This morning I was writing a post in my head based on E's school open house (is it open house week for the rest of the world? we had E on Tuesday, M tonight; friends of mine in other towns were last night, Tuesday night; K's, in a whole different state and a private school, was Tuesday...). Anyway, that post was about theory and pedagogy and reality, and maybe I'll write it later, but for now I

Which of these women would you prefer for Vice President?

We have an old barn at the back of our wee yard. We use it as a garage in the winter and woodshop in the summer. And this morning, shortly before I started my ritual morning nagging of the first...

A few musings about SF/F authors who also write YA-- featuring interviews with Scott Westerfeld, John Scalzi, Colleen Mondor and Gwenda Bond -- in the Baltimore City Paper.

Another good one. (Is it worth me posting these things, or has everyone already seen them?!)

Here are some reasons why we like Hannah Montana:
Miley Cyrus is truly a talented comic actress.Billy Ray Cyrus is totally comfortable in his cheesy, long-haired (no-longer-mulleted) skin.The other actors are also very funny.The show hits just the right balance between ridiculous and well-valued.The show does have good values (friendship, family, all that good stuff).Billy Ray Cyrus captures the

* Why on earth would anyone think that another Hitchhiker's book -- written by Eoin Colfer, ffs -- is a good idea? Are there really no new, good, original ideas left?* Neal Stephenson points out new (to me) sources for...

Love Obama? Want books? [link from C, one of my Ayelet degrees of separation]

You can keep Christmas, fall is the most wonderful time of year. Reason #1: Apple Cider Donuts at Willy's Farm. Admittedly, this batch wasn't the best batch ever -- but they were still pretty darn good. Since we'll make one...

Oh, I am just distraught.  I just found out that Reginald Shepherd died almost two weeks ago, and we hadn't even known he was ill.  I will come out of the anonymity schtick sufficiently to say that he was an old friend of S's, a complicated friend and friendship, and they have been out of touch for a while, but knowing he existed, living his difficult life and writing his incredible poetry, was

Last weekend, Aunt M came to town for a family event.  "Have you made the double chocolate layer cake from Epicurious?" she asked.  Why no, I hadn't.  And I'd been thinking, lately, that it was time to make a chocolate cake, and that was even before Libby commented on the recent absence of cakely chocolateness.  And, not only that, but my mother-in-law's birthday was coming up, and although my

Your result for The Who Would You Be in 1400 AD Test...The Lady Chaste and pure, you are a good person. You try to help others and do your duty to your family. However, this duty involves you being sold...

So I just had the "I can't work for you anymore" conversation with the client I don't want to work for any more.  Actually, I told her the truth: my two big clients got bigger this fall, and between work for them and other freelancing, I truly can't work for her: don't have the time and don't need the money, except I left the money part out.  I also left out the part about how working for her has

"This is what I was attempting to convey to the reporter from the New York Times who wrote the first obituary they published: that while his work got described as ironic, it never used irony as a self-protective gesture, a...

The stranger?  Went to high school with me.  A few years younger.  Very vague recollections, stimulated by C.
I guess that's what Facebook is all about.
(I will say that it is one of my general expectations in life that I remember everyone, because mainly I do, and that nobody remembers me.  But maybe not.)

A long time ago, I worked for a man whom I adored.  He had some weaknesses, but he was a great boss for me: supportive, helpful, appreciative.  Then he hired a woman to be his #2, and she was supposed to supervise me.  There was him at the top, then her, then about seven of us at the same level, each of us supervising dozens of people.  So I was supposed to work with #2 Woman, not #1 Man, and it

When I unpacked the CSA bag on Saturday, I found something long and maroon bundled with two carrots, which makes perfect sense because it was, indeed, a carrot as well. Pretty, no? I discovered too late that, like beets, these...

The best piece I've read on the financial situation. Or perhaps I should say, the only piece I've found readable and comprehensible.

Isn't it obvious that deregulation is the issue here? How can Palin say it's corruption?

This week they are painting.  M's room has bright blue walls and lime green eaves.  There was skepticism, but it looks fabulous.  E's room has three violet walls and one fuschia.  Again: skepticism disproved.  In our room, I was aiming for a barely there blue green.  It turned out more there than I intended.  But S and the girls think it's perfect, and, once I inhabit it, I'm sure I'll soon

So last night, as Scott and I were dishing about the events of the day and the kids were actively avoiding eating their peas, the subject of suicide came up. There's the DFW thing, obviously. But it turns out that...

What do you do when someone you don't think you know friends you on Facebook with a cheerful personal but not that personal note?  I mean, if you click on the link to see their profile, you end up friends with them, but then what if you don't actually know them?  Clearly this does not bother those who have 579 friends, but I don't think I want to be Facebook friends with people I don't know.  I

for the way Anne Lamott makes me want to throw up.  Except I'm Jewish, and we don't believe in hell.
Edited to add: Now this, this makes me feel better.  Still probably going to hell.

* My new favorite poem: I Planned To Have a Border of Lavender.* This story about The Sex Change Capital of the World would be a great premise for a sit-com. Who would play the transgendered doc? Morgan Fairchild? Heather...

Nice to see you again. [OK, game just ended, standings aren't updated yet, but I have to go to bed, and, as always, if you care, you know what I mean.]

I tried to get Jenny to take this one on, as it's really more her bailiwick, but she declined, so I'm afraid the onus is on me.
And I'm afraid that means we must discuss J. Lo's triathlon, the one which rates its own blog, 196 Google news hits and about a gazillion other Google results, the one which she has trained for assiduously, with the honorable aspiration "to make my babies proud" (because

From my beautiful sister Elizabeth, a midwife in Toronto:

Dr. Phil is calling for homebirth and midwife horror stories. A campaign is underway to inundate him with positive stories instead and to pressure him to represent a more balanced perspective (at least).

Please circulate this link as widely as possible. Thanks!

Our culture medicalizes birth too much already; let's not let Dr. Phil scare women into thinking that homebirths and midwives are dangerous and irresponsible!

Actually, it's not much of a story. However, there are secrets I can now reveal. When I went to Toronto, I went to knit night at The Purple Purl. At said knit night, a couple of us swatched some yarn...

Enough, for sure, because she nailed it.

that I find Ben Stein's column more compelling than that Eve Ensler rant my friends keep sending me?
That I care more about regulation than polar bears?  Because I think maybe I do.

On David Foster Wallace:-- from the New Yorker.-- from Time.-- DFW on McCain from This American Life.-- and my favorite (for relative definitions of "favorite") from Kottke.ETA: The definitive tribute from the NYT, which features this heartbreaker from DFW's dad:...