Sunday, in a new hat

Sunday was indeed a far better day than Saturday.

Progress made on the home front:
- Beth interviewed a housekeeper. She and her assistant will come once per week for one month, then every other week for the following month, and at that point we'll evaluate if we'll still need help. I like doing housework and I think our standards are slightly more neurotic higher than normal. Definitely moving out of my comfort zone on this one.

- Groceries were delivered by my friend P. - who wouldn't take any cash despite having done the shopping at Whole Paycheck Foods. When things are less hectic, we'll take P. and her partner H. to Orson for dinner. I've wanted to check out Ms. Elizabeth Faulkner's latest culinary enterprise but haven't been able to schlep myself up to the Thursday night events.

- A somewhat subdued Mongolian BBQ which gained volume and energy when we began to discuss the Independent Chip Model (in poker.) I thought this sort of equity evaluation was a given but many casual players skip it, I guess. Better for those of us who don't.

- Picked up Max from Hez's place. Her Mom's in town so I had a chance to get warm hugs.

Monday is fairly busy - a booked morning, some errands in the early afternoon, and I give a midterm to my solid state materials class in the evening. Hope to make it to the gym after that.

It's difficult to describe how things are; I feel like I'm wading through detritus.

19th Amendment

During the 08 presidential campaign, I read Meghan McCain's blog (http://mccainblogette.com/) not only to see how this child of a candidate would fare, but also for the play lists she posted. She has good taste in music and what her writing may lack in depth is compensated with genuine enthusiasm. It is obvious she enjoys communication.

She's now a blogger for Tina Brown's alternative to HuffPo, The Daily Beast. Recently McCain wrote a short commentary about Ann Coulter only to have Laura Ingraham call her out on her weight. Not Meghan McCain's support of gay marriage or stem cell research or the surge in Iraq. Nope, her weight.

McCain wrote a response to the pundits called the politics of size.

Some perspective.
(1) Laura Ingraham, while entertaining, is an asshat. That's a given.
(2) Ms. McCain (who carries her weight in her upper body and is 5'5") oscillated between a (US) size 8 and 10 during the campaign.

WTF?!?

In case you'd like to buy some off the rack clothing for your favorite politico, Hillary Clinton is 5'6" and assumed to be a size 10 (I'd have guessed an 8.) Sarah Palin, 5'4", is rumored to be size 6 and Cindy McCain, 5'7", is a 4. Michelle Obama, the tallest of the gang at 5'10", has been pegged as a 10 or 12.

I digress. Now, you might think I'm about to bitch about it being the 21st century and all we're reading about is Meghan McCain's dress size. No, I'm not. You might think I'm going to dive for the gutter and begin comparing cup sizes. Meghan wins that one easily, but nope, wasn't going there either.

I'm thrilled that we're seeing women in journalism - Huffington, Brown, McCain, Coulter, Ingraham. Okay, not journalism proper - enterjournaltainerism - or whatever the hell the internet, radio, and television offer today.

It's progress. Less than a hundred years ago women in the US couldn't vote.

Don't believe that there is progress? How about this example:
During her show the other day, Ellen said my wife, Portia and no stations banned that day's episode, the stars didn't fall from the sky, and the flannel clad state of Vermont did not all go gay. New Hampshire didn't either.

When a lesbian can bring her trophy* wife on her talk show you know we've made progress.
Enjoy:

(Portia's the trophy wife; Ellen dumped Alex Hedison for her.)

In the interest of full disclosure and future gifts, I'm 5'2" and wear anywhere from an 8 to a 12 depending on the manufacturer (DKNY=8; Jones New York=10 Ralph Lauren=12.) Unlike Ms. McCain, my center of mass is below my waist.

A happy Monday

Long day, a good measure of work done, time to sleep.

Rave on.