Tired ... so very tired

A few days ago, Sen. Obama remarked in a speech that doing little things, like making sure your car's tires are properly inflated, can make a difference in the amount of gas you use. The Republicans have decided to thoroughly mock this as the most ridiculous thing ever.

Can I give you a little firsthand experience? In the past, my 2002 Saturn generally got to the three-quarters-full mark on the gas gauge around the time my trip odometer hit 100 miles (that is, after I reset the odometer to 0 when I fill the tank). Since gas prices have risen, I've made a few changes to way I drive. I speed up at a slower rate from full stops (thereby avoiding "jackrabbit starts," which waste gas). I try to coast into stops at lights and stop signs rather than keeping my foot on the accelerator to the last moment and then braking. On the highway, I've been keeping to around 56-57 miles per hour rather than the 63 or so I used to do.

And guess what? I'm getting to around 120 miles on the trip odometer at the three-quarters-full mark. That's with my AC on in the hot weather.

Can you imagine if everyone did this?

Republicans are handing out tire gauges with "Obama's energy plan" on them as a form of ridicule. Remember when they handed out "purple heart" Band-Aids on the floor of the Republican Convention four years ago to mock Sen. Kerry's service during the Vietnam War? That was a slap in the face of every veteran who earned that distinction. And this seems like slap at every American who'd like to save a few bucks at the pump.

I haven't been checking my tire pressure, by the way. But I'm going to start.

UPDATE: "It's like they take pride in being ignorant."

Sometimes, it's better to leave people guessing

A co-worker sent me a link to this Associated Press story a little while ago. I assume it will be fixed shortly, but, for the record, the item first was sent out as:

Conservative political commentator Robert Novak has announced his immediate retirement after being diagnosed with a brain tumor. ...

Novak has been a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times for decades. He announced late last month he has a brain. The revelation came less than a week after he struck a pedestrian with his Corvette and drove away. --The Associated Press

It's already getting fixed on most sites. Link above was still wrong when I made this post.

Meanwhile, newspapers are laying off copy editors. Coincidence?

The dark side

I found this New York Times Magazine story about online "trolls" to be downright disturbing.

There are some sick folks out there. It's also made me question (again) the wisdom of using my real-world name here.

Deerly unbeloved

A couple of hours ago, this headline graced the front page of the Yahoo portal:

Exploding deer population causing billions in damage

Yes, you would expect exploding deer to cause damage, but still.

Now, this just went up:

Menacing deer invasions push homeowners to the limit

I'm predicting that the headline Bambi's mom deserved it will be there by day's end.

Google search that recently stranded a visitor on The Velvet Blog, with commentary

ben stiller satan worshiper

Well, that explains The Cable Guy. And Envy. And Meet the Fockers. And Duplex. And Along Came Polly. And the remake of The Heartbreak Kid. And School for Scoundrels. And Dodgeball. And ...

Not only have all the good company names been taken, it appears, but the merely bad ones, too; now, on to the truly horrendous

Actual names of tech companies I came across today: uTIPu, GyPSii.

There's just no excuse for that.

Random 10--now with actual audio!

SeeqPod - Playable Search

OK, not 100% random. I set my iPod on shuffle, and those songs I could find via SeeqPod are here. But some I hoped to find were not posted anywhere, and I have no way to host music on my own. Still, SeeqPod is awfully nifty.

Quotation of the Day

"He's got a great sense of humor, he really does. You can say 'enema' to him a million times, and he'll laugh every time." --Teri Garr

For the record, Teri Garr is completely adorable.

Outrage fatigue

So there's an article that went up on Salon today, "Exposing Bush's historic abuse of power," that sounds as if it might be important. The description: "Salon has uncovered new evidence of post-9/11 spying on Americans. Obtained documents point to a potential investigation of the White House that could rival Watergate."

But I just can't read it. I can't. I'm tired of being outraged all the time at this administration. It's exhausting. I start to read this and my eyes glaze over.

Maybe someone could just summarize it for me, and give me bullet points on the most egregious acts? That way, I can save time in working up to a high dudgeon.

Sigh.

IMMEDIATE UPDATE: The Onion weighs in on this phenomenon.

Beet it

Although I'm the son of a (former) farmer, I pretty much refused to eat vegetables until I was well into my twenties. Somehow, I managed to survive on meat, potatoes, canned Campbell's beans, and the occasional Flintstones vitamin.

In retrospect ... well, God love her, but my mother overcooks most food. (It's not till I was around 10 that I realized hamburgers weren't supposed to be crunchy on the outside. This was a revelation.) I think it's mainly a generational thing; people in her age group seem to like to cook vegetables till they're pale and limp. (The vegetables, not the people.)

Although I've grown in my appreciation of veggies since childhood, I sometimes have to remind myself to eat them. It's easy for me to fall into a meat-and-potatoes rut. And some vegetables have continued to pretty much spook me. Like beets.

Until I found the following recipe for gingered beet slaw. It comes from the newsletter of a CSA to which we belonged for a time; it originally appeared in the Terrific Pacific Cookbook, by Anya Van Bremzen.

Even inveterate beet haters (and new beet lovers, like Bix) will like this.

Gingered Beet Slaw

2 lbs. beets, trimmed, leaving 2 inches of stem attached
1/2 cup minced shallots
1-1/2 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1/3 cup slivered fresh basil leaves
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
1 tablespoon orange juice
2 tablespoons lime juice
2-1/2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup canola or peanut oil
salt and pepper to taste

Combine beets with cold water to cover in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer covered until beets are tender, 30-45 minutes. Drain beets and place in a bowl of cold water until cool. Slip off the skins, and pat dry with paper towels.

Grate or shred the beets, and toss with the shallots, ginger, basil, and orange zest.

In a small bowl, whisk together the orange juice, lime juice, vinegar, and sugar. Slowly whisk in the oil until emulsified. Add the dressing to the beets and toss well. Season with salt and pepper and chill.

(Oh, and yellow beets are milder than the red ones. And a less scary looking.)

"In dreams/I walk with you/In dreams/I beat you off with a stick"

As mentioned before, I often dream of celebrities. Frequently, down-market, B-, C-, and D-list celebrities.

Last night, however, I dreamed I was being attacked by an angry, possibly rabid raccoon.

Still, that's better than, say, a dream about D-list comedian/actor Andy Dick. (WARNING: SCARY PHOTO OF D-LIST COMEDIAN/ACTOR ANDY DICK.)

Now, in order to wash that image out of your head, enjoy this video of the late, great Roy Orbison singing "In Dreams."