Re: comment modification or Why progress stinks

I got an email from a faithful reader re: the above. Herewith, the skinny:

Hey. Blog comments only get printed after you approve them? Is that true? Seems like that will take some of the fun out of it. But were you getting some meanspirited or pornographic comments?

Well no, but inspired by our fearless leader George Shrub, I am entering into a new era of secrecy and clandestiny. Is that a word? It should be.
But yeah, the real story is that when I switched to Blogger in Beta (in a misguided effort to simplify blogging) I screwed up and changed the settings. Ineptitude: another inspiration via our clueless Shrub!
I am taking the liberty of posting this so that others may know the truth which is of course that only Californians and nieces comment on this thing anyway and everyone knows how polite that population is. See how the writer refrained from using an exclamation point after the first word, "hey"? Also, the only mean-spirited comments are from me, speaking of which, we had a terrible shooting in NYC; an unarmed man, the night before his wedding was shot by police 50 times. In sharp contrast to the former mayor, Rudy Giuliani who tried very hard to make NYC a police state, Bloomberg offered an apology and demanded an investigation. It turns my stomach when I hear about Giuliani's run for a GOP Presidential bid. His one claim to fame was to unite the country in empathy after 9/11. Don't we have higher elected officials who should have been responsible for that? And oh yeah, he's also well-known for trying to close the Brooklyn Museum because he objected to an art exhibit saying it was anti-Catholic. Such high morals from a man who was living in Gracie Mansion (the official residence) with his wife and his mistress.
Yesterday (after an hour-long wait for my semi-annual bone scan) I went shopping for a suitable-for-dogwalking-in-the-winter coat. I found none of course but I did get a ski jacket for Caramel, in teal to match her eye. At least one of us will be warm this winter.

T-day 2006

We had cold, rainy terrible weather but the trip-across-3-states was OK and we dodged bad traffic. The turkey was succulent, and so were the grandnieces.The kugel ( I had to make two this year- my brother and niece should look into Kugeleaters Anonymous, really) was raisin-y good, and it was a great Thanksgiving even if we did get home at 1:00 AM. As extra added attractions, Charlie and Cecily came with their angel baby and Sarah took me over to her house so I could have alone time with Pete's dogs who I love severely. We had a right jolly time.
Grandniece#1 is wearing a sweater of mine that I bought 29 years ago, #2 is quiet and sedate,#3 is always in motion. The whole three of them are so scrumptious, I could eat them up! I took that picture of Steve and Bro; not bad huh? I'm resolved to become friends with the camera. If only I could remember to actually have it about my person.
Caramel was left at home and we had to hire a dogwalker cause all the neighbors were out of town. We brought back leftover turkey as compensation.
Yesterday I called my Aunt Sarah who was at her granddaughter's. She could not come to the phone cause she was feeding her new great-greatgrandson. How cool is that?

No smokin' and dancin'

The Great American Smoke-out was yesterday; it was also my 19th anniversary of not smoking. Hooray for me! I celebrated by having a chest Xray and a Mammogram; November is health (or lack thereof) month! We get all our check-ups before the eating, I mean holiday season begins and the winter weight piles on and my activity level lessens in direct correlation to the thermometer dropping. And speaking of activity, I would like to formally protest the choice of Emmitt Smith as winner of Dancing with the Stars. It was a tough choice, he is gorgeous,delectable and toothsome, owns the music and moves beautifully but Mario Lopez danced choreography that was much more difficult and he looked like a professional. He should have won. Emmitt, of course is a jock. Could it be that he was chosen cause sports fans voted for him? Crossover, I love it! I am thrilled that dancing is on TV at all, much less so popular. Maybe this will start a trend to Classical, modern, and contemporary dance shows! With dogs! Everyone loves dogs, why aren't there any on TV? Why?
You know, some have dementia, I have tangentia. It's a short trip from dancing to dogs, isn't it?
Under the weather, I've been trying to cut down on my news intake but here are 2 bits for my memory book:
The 6000 member Bnei Menashe tribe in northeast India has been recognized as one of the 10 lost tribes of the Bible. Using their right of return, 200 Indians have immigrated to Israel. Our homies! I wonder how long they were lost? And are there 9 tribes left or what?
The reigning Miss Israel, an army private, was given special dispensation so she won't have to carry a semi-automatic weapon. She said it bruised her legs. Can I hear an "Oivavoi"?
The Pope is still insisting on celibacy, a fashion model in Brazil died of anorexia and George2 (sanctioned by the new Senate) is selling nuclear fuel to India (our landsmen!) even though they haven't signed the non-proliferation treaty.
And it so goest. Have a good weekend!!!





Who's the cutest waggie-tail puppy-girl?

Steve's Party in pictures

I finally got my lazy ass in gear and slaved over a hot computer all day to downloaded some of Steve's pix. I also stole pix from niece Sarah. (Barbara said she took photos of everyone but they will probably spend eternity in her camera.) It's a pain cause I can only do them one at a time although I know there must be an easier way but no, I got to wait a minute, wait a minute. I'm too tired to be Elvis today so I will not label them. But if you are clever enough to come up with the song references in this post or correctly identify (or send) one or more of the pastries below, I will name names, you betcha by golly wow.











Cakeboy at 50





Barbara & me, we shrunk for some reason.



Tina and sons #E2 & #B3.









Me & Caramelly at belly level
















My darling Aunt Sarah, watching Carmelita kiss me said, " are you aware that she just licked her behind before she kissed you?"
Omigod, not really!




Grandniece S and nepew#3, in a Gameboy zone.










Roz kissing me in the new kitchen which by the way, rocks. And it works!





Camille & JR( middle and left) came from Florida! Cousin Jane ( in pink) left her brand-new grandson to come!

Breathing a sigh of relief

Well, this is the first election in a long time that has not displeased me. The House and Senate have a Democratic majority, Rumsfeld has resigned, we have a new governor in NY.Saints and gods and whoever be praised. There is the possibility of a solution and end to this mess in Iraq and a hope that priorities in Washington will change. Yay for Americans who voted! Let's all cross our fingers and hope for the best.
I gotta go chastise the hound. She hid my slipper on the mantel who I couldn't see it.

Autumn leaves of red and gold

Cold weather, full moon, can't sleep. I had a perilous day yesterday. I took Caramel for an early morning walk- apparently it was too early for drivers to obey traffic rules. We were crossing with the green light when a guy (!) just sailed through the red, almost hitting me. I saw his face, he was looking the other way. I screamed at him just as the car behind him followed suit and almost hit Carrie, which totally freaked her out. So, we all decided to have a cozy day at home. Steve didn't feel good and slept most of the dayand we had to decline an offer of Knicks tickets for last night. Being in possesion of a lovely hambone from last week's party, I decided to make black bean soup and used my Mom's old heavy-duty pot.The soup was great but when I was cleaning up, I hoisted a too-heavy tray then tripped and fell, spraying the entire dining room with black bean soup, breaking my favorite bowls, lacerating my left hand on the shards and smashing my knee and right hand. I am nothing if not thorough. The cuts were bad but I'm OK, just really sore and feeling stupid. I was a basket case last night- a little post traumatic shock flashback from my accident 2 years ago, a dose of feeling sorry for myself and a feeling of extreme shame. This is a very unsteady time of year for me! I needed a scotch, 3 hours of Deep Space Nine, Singin' in the Rain and cheesecake to calm me.
So I am blogging now because I started the newspaper and got too disgusted. Stupid humans! Stupid Americans! I really hope people will get off their self-involved, complacent asses and vote this Tuesday. In order to be in the world, one must be a part of it.
It's a beautiful, if dangerous world. I took Carrie to Prospect Park, which is so gorgeous now, it's ridiculous. One of my favorite places since childhood, it is landscaped, but also has a natural forest and a dog beach. There was no one around, so I let her loose and we ran in the meadow, scrunched in the leaves, chased squirrels in the woods and barked at ducks on the lake. It was a perfect day. All this goodness had to lead to bad because the next day, while we were out, she attacked and killed the fur strip in the hood of my ski jacket, and spread the fuzz everywhere. It was my fault- I didn't leave her any shoes. Although she has many toys and balls, she prefers our shoes as companions when we are out. She does not chew them, she just moves them around the house, removing the inserts in the process, and deposits them in separate rooms. For example, if it is a muddy gardening shoe, it goes on the couch. Still, she is our perfect darling poochie. Our lucky can you get?