Nom de Plume

Had such a great time with Steph and Peter last night that I’ve decided to stay another day here. And I’m ignoring the fact that it’s supposed to be very rainy tomorrow.

Steve and I (and Harry) have survived Christmas with my mother and Wayne.

No small feat, let me tell you.

Actually, that’s not true. I am typing this for my mother’s benefit; she is sitting right next to me in the doctor’s office where we are waiting for her tetanus shot. She stepped on a rusty nail while trompling through the myrtle in the remnants of the ranch garden. It has been a fun trip, and we are all leaving tomorrow in a mass exodus. Then, two days on the road, stopping to see Steph and Peter on the way up.

Harry and I hit the open road Tuesday morning — and after two hard days’ drive (and a stay with at a Greek Orthodox convent), we are in Julian for the holidays.

Via Quizro:

Go to your Calendar and find the first titled entry for each month of 2005. Post the title line or first line (for those who don’t title their entries) of it in your journal, and that’s your “Year In Review.”

Okay, this took a little creative license on my part because some of my first posts are book reviews and others are lines that wouldn’t make any sense. So here’s my somewhat modified year in review.

January
I really need to get Harry Potsticker fixed.

Feburary
Check out this study done on high school kids and the First Amendment–some pretty scary findings.

March
On Sunday, we were tooling around Capitol Hill, when Steve’s Jeep clunked and he lost his power steering.

April
Took yesterday off and it’s sheer bliss.

May
Great Weekend: Although we were sucky at the surfing thing.

June
Left the house in the middle of a huge thunderstorm last night to see the latest Star Wars – two and a half hours of watching Annikin move over the the dark side.

July
Last night, we watched the fireworks from the roof.

August
We are becoming true Seattlites. The second the temperature inches past 80 degrees, we start whining about how hot it is.

September
Hurrican Katrina Relief: Say what you want about Americans – but when disaster hits, they open their wallets.

October
My mother has always been passionate about the ranch, which my grandparents bought during the Depression.

November
Ever since I got Harry, he’s been a bit unsteady on his feet.

December
New Look: Cleaner. Much cleaner. Still need to do some font/color work, but it takes me a long time because I honestly have no clue what I’m doing as I muck about in templates ….

Which is what I woke up to this morning … I DO wish it would snow. After all, if it’s going to be cold, it might as well be fun. We have a windy, twisty alley with a couple of good hills — and I’m fantasizing about buying a supersaucer, cordoning off the alley, and going sledding!

Steve howls with laughter every time he encounters David Sedaris, and so, after a spat, I bought him Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim as a conciliatory gesture. He howled. And I was done with my library pile and picked it up too.

I should say I’ve never found him as mind-numbingly funny as so many do, which I’m sure is a personal failing. But while I chuckled at times, I have to say this is the best Sedaris collection I’ve read — not for the humor, but for the slices of keen observation sandwiched between the slapstick. Recommend.

One of those books that has been getting a lot of press, I finally got The Almond from the library. Originally written and published in France, the book is a tale by the anonymous Nedjma, about sexual awakening. “An erotic tour de force,” critics have been saying. “An inside peek into the lives of Middle Eastern womanhood,” says another. “Reclaims sexuality for oppressed women,” rallies a third.

Well.

The tale centers around Badra, a woman who leaves her unhappy marriage to live with her aunt. She becomes the long-time mistress of a Western-educated doctor, who introduces her to sex. He is, frankly, insane.

It was a quick, easy read — though some of the descriptions and metaphors made me cringe with embarassment for the writer (though sympathetic to her decision to publish under a pseudonym). And really, it was about sex. Which is fine. Which is good, though a little tedious when sustained for 237 pages. Actually, it felt forced, an onslaught of sex that is neither particularly sensuous nor gratifying.

And all these claims of liberating women puzzle me: it seems to me that the novel merely upholds all our preconceptions of life — houris and harems — behind the veil.

Doing business in Seattle is a pain in the neck. First, you have to get a Washington State business license. Then you have to get a Seattle license. And although Washington doesn’t have income tax, there is a business and operating tax. It’s not huge, but even so, when I got all the forms last week, I had to laugh at the brochure that said, “We’re here for you!” Of course they are.

But it got me thinking about taxes in general. I pay my federal taxes quarterly, and there’s nothing that saddens me more than writing a check for 30% of my gross income. It’s not that I don’t believe in taxes or even that I think that we pay too much. No, what irritates me is the deductions that people get; they essentially reward a certain way of life. Buy a house, boom! Pop out the anklebiters, double boom! And then, of course, there are all the tax breaks for rich folks.

Personally, I think there needs to be a separate tax break for being female; being a woman is MUCH more expensive than being a man. It’s clear when you add up the non-negotiables (tampons, bras, annuals, and so forth) that there are things that men simply don’t need to pay for. And that’s not fair. Then there are the negotiables: makeup, smelly lotions and soaps, perfume, clothes. Sure, you don’t have to buy them — but society expects more on that front from women than it does from men. Plus, we get gouged on simple things like haircuts. Even cheap haircuts. If a man and woman get the same haircut, the woman will pay at least double — because it’s not getting your hair cut, it’s having your hair “styled.”

So here’s to a special “Are you female?” question on the 1040. Then you can add $2,500 to your standard deduction.

This must be a joke. I think.

Tampon Crafts via Boing Boing.

To Halt Abuses, U.S. Will Inspect Jails Run by Iraq