October 30, 2007
Hunting dog shoots man

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

DES MOINES, Iowa — A hunter is recovering after he was shot in the leg at close range by his dog, who stepped on his shotgun and tripped the trigger, an official said Tuesday.

James Harris, 37, of Tama, was hit in the calf Saturday, the opening day of pheasant season, said Alan Foster, a spokesman with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

“He had surgery and is doing pretty well,” he said. “He took between 100-120 pellets in about a 4-inch circle to his calf.”

Harris was listed in good condition Tuesday, officials at University Hospitals in Iowa City said.

Harris was hunting with a group about three miles north of Grinnell. The group shot a bird, and when Harris went to get it, he put his gun on the ground and crossed a fence. As he crossed the fence, his hunting dog stepped on the gun, Foster said.

The gun was about 3 feet away from his leg.

“The muzzle velocity is so great that the pellets don’t have a chance to spread out,” he said.

No one else was hurt, and the dog was not injured.

Foster said no citations have been issued.

slanky and i finally tried the fancy bahn mi sandwiches at baguette box and while the sandwich was tasty the real star was the fries. for a couple bucks extra you can get them w/ truffle oil and they were totally worth it! hand mixed with sea salt and a dash of truffle oil.. i could have probably skipped the sandwich altogether. we got the drunken chicken ones which where huge (lots of chicken pieces for all of you meat lovers out there) and flavorful (good sauce, lots of cilantro) but next time i’m going to try the tofu one which i heard was also very good.

so, if you like fries (and live in seattle!) i’d suggest baguette box.  probably for a weekend lunch or something though because they aren’t open very late.

so much fun. and now i want fashion advice. do they work okay with a skirt or are they too frumpy? some pics:

i even have fun tights!

and what about with short pants? there are mixed opinions on the net. probably not these pants, but just for an idea. a pair of tweed gaucho type? could it work? yay or nay? have heard it’s a hard look to pull off.

*argh.  i can never format correctly when posting photos.  *

Today marks the 15th anniversary of when slanky and I decided to officially “go out” as we called in back in high school. I thought I’d be rather sentimental/mushy/gushy by documenting this occasion because 15 years also happens to be half of my life. I can’t completely sum up what that means to me or at least not off the cuff like I’m writing now. So instead I think I’ll make a list.

Here is a list (partial at best) of why 15 years/half my life has been better than I could have possibly imagined.

• I get to wake up every day next to the person who knows me best in this world
• He is patient and kind
• He can get away with bringing me astronaut food from a business trip (disguised as a “fun gift!”) because he’s so darn cute while presenting it
• I have watched him grow from a slightly socially awkward, yet highly adorable, nerdy teen into a self-assured man about town who thrives on social interaction
• He’s a gossip but he’s trustworthy
• He understands pain even though he doesn’t outwardly dwell on it
• He’s a disorganized mess and I like taking care of him
• I’m a disorganized mess and he likes taking care of me
• He’s creative
• He’s fun
• My best friend is also mah baby’s daddy! *and i can’t wait to raise children with him

I love you slanky, more than these silly words could ever say.

Happy anniversary!

we had a great time, overall. though traveling with children is so incredibly exhausting. but worth it! much better than not going at all (something i may or may not have repeated to myself a time or two).

anyway, i loved florence. much more than paris, which was a complete surprise. i’ve never been very interested in italy. i mean, yeah, it sounded nice, but not one of my top ten places to see before i die, you know? i’m not exactly sure what about it i liked. it was just as crowded and touristy as paris, but it had a different feel some how. maybe i’m just more of a small town girl.

the train ride there went pretty well. there were a couple of snags, but nothing major. the kids did well.

sampled gelato from 6 places, and the quality definitely varied from place to place. found one place that was the most amazing ice cream i’ve ever had in my life. so very very good. it was much better than any other we had.

we also found a place that had good take out, which was super nice. i actually got to have some good food! though i don’t think i got a chance to have good italian pizza. will have to go to an actual sit down restaurant when the kids are bigger to make sure. didn’t have any pasta either. haha! but still, the food at this take out place was amazing.

rowan did pretty well in the art museums. niamh slept through them. i found that rowan tolerated the museums quite well as long as i talked him through everything. pointed out things he would like and be interested in in each painting/sculpture. he also amused the people around us by pointing out penises. luckily after a while they lost their novelty. i got museum burnout. i think i only have 3 or 4 more museums i am obligated to see, and then i am done with art museums. done done done!
the last day was hard because the weather got quite cold and we were not prepared for it and i’m a complete cold wienie. and the kids didn’t enjoy it either.

hmmm. what else? the apartment was nice, though completely misadvertised. definitely not a one bedroom. definitely a studio. grrr. it turned out okay. but they must have used a ton of bleach to clean the place, because it smelled pretty bad every time we turned on the faucets. either that or florentine water has a lot of chlorine. either way, i had a lovely bleach headache the whole time. the smell is still lingering in my nose.

so there you go. nothing really very noteworthy happened. but it was a good time, and i’m glad we went.

the souveneirs i brought back from florence include:

3 big sticks/rolls/whatever of salami

2 jars of pesto

1 bottle of balsamic vinegar

1 tuscan almond cake thingy

11 bars of chocolate

i did find the perfect coat (dahliaj!), but when we walked back past the shop 30 minutes later it was gone. some may call it fate. i think my family had something to do with it. somehow, i know they are to blame. i apparently can’t escape my genes no matter how strong the desire.

had a great time, will fill you all in later.

Which of the following happened during our recent trip to Florence?

 a.  Rowan said “that is a big nice man” while sitting next to a rather large man

 b.  Rowan said “that  nice man has a penis” while looking at Michelangelo’s David

 c.  Rowan’s limited knowledge of the bible now includes “the nice man on the cross has a big hurt.”

10-19-07

Women send panties to Myanmar in protest

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BANGKOK, Thailand — Women in several countries have begun sending their panties to Myanmar embassies in a culturally insulting gesture of protest against the recent brutal crackdown there, a campaign supporter said Friday.

“It’s an extremely strong message in Burmese and in all Southeast Asian culture,” said Liz Hilton, who supports an activist group that launched the “Panties for Peace” drive earlier this week.

The group, Lanna Action for Burma, says the country’s superstitious generals, especially junta leader Gen. Than Shwe, also believe that contact with women’s underwear saps them of power.

To widespread international condemnation, the military in Myanmar, also known as Burma, crushed mass anti-regime demonstrations recently and continues to hunt down and imprison those who took part.

Hilton said women in Thailand, Australia, Singapore, England and other European countries have started sending or delivering their underwear to Myanmar missions following informal coordination among activist organizations and individuals.

“You can post, deliver or fling your panties at the closest Burmese Embassy any day from today. Send early, send often!” the Lanna Action for Burma Web site urges.

“So far we have had no response from Burmese officials,” Hilton said.

So I don’t usually get too excited about birds — no parrot pets for me, thank you — but this video is just too hilarious:

http://birdloversonly.blogspot.com/2007/09/may-i-have-this-dance.html

Not that many of us wear lipstick, but I thought this was rather interesting – and wonder if it at all applies to lip glosses?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071011/hl_nm/lipstick_lead_dc