Nobody Knows Anything

Welcome to Diane Patterson's eclectic blog about what strikes her fancy

Vacation? Yes! A vacation!

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So, we’re back from a week’s vacation. Not surprisingly, I feel completely exhausted. What is it about vacations that completely and thoroughly wipe one out?

Oh yes, I remember now: kids. When you are on vacation, you are on call 24/7. No preschools, no babysitters, and rarely a room or a moment to yourself.

It was fun anyhow.

We went on a drive trip up to Portland, then down the Oregon Coast to Mendocino, then home today. A full week of doing about 1500 miles.

Bonus: Simon has started talking up a storm. He repeated words we said constantly. The most hilarious version of this was when I promised Sophia we would get ice cream at our next rest stop. (Not to bribe her or anything. Just to get some ice cream. Mommy wanted ice cream too.) For the next half an hour of drive time, Simon chanted, “Choco cone! Choco cone!” Over. And over. And over.

Downside: Somehow, and I have no idea how, the spammers who have pretty much left my site alone for the past few weeks hit the comments section with a vengeance the day we left. Thank goodness we had internet access at the beginning and the end of the trip to take care of that as much as I could. If you happen to see comments for Vi*gra/Meri*ia/the like, please let me know.

Anyhow, if you are interested in our doings, continue apace…

(Warning! Excessively long, talky entry with photos follows!)
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Writer’s Tip

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You know that People for the American Way has published the Florida Felon List, which allows citizens to check to see if the state of Florida is calling them nasty names behind their back and, oh yes, disenfranchising them. Great move, props all around to PFAW.

I’m not here to get into the Florida thing. No, no: I’m here to tell all writers out here to get copies of the list immediately. Unfortunately, it’s 26 PDF files. On the other hand…it’s a gigantic list of names you can look at any time to spark an idea for a character’s name.

Need a name? Check the list. All different ethnicities and heritages. Easy to peruse in the comfort of your own computer.

I’m all about the writing help over here.

Dept. Of “Prove It Now, Mo’ Fos”

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They’re not even pretending anymore:

Military records that could help establish President Bush’s whereabouts during his disputed service in the Texas Air National Guard more than 30 years ago have been inadvertently destroyed, according to the Pentagon.

It said the payroll records of “numerous service members,” including former First Lt. Bush, had been ruined in 1996 and 1997 by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service during a project to salvage deteriorating microfilm. No back-up paper copies could be found, it added in notices dated June 25.

Cue the Church Lady: “Who could have done this? Hmm, let me think. Could it have been…SATAN?”

Update: Lambert at Corrente has much more analysis of why this is suspicious, criminal bullshit.