Colonel de Basil's Original Ballet Russe (Russian Ballet) season, Theatre Royal, Sydney, 1939-1940, / Sam Hood by State Library of New South Wales collection

Sandy Sandy Sandy I Can't Let You Go

All day I've watched the weather models honing in on a direct hit on the mid atlantic and I'm making preparations. And sadly I'm resigned to the fact that I'll be without power for a couple days. Models now show it hitting further north, but I'm dubious.  Yesterday raked up a bunch of leaves from the front yard and the are now serving as mulch for the flower beds in the back yard. Today I got batteries, canned fruit, and other nonperishables. Tomorrow I'll fill up the tank, clean the backyard basement drain, and vote. And my last goal is to eat everything in my freezer before iI loose power.  Here's to you Sandy.

Narrow streets, Naples, Italy (LOC) by The Library of Congress

The Belted Kingfisher

As I was leaving work, I came upon a handsome belted kingfisher sitting motionless on the sidewalk. It is likely that the bird ran into the glass windows of my office building and stunned itself.  A little time and it would have been able to fly off perfectly fine, but I was still concerned. I felt a tug in my heart and sat with the bird for about 20 minutes until I got a response from a park ranger. I picked it up to put it in a box, and it flew about 10 feet away from me.  I picked it up again and placed it in a large flower pot by the fountain so it could recover out of site from people or predators.  It flew away sometime yesterday night.

Cocker on the Look Out

via http://attackofthecute.com

Thoughts on Town Hall Debate

Before I listen to what other people think of the debate, here are my impressions:

• Why did Mitt Romney have a horrible scowl on his face when, during his closing statement, he said, "I love children."

• Mitt Romney and the President Obama both argued with the moderator Candi Crowley like they were brothers trying to get the front seat of the car. I was completely childish and makes me think poorly of them both. The best (and by that I mean worst) point was when Mitt Romney snapped, "NO" and turned away from Candi Crowley when she asked him to move on to another question. Who does that?

• Mitt Romney was more aggressive towards the moderator than Obama.  Women don't like watching male political figures charging and bullying female political figures. (See Hillary Clinton's senate debate against Rick Lazio.)  If Mitt Romney was trying to keep his share of female voters he gained after Obama's lackluster performance in the first debate, he may have turned them off with his argumentativeness and threatening body language.

• I suspect Romney took from the success of his first debate performance that aggressiveness works and that for the second debate he should go big or go home. I was very uncomfortable when Mitt Romney was in President Obama's face challenging him on his pension fund and on other issues. It was also disconcerting that Mitt Romney turned his back to the camera to go on these attacks. On a gut level, I felt he was trying to provoke the president into throwing a punch.

• Mitt Romney said he thought everyone should have access the contraception. Many social conservatives disagree, and I wonder if he will backpedal.