Well, I followed Serena’s link and left a message for the Mayor and City Council of Dallas. Hopefully they will do the right thing.

OMG, what do you people eat? My fridge is full of veges and cat food and wine (white, of course), and oj and tonic (for the gin) and bottles of water, and yogurts, and all kinds of condiments and salad dressings. And the freezer is full of meat and fish and a few frozen entrees. I lived with a 1971 Kenmore fridge until a couple of years ago when it finally died, so I am enjoying a new, modern, spacious fridge that costs about a quarter of what the other one did in electricity. It’s wonderful!

But don’t you think that a person who allows his wife to lie for him shows a lack of character that does not bode well for someone aspiring to be President of the United States? That is what I find most disgusting, that she lied for him and he let her do so. What kind of a man is he? I couldn’t care less if he had an affair. But to allow his wife, suffering from a relapse of cancer, to stand in front of the TV cameras and pretend they had a perfect marriage is utterly reprehensible. He is a user and not fit to be president. Thank god he is no longer in the running.

It’s pretty horrifying if it’s true that she knew in 2006 and then went along with all the BS when he started his campaign for president. He’s obviously an idiot but really, what was she thinking? Did she believe his affair would never see the light of day? Where was she 8, 12 years ago? Didn’t she listen to the news? It just blows me away that she let him get away with the pretense that they had a perfect marriage. She’s as big a liar as he is. Just makes me want to wash my hands of all politicians (except Hillary, of course!).

I love these videos. I had seen the wake-up one before and it is exactly the routine on my bed in the morning (without the baseball bat!). He has got the cat’s expressions down perfectly. Fabulous. Thanks to Rocky Rocky for suggesting these. They made my day!

Me neither. Obviously an Americanism that I missed by arriving too late.

A nicely turned ankle on a fit young man is not unpleasant to behold. But I agree with Liz that a ghastly white ankle full of swollen veins on an older man is utterly repulsive. Socks would be a mercy to them.

I love your description of a certain couple in skimpy attire. It’s so vivid, I can see them from here. And I certainly empathize with your decision to move your seats. It must have been nauseating to have that happening in front of you. I like a man with some hair on his chest but when it’s difficult to distinguish him from a gorilla, I’d have to give it a miss. Yuk!

How I wish the answer to this topic could be yes! But unfortunately the consensus of opinion appears to be that Hillary lost the nomination by herself and Edwards’ votes would probably not have changed the outcome. Boo hoo hoo!

Japanese

I know. It’s such a bore having to color my hair every 3-4 weeks. But when the roots start showing, they are not a very attractive gray. I would love not to have to bother with it, but in my experience a woman with gray hair in a professional environment does not get respected as much as a woman with non-gray hair.

That is such a hard question. I led a rather wild youth and had a fabulous time. My mid years were wasted in getting married and divorced. And now in late middle age, I worry about keeping my job so I can keep my health insurance and contribute to my 401k so I don’t end up penniless in my old age. It’s a vicious circle and I hate being caught in it but I see no practical way out for me.

Oh that was soooo cool! I had a big crush on him in my teens. He must have been really young in that video cause I saw him once in Vegas a million years ago and he looked a whole lot older than that. And he’s only 67 today! So Happy Birthday Paul! Thank you for all the years of fabulous songs!

Oh wow, what wonderful poems you have all chosen. I love the poems of Cavafy, particularly “The City” in the Lawrence Durrell translation (Ah! don’t you see, just as you’ve ruined your life in this one plot of ground you’ve ruined its worth everywhere now-over the whole earth?), and Jackie Kennedy’s favourite, “Ithaca” ( But don’t hurry the journey at all. Better if it lasts for years). And there are so many others, Shakespeare (put out the light, and then put out the light), Swinburne (content thee, howsoe’er, whose days are done; there lies not any troublous thing before, nor sight nor sound to war against thee more, for whom all winds are quiet as the sun, all waters as the shore), Masefield (and quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over), Whitman (I celebrate myself and sing myself), Frost (two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference), even Leonard Cohen (like a bird on a wire, like a drunk in a midnight choir I have tried in my way to be free)………. it would be hard to choose one definitive poem.

The Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde. Also Un Bel Di from Madama Butterfly.