Long Time Gone

Sometimes it's hard to decide whether I should buy a given item of clothing or not, when trying them on in the dressing room. One certain indicator, though, that I should take something home is when I start to dance around the dressing room in it as soon as I put it on. A long pause and close examination in the mirror of the garment (with me in it) are generally not good signs. Frito-Lay Angrily Introduces Line Of Healthy Snacks PLANO, TX—"Look at what you've reduced us to," said CEO Al Carey, as he disgustedly held up a bag of Cranberry Spinach Explosion snack chips.

[hang on a minute, readers; my boy Stephen and newly elected Representative John Hall are singing the national anthem on "The Colbert Report"]...OK. Republican Hypocritical Action #234,444,555,234: Accusing the Democrats of taxing and spending, implying that both are bad, and then cutting taxes AND spending more than any administration in history. In addition to knowledge of basic grammar, Bush also appears to lack rudimentary mathematical skills.

Britney Spears dumps Kevin Federline, George Bush dumps Donald Rumsfeld, and poor Stephen Colbert is so depressed about the Democratic victories he can hardly host his show. I'm also pleased to see my boy Howard Dean back in the spotlight, as chair of the DNC, and I hope to see much more of him.

Minimum wage: Howard Dean is talking about raising the minimum wage as a goal for the new Democratic Congress. And why shouldn't it be raised? Yes, it strains small businesses, and I'm sorry for that, but Americans with jobs need to be able to survive on what they earn. It seems like a no-brainer that any person with a 40-hour per week job should have all of their basic needs taken care of, including retirement and health benefits, so I think non-living wages have no place in our society.

Today, I thought I blew out a tire on the San Mateo Bridge, so I pulled over and called the emergency tow-truck people, but luckily the Highway Patrol stopped by, and told me that it wasn't the tire--it was the rubber/plastic lining of the wheel well that had fallen off and was dragging on the ground. I'm so glad I didn't have to wait on the bridge for a tow truck and get a new tire with all the hassle that requires.

a bloodless coup during last night's Blue Revolution!

I hardly dare to hope that things might change for the better--that Hilary Clinton or Barack Obama, or even John McCain could be president in two years--but the Dems have the House, so I'm starting to hope. I'm afraid we won't get the Senate, though. In other news...Diana's long-winded and occasionally intelligible armchair commentary: If the majority of Californians do not smoke, why is the tax on cigarettes currently going down to defeat? Why has Prop 87, the alternative energy prop, been defeated so soundly? That is very disappointing. And, a pro-education measure went down to defeat locally, and I'd like to know why people complain about the plight of education but aren't willing to pay for improvements? If it doesn't come from tax money, where does it come from? The perfect storm of Jon Stewart's and my boy Stephen Colbert's shows is taking shape; I must adjourn.