge happy birthday to Ron! Not only is he funny, warm, loving, honest (very honest!), culture loving yet sports loving too, and kind, but he hasn't aged a single bit since the day I met him. We love you, Ron, and hope you have a great day, hopefully starting with the gift we've given you (home delivery of Sunday New York Times).

What a way to start the day

This op-ed in this morning's Guardian has made my day.

And, of course, there's more to say this morning...

I'm back in a complete state of wanderlust. Unfortunately, this is unfulfilled and so very painful. How to I tell Simmo I want us to take a little family holiday when I busted the travel budget in Florida this summer? If I'm not meant to travel, why is this in my face??

On the literature front, are American authors really too insular to win the Nobel Prize in Literature? One judge thinks so, however, this morning on Radio 4 one commentator said surely it's Philip Roth's time to win the prize. I must admit, I'm completely cool with that.

Lastly, I really like Stride sweet cinnamon gum. It's fab for the oral gratification issues.

A calm Saturday???

Just like the last several Saturdays, today was supposed to be back-to-back events. This morning, the event scheduled for the middle of the day got cancelled due to the host's illness, so we have an entire afternoon to be, well, lazy. It feels so nice. I thought I'd share the good vibes and do a bit of blogging...

It's a decent feeling when justice has been done, and when it's finally a way to incarcerate The Juice, it's a great day...

Remember a while back when I asked about the etiquette required when requesting children's birthday presents? Well, I love this as a solution to the issue...

I apologise in advance if this makes me sound like a sheep, but I love Body + Soul magazine. I bought a copy whilst in Florida this summer and got around to reading it at the gym this morning, and I'm already putting some of the advice to use. I must find an affordable international subscription to it...

Could someone please buy me these measuring cups for Christmas? Please??

Friday morn

It's rainy, windy and chilly. Autumn is here and I'm so sad. I had naively held out the hope we'd see one week of pure warm sunshine. Alas.

To help me adjust to the months ahead, I'm sitting under a blanket reading the news. Here are a few things I enjoyed this morning...

I already adore Manchester so this top 10 eats list makes me want to take the train north today...

This assessment of Sarah Palin's grammar is fab...

This is a fascinating if not spooky read from the BBC archives...

We (grown-ups, clearly...we wait until Bailey has been asleep at least an hour before even thinking about watching this show) finished watching the last episode of The Wire last night. What an experience, and I'm rather sad it's over. I can't even begin to compile a RIP list; so many characters died of unnatural causes...

Funny haha or funny sad?

Is John Lydon, formerly of the Sex Pistols, funny and ironic for starring in a new commercial for butter, or is it just sad?