Polimom Says

Sigh… I hate this.

An important event is upon us, and there’s no card in the mail. Again.

I can feel the guilt gnawing at me. Will she think I’m a bad daughter? That I don’t care? That I’m selfish? Angry?

It’s strange, actually, that I’m so very bad about sending cards. I’m sure there’s some deep, profound psychological reason for it — though I haven’t a clue what it could be.

Freud would have had something to say about it, I’m sure… but he’d have been wrong. Because I have a block about all events that require cards to go out in advance. It’s not just Mother’s Day. Birthdays, anniversaries — even Christmas cards go at the very last second with much gnashing of teeth and worrying about whether they’ll get there in time.

Silly, isn’t it?

What makes it even worse, though, is that I care about all these events — because I care deeply about all the people on the receiving end.

Especially my mother.

Who always remembers to send a card. Always.

I hope my daughter does better with this when she’s grown.

I hope she loves me as much as I love my mom.

I hope she’s as proud of her mother as I am of mine.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom.

Paul Krugman’s all wrapped up around an ad from the Obama campaign:

I did not say that the Clinton proposal would increase oil industry profits. If the ad implies that I did, it should be retracted.

I beg to differ.

The ad in question (you can see it here) references the NYTimes on April 28 — and although the very sensitive economist isn’t mentioned in the ad, Krugman did indeed run a piece about the gas tax proposal on that date. However, he was slamming McCain that time, not Hillary.

It seems to have been the next day — April 29th — that Krugman slipped up and criticised his favored horse in the race (my emphasis):

Is the supply of gasoline really fixed? For this coming summer, it is. Refineries normally run flat out in the summer, the season of peak driving. Any elasticity in the supply comes earlier in the year, when refiners decide how much to put in inventories. The McCain/Clinton gas tax proposal comes too late for that. So it’s Econ 101: the tax cut really goes to the oil companies.

So… it seems the Obama campaign has committed a gross error.

Not.

There’s nothing like a full-on pander to make somebody look like an idiot… and Hillary’s “gas tax moratorium” is as blatant an example as I’ve ever seen.

Nobody — nobody – who has the first clue about the subject thinks it’s a good idea.

But while lots of pundits are pounding on Hillary for the pander, and calling the scheme idiotic, she thinks it’s “resonating” with the voters.

Maybe so… but if Hillary’s pandering makes her look like an idiot, what will that say about voters who fall for it?

Added:  Somebody with guts.  A rare thing these days.

Via Andrew Sullivan:

A reader notes:

This is fantastic. If you go to The Corner right now:

- The number of times the words “health care” is mentioned: 7
- The number of times the word “Iraq” is mentioned: 15
- The number of times Rev. Wright is mentioned: 230

And no, I’m not kidding.

I bet you’re not.

Andrew puts it off to “the priorities of the right” — but one can hardly lay the blame on their door alone. The MSM, to its ongoing shame, is so stuck on non-issues, there’s little point in talking about it anymore. They’ve all lost their minds.

Which is, btw, why I’m still not writing. What a bunch of cr@p.

I’d say something about nuts, but it’s hardly necessary. Here, have a picture instead:

My apologies for having dropped off-line without a word.

The pandering, back-biting, and spin in the Democratic primary has become so bad, though, that I really can’t even read about it anymore without fighting a gag reflect — much less write about it.

Rather than adding to the stupidity online, I decided to pick my camera back up and get out of the house.

Unfortunately for the blog (or at least for politics), I sank right back into my “happy place”… so much so, in fact, that I indulged in a new “toy”.

Worse yet, I’m off to the West Coast in a couple of hours, to spend four or five days learning to use it.

So — good news and bad news. The good? All’s well here. The bad? Politics makes me want to vomit right now.

Be back next week. Can’t promise I’ll be ready to write about the primaries, but at least I’ll (hopefully) have some glorious new images!

Polimom and Adorable Child went to watch the Aeros play this afternoon at the Toyota Center in Houston.

You’ll just have to take my word for it, though. I can’t show you any fun shots, cuz they wouldn’t let my camera in the door.

This is what their site says:

Professional cameras are prohibited at all events in Toyota Center unless accompanied by an appropriate media credential. Cameras containing lenses ( not to exceed 4 inches in length ) with no flashes may be allowed for some events.

And that’s also what the nice guy said when he sold me the tickets: 4 inches.

Since I don’t know how one defines “professional camera”, I decided to just bring my usual D50 and two lenses: one about 1/2 inch over the 4″ mark, and another about 1/2 inch under.

Nope and nope.

It seems the security guy had his own interpretation of the policy, and for him, 4″ includes “extended length”. Folks, I’ve re-read that policy a bunch of times now, and I still don’t see that caveat there. Do you?

So tomorrow, I’ll be on the phone with the Toyota Center, reading somebody the riot act (like they’ll care…) — but there’s really a larger question here.

Aside from mincing definitions about extended lengths on telephoto lenses… What is the purpose of such a prohibition on cameras? And why is it that some facilities allow lenses up to 12″, and some don’t care at all as long as you don’t bring a tripod/monopod… but others are worried about a DSL in any configuration?

Anybody know? Cuz it’s really annoying…