Wednesday, November 30, 2005
The 21st Century Kid... Anna Bloviations spent $52 on a little sweater for our friend's one-year-old daughter and thought she was going all-out lavish. But apparently not. While waiting for the sweater to be wrapped we spied a pretty pink cardigan hanging on a mini hanger and discovered that not only was it cashmere but that it also had a price tag of $140. Not even a uni-sex color for crying out loud. Not that that would really help: the food and drool stains that will be the trademark of the sweater once it is worn will likely make it unusable for the next baby. Telling my friend about this sweater, she told me she could beat that easily. "Go to the FAO Schwarz website," she said. Indeed she was right. The store offers special 'private' birthday parties for ages six and older. In a 24-karat nutshell: "Imagine having the entire FAO Schwarz store all to yourself, all night long. Your child and 15 friends will indulge in an all-night party that includes a spectacular birthday celebration in the FAO Schweetz Ice Cream Parlor, lessons on the Dance-On Piano, rides on the 3-D motion simulator, and hours of games and activities throughout the store. The guests sleep in sleeping bags in the Rec Room so they are never far away from the fun. This special event ends in the morning with a continental breakfast and goody bags. Ages 6 and up. Starting at $25,000."
Please let's get a grip here. Even if you had that kind of discretionary income....
Monday, November 28, 2005
When knowing fractions comes in handy. Arriving home from a quiet day at the State House I opened the front door to a toxic aroma of drying epoxy and wondered what progress might have transpired in the still unfinished bathroom. Hubby popped his head out of the office to 'shhhh' me because he was having his all important budget conference call which meant he probably hadn't even realized anyone had been in the house to do something. Something had been done. The granite top had been installed albeit with fractions few for Tile Guy to finish off around the vanity.
It is obvious that Granite Guy didn't hook up with Contractor Guy as planned which means Granite Guy was left to his own devices i.e. the agreed-upon one inch overhang was jettisoned in favor of getting the damn job done and let the owner deal with the aftermath. You see skinny slivers of tile are easily breakable and not good -- hence did we need the one and five-eighths space. All this is fixable of course. But it all translates into delays, delays, delays. I'm wondering if my Xmas target date is reasonable....good grief.
It is obvious that Granite Guy didn't hook up with Contractor Guy as planned which means Granite Guy was left to his own devices i.e. the agreed-upon one inch overhang was jettisoned in favor of getting the damn job done and let the owner deal with the aftermath. You see skinny slivers of tile are easily breakable and not good -- hence did we need the one and five-eighths space. All this is fixable of course. But it all translates into delays, delays, delays. I'm wondering if my Xmas target date is reasonable....good grief.
Sunday, November 27, 2005
The Rep and his Family taken by Anna Bloviations. 
Ingratiation at its best. We call the Rep out of the blue to tell him that the reason we spent the week at home last week was to complete his campaign donor database (couldn't be doing that at work as it would be a conflict of interest). We offer up our digital camera to take family Xmas-picture shots in conjunction with the database he can use for labels. Further enticement is that we can use the photos to update his website. Anna Bloviations takes about fifty shots in different locations at the Rep's home. The outside ones turn out the best. Using Picasa2 Anna Bloviations alters the photos to different renditions e.g. color, warm-color, black-and-white, soft black-and-white, sepia, etc... Non-computer literates that they are, they think I am a genius. Yes I'm sure I'll come across as a 'genius' next week when I go to interview the twenty-something Craigslist.org volunteers who have expressed interest in maintaining the Rep's website. 'So, ummm, what is your plan to maintain the website....?' We shall look deeply into their eyes and try to bluff comprehension...
Friday, November 25, 2005
Giving Thanks. Inverted that would be Thanksgiving. In this case we have Anna Bloviations, non-cook that she is, somehow managing to pull off an amazing Thanksgiving dinner. There is absolutely no reason why this should be given her cooking track record but for whatever reason I am consistently a success at this meal. This year we followed Cooks Illustrated suggestion and brined the 13-pounder for six hours. Then we 'air-dried' it in the fridge over night. In the morning we loosened the skin from the flesh and rubbed a mix of parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme (you know.... like the song), plus garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. It was a pesto at the end of the day. Per instructions we started the turkey breast- side down and then flipped it after 45 minutes until crispy-brown done.
But let's face it... there really is no such thing as a memorable turkey. There is a good turkey with all the trimmings but how many people do you know who can name a year where they had the best turkey of their lives? Contrarily I can name the best rib roast I ever had. I can name the best lamb I've had. Even the best flank steak. But turkey, in spite of all of Martha Stewart's and other's frettings -- whether you roast, grill, fry, stuff, marinate it -- whether you start it on its breast and then flip, cover it in aluminum foil or bag it -- whether you bake it at 350 or 400 degrees, it is just turkey...... a bird as dumb as a rock and edible only once or twice a year. That gives cooks around the nation another 365 days to try and come up with a recipe that will make that damn bird taste better.
But let's face it... there really is no such thing as a memorable turkey. There is a good turkey with all the trimmings but how many people do you know who can name a year where they had the best turkey of their lives? Contrarily I can name the best rib roast I ever had. I can name the best lamb I've had. Even the best flank steak. But turkey, in spite of all of Martha Stewart's and other's frettings -- whether you roast, grill, fry, stuff, marinate it -- whether you start it on its breast and then flip, cover it in aluminum foil or bag it -- whether you bake it at 350 or 400 degrees, it is just turkey...... a bird as dumb as a rock and edible only once or twice a year. That gives cooks around the nation another 365 days to try and come up with a recipe that will make that damn bird taste better.
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
The 'Anna and Karen' painting in context
. It really pulls the downstair's suite together and adds much needed color to the guest (son's) room seen in the back. Now whether the son will enjoy waking up to this painting of his mother as a young adolescent remains to be seen. From a strategy standpoint perhaps it will discourage him from moving back home after he graduates...
. It really pulls the downstair's suite together and adds much needed color to the guest (son's) room seen in the back. Now whether the son will enjoy waking up to this painting of his mother as a young adolescent remains to be seen. From a strategy standpoint perhaps it will discourage him from moving back home after he graduates...
Extra Good Day: along with the 'Blind Leading the Blind' painting below was included in the over-sized crate that arrived yesterday this gem. It dates back to the early '70's and depicts a gangly eleven-year-old (or there abouts) Anna Bloviations to the left and her then best friend Karen (so let's call it 'Anna and Karen'). 
Insecure as we were we hated how Jack had rendered our features (I especially hated how big my nose looked; Karen hated that she looked brooding) but now I look at this as one of my favorite paintings.
Insecure as we were we hated how Jack had rendered our features (I especially hated how big my nose looked; Karen hated that she looked brooding) but now I look at this as one of my favorite paintings.
Good News: the painting arrived. Titled 'Blind Leading the Blind' it depicts a group of blind men making their way through a maze. 
They are arguing with one another which way to go. I think this painting so epitomizes the world in which we live to day... Thank you Jack X, you wonderful, under-appreciated artist in San Francisco! We love it. P.S. Look how a halo of light surrounds the vase.
They are arguing with one another which way to go. I think this painting so epitomizes the world in which we live to day... Thank you Jack X, you wonderful, under-appreciated artist in San Francisco! We love it. P.S. Look how a halo of light surrounds the vase.
Bad News: this isn't looking like a bathroom that is going to be done by Thanksgiving....New target date is Christmas 2005. Looks bland right now but Anna Bloviation's vision sees this coming together as a serene, neutral, beautiful bathroom (once it's done...)
. How is it that such a minimalist bathroom can take so long anyway?
. How is it that such a minimalist bathroom can take so long anyway? Tuesday, November 22, 2005
30,000 lay-offs at GM: oh gosh the U.S. car manufacturing industry is down the tubes now too. I hate to sound like a liberal Democrat whiner but things really aren't looking very rosy for America. It's one thing to watch for years as one manufacturing industry after the other swam (or was tugged) to other shores but to now be witness to the demise of the car industry is symbolically speaking a huge blow to the car-defining soul of the American (Amish excluded). Let's not forget here that not 50 years ago, America reigned supreme in the car industry!
Other than freeing up 30,000 former GM employees as potential cannon fodderees for Iraq, I just don't see a viable long-term strategy anywhere for this country ie. what now?? Not that GM's crappy cars were ever a sustainable strategy for this country but where is the next rung of progression? Does anyone out there have a plan or are we just the blind leading the blind here. Maybe the religious fanatics have got it right. Just keep praying loudly enough and the petrificant din of reality will go away....
Other than freeing up 30,000 former GM employees as potential cannon fodderees for Iraq, I just don't see a viable long-term strategy anywhere for this country ie. what now?? Not that GM's crappy cars were ever a sustainable strategy for this country but where is the next rung of progression? Does anyone out there have a plan or are we just the blind leading the blind here. Maybe the religious fanatics have got it right. Just keep praying loudly enough and the petrificant din of reality will go away....
Monday, November 21, 2005
Craigslist.org just rocks. All blogites know this already of course and Anna Bloviations is as usual just woefully behind the techno times but really, what a great site. No nonsense. Just instant hook-up to any state for anything you're looking for: jobs, housing, soul mates, cars, vacations, pets, or even civic-minded computer wizards willing to donate an hour or two a week to help manage the Reps flagging un-upkept website. In return we offer no monetary remuneration -- just a glowing letter of recommendation come time for these brilliant computer science majors to consider the many and amazing job offers they are sure to get.
Sunday, November 20, 2005
3 Different Realities: 3 Hangovers. If you could have one of these lives which would you pick? Couple 1 has lived together for over fifteen years. He cashed out with a million(s) on a now defunct software company and now enjoys a lot of free time (or perhaps he doesn't). She owns an art gallery off Newbury Street. No kids. Gorgeous, renovated , art-filled apartment in Brookline and a recently bought summer house sitting on three acres of pristine Maine coastline (global warming could affect this property some day). They spend large swathes of the summer in Italy. Both love good wine. Couple 2 has been married for about fifteen years. He has two college-aged kids from his previous marriage and now has three children under the age of 7 with his second wife. They have a spectacularly large property in Winchester and a summer home across the street from the water in Chatham (global warming could affect this property some day). They have lots of money but also spend it like water; so one hopes they always have enough. Both love good wine. Couple 3 has been married for 23 years and have two college-attending kids. They have a beautiful California-style home overlooking a tree-filled garden and travel extensively (global terrorism could affect this pastime in the future). They have yet to 'cash out' with an ample nest egg that might provide them with their own island someday but live comfortably (not lavishly like the two couples above). The husband puts money aside in a 401k but worries the two will one day live on a park bench. They both love good wine.
Thursday, November 17, 2005
New Legislation....isn't easy to come up with.... Well actually it is. Good legislation isn't easy to come up with. Examples: how about a Rep in Florida who recently proposed pink license plates on the cars of anyone convicted of DUI. Hmmm. I'm sure Nathaniel Hawthorne would approve. And then there are the four Massachusetts legislators who introduced a bill that would soften the crime of bestiality, a move pro-family activists say is a natural progression of the state's legalizing same-sex marriage. Alrighty then. Let's let Anna Bloviation's jump into the fray: I am thinking of legislation that would protect manicurists and pedicurists. Oh quit chortling; this is serious. Women in this profession are usually in their twenties and thirties i.e. their child-bearing years. They sit eight hours a day in poorly ventilated, enclosed salons breathing in some pretty nasty, toxic stuff called nail lacquer and nail polish remover and don't even know it...
Of course we are all doing that to some extent. The cosmetic industry is grossly negligent in testing its products for safety says the FDA and EWG and the risks and ramifications threaten to spill over to all cross sections of the consumer market as specializied products are marketed to not only women but the metro men crowd and designer baby playgroups. It's time to start cracking the whip on the mostly unregulated cosmetic industry.
Of course we are all doing that to some extent. The cosmetic industry is grossly negligent in testing its products for safety says the FDA and EWG and the risks and ramifications threaten to spill over to all cross sections of the consumer market as specializied products are marketed to not only women but the metro men crowd and designer baby playgroups. It's time to start cracking the whip on the mostly unregulated cosmetic industry.
Monday, November 14, 2005
40B Tea Party. 40B is a Massachusetts statute that promotes affordable housing in the state. The problem is that the law is a contentious little bugger because it tends to infuriate residents in the towns 40B developments are proposed. Why? Because 40B allows developers to circumvent local zoning boards and get their developments (usually god-awful-looking-things) put on the fast track. So what do pissed-off New Englanders do when a development is forced into their back yard without their having had any say? Well some do what they did back in 1773 and have a Tea Party..... i.e. someone(s) just burned an entire 40B development down in Town X, Massachusetts. Hell with no legal recourse and no say in how it should look, I guess that's one way to add an architectural signature touch... Back in 1773 the Tea Party rebels were called 'Patriots'. Today I imagine we will hear something to the effect of '40B Terrorists...'
Sunday, November 13, 2005
His Chest Shook. Anna Bloviations attended her first-ever Veteran's Memorial Service as part of her new 'Community Liaison' role. Taking a seat near the front of the auditorium next to the Representative, we watched as the mostly World War II veterans doddered stoically to their seats. "I don't think that one is going to make it through the ceremony," I whispered. The high school choir began their rendition of America the Beautiful and the ceremony commenced. Did I know that in six minutes everyone in the room would be crying? That tears would spill down my cheeks to sear the cynical corners of my mouth into a trembling quiver, at least for a day? It was Sgt. Jeffrey X who did it. Sgt. X looks like Sean Penn the movie actor but I doubt even Sean Penn could have done justice to this man's performance. Performance isn't the right word of course. This was no performance. This was straight from the heart and as he spoke, his chest shook with emotion. Twice he had to pause before he could continue.
Sgt. X was an army reservist who back when signed up as an army volunteer when doing so seemed like an easy ticket to getting a free college education. Did he know of the attached risks? In retrospect hardly. He was called to active duty at the onset of the Afghanistan war and later served in Iraq. As he kissed his wife and three young daughters and waved to them good-bye, it was Jeffrey X who was waving. Little did he know that in just a few months there would be no Jeffrey X left. The voice his family would hear crackling over the long distance line emanated from a man that no longer was.
Jeffrey X was lucky in that he wasn't physically wounded. No, Jeffrey X was an army medic whose job it was to treat the wounded soldiers coming in from the field -- soldiers who would have been killed surely in previous wars but who now thanks to high-tech protective armor (those who have it) stay alive. The price for their lives, however, is grimly steep. These men have shrapnel and burn wounds that have disfigured many beyond recognition. Worse: many have no limbs left to be disfigured. Far worse than the physical wounds are the emotional scars no anti-biotic, no plastic surgery, no prosthetics can heal. Sgt. Jeffrey X knows that because he himself suffered those emotional wounds. He and these men have seen and suffered things that instantaneous death had spared soldiers before them.
Sgt. Jeffrey X is a smart, articulate, good-looking man who by all appearances came back whole. But it is painfully clear that Jeffrey will be struggling with his inner demons for years to come. Fortunately he has come back to a loving family and supportive community. For the 15,000 plus wounded war veterans who have returned from Afghanistan and Iraq to the isolation of the suburbs, to the dysfunctional families that made them sign up for the army in the first place, to the towns that have no jobs let alone for men and women with no arms or legs, to the spouses who no longer recognize the person now sitting silently on the couch... they should be so lucky...
Sgt. X was an army reservist who back when signed up as an army volunteer when doing so seemed like an easy ticket to getting a free college education. Did he know of the attached risks? In retrospect hardly. He was called to active duty at the onset of the Afghanistan war and later served in Iraq. As he kissed his wife and three young daughters and waved to them good-bye, it was Jeffrey X who was waving. Little did he know that in just a few months there would be no Jeffrey X left. The voice his family would hear crackling over the long distance line emanated from a man that no longer was.
Jeffrey X was lucky in that he wasn't physically wounded. No, Jeffrey X was an army medic whose job it was to treat the wounded soldiers coming in from the field -- soldiers who would have been killed surely in previous wars but who now thanks to high-tech protective armor (those who have it) stay alive. The price for their lives, however, is grimly steep. These men have shrapnel and burn wounds that have disfigured many beyond recognition. Worse: many have no limbs left to be disfigured. Far worse than the physical wounds are the emotional scars no anti-biotic, no plastic surgery, no prosthetics can heal. Sgt. Jeffrey X knows that because he himself suffered those emotional wounds. He and these men have seen and suffered things that instantaneous death had spared soldiers before them.
Sgt. Jeffrey X is a smart, articulate, good-looking man who by all appearances came back whole. But it is painfully clear that Jeffrey will be struggling with his inner demons for years to come. Fortunately he has come back to a loving family and supportive community. For the 15,000 plus wounded war veterans who have returned from Afghanistan and Iraq to the isolation of the suburbs, to the dysfunctional families that made them sign up for the army in the first place, to the towns that have no jobs let alone for men and women with no arms or legs, to the spouses who no longer recognize the person now sitting silently on the couch... they should be so lucky...
Friday, November 11, 2005
Sherpa Girl Drinks $287 Glass of Wine. Hubby contracted Anna Bloviations to go pick up his suit at Saks Fifth Avenue. I don't know anyone in his right mind that goes to Saks and buys clothes retail except my husband, really, but that is beside the point. He already has a Ferrari in his mouth from all of the dental work he has had done over the years so why not a dress shirt that costs $125? I pick up the heavy armful of clothing but before leaving ask the salesman if anything we bought over the weekend went on sale (having noticed the 30-40% off sale signs all over the store). Gee, did I say something wrong?
With $287 credit to my Visa, I trek to the subway station with suits and pants in hand. Now it is rush hour and it takes five stops before I get a seat. Sherpa girl finally gets home, drops the garment bag onto the couch, goes straight for the refrigerator and pulls out the most expensive bottle of wine in there (a $13 bottle of La Crema meant as a hostess gift for a dinner party). No matter. The first cold sip of wine tastes like $1,000,287.....
With $287 credit to my Visa, I trek to the subway station with suits and pants in hand. Now it is rush hour and it takes five stops before I get a seat. Sherpa girl finally gets home, drops the garment bag onto the couch, goes straight for the refrigerator and pulls out the most expensive bottle of wine in there (a $13 bottle of La Crema meant as a hostess gift for a dinner party). No matter. The first cold sip of wine tastes like $1,000,287.....
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Since October 18th 2005 this is how far the bathroom in progress has progressed (or not depending on your perspective). It doesn't look to me like it has a chance in hell of being done by Thanksgiving but perhaps I will be happily surprised. I doubt it though: the wall tiles still need to be grouted, the floor tile put down, the vanity installed, the countertop set, the electrical work completed, and the walls painted. It would also be really nice to have a toilet, sink, and showerhead... But I'm not complaining really. There are so many other realities out there that could be mine and thankfully aren't --to the extent that it makes this agnostic want to kneel down right now and kiss the floor. Or no, here comes the dog...Even better. Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Of All the Bolder-Dash Luck... The son informs me that the speaker-to-be at his upcoming May 2006 graduation commencement speech will be none other than..... George Bush Sr. Sadly in the grand scheme of things he isn't looking half bad these days. Nonetheless. So much tuition. Such a cruel joke... We'll be paying airfare to go listen to him???
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Ann Coulter Goes Brunette. That was the best riposte the two could come up with following my after-dinner acerbic ballestra. Really all I was trying to do was to wheel the two inebriated gents back to a conversational path of clarity and relevance but the attempt only served to earn me the badge of "latent conservative." Ann Coulter indeed. This is the woman laughing all the way to the bank as she says calculatingly inflammatory comments like, "We should invade their countries, kill their leaders, and convert them to Christianity. We weren't punctilious about locating and punishing only Hitler and his top officers, we carpet bombed German cities; we killed civilians. That's war. And this is war." Yes that's just the kind of thing Anna Bloviation's would say.. No you two who lost the evening's debate, the only thing I have in common with Ann Coulter are skinny legs.
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Saving the Lobsters. There are two Texas energy companies currently vying for permission to build a gas pipeline and liquefied natural gas unloading station that will start approximately 13 miles off the coast of Gloucester and extend down the coast of New England. The project is called the 'Neptune Deepwater Port' (rather sounds like a James Bond movie doesn't it?). Pro forma public hearings will be taking place this month but given today's gas supply jitters, this is more or less all a done deal. The hearings are designed to do two vitally important things for the region: 1) placate fishermen and lobstermen who fear the docking complexes will negatively impact their fishing territory and 2) placate fears that tankers heading through Boston Harbor could potentially generate a mega-fireball headed straight toward waterfront areas if they were to be attacked by terrorists. Easy:... just as Bechtel engineers were able to assuage Boston that the Big Dig would be a piece of engineering cake but now we have leaks all over the place not to mention Boston lies on a fault line due for an earthquake, so too will Duke Energy Corp. and Excelerate Energy LLC be able to convince those who need convincing that they know what they are doing.
More realistic and likely a problem is the following: one of the Texas companies responsible for building the so-called HubLine, a 29-mile stretch of undersea gas line from Beverly Harbor to Weymouth that will eventually link up to the Neptune pipe, should give us cause for reflection: . with no experience building pipelines in the turbulent cold waters of the Atlantic, Duke unfortunately left large swathes of pipeline inadequately buried with the end result that the statistical likelihood of an accident (say a big ship dropping anchor in the wrong place) is probably a lot higher than any human being living on the coast would like. Did they learn from their mistakes? Hopefully. Fix it? Well herein lies the problem... if you fix it you open up a whole new can of worms in that you disrupt the seabed to such an extent as to cause irreparable damage to delicate breeding grounds for fish and shellfish alike. Or, fixing it is just technically infeasible. The Wildlife Fisheries Agency is monitoring this situation but the end assessment is due AFTER construction would begin on the Neptune Project. Yes, yes, yes of course we need gas. We need oil. I for one have no desire to freeze my Californian ass off in a Californian-styled, gas-heated house. I'm just worried this project will be approved ad hoc willy-nilly. Lobsters and more be damned....
More realistic and likely a problem is the following: one of the Texas companies responsible for building the so-called HubLine, a 29-mile stretch of undersea gas line from Beverly Harbor to Weymouth that will eventually link up to the Neptune pipe, should give us cause for reflection: . with no experience building pipelines in the turbulent cold waters of the Atlantic, Duke unfortunately left large swathes of pipeline inadequately buried with the end result that the statistical likelihood of an accident (say a big ship dropping anchor in the wrong place) is probably a lot higher than any human being living on the coast would like. Did they learn from their mistakes? Hopefully. Fix it? Well herein lies the problem... if you fix it you open up a whole new can of worms in that you disrupt the seabed to such an extent as to cause irreparable damage to delicate breeding grounds for fish and shellfish alike. Or, fixing it is just technically infeasible. The Wildlife Fisheries Agency is monitoring this situation but the end assessment is due AFTER construction would begin on the Neptune Project. Yes, yes, yes of course we need gas. We need oil. I for one have no desire to freeze my Californian ass off in a Californian-styled, gas-heated house. I'm just worried this project will be approved ad hoc willy-nilly. Lobsters and more be damned....
