When you give an inch, Herod takes a mile...

Thursday seemed momentous but actually a lot of little things happened. I worked out at the gym, completed a post (I'm still outraged!), had an appointment with Cheryl, also got a pedicure (Nantucket Mist on the toenails), finished The Hour I First Believed (this book makes me want to write -- I really 'lived in it' -- kind of hard to adjust out of it, actually), and then last night I got an email allegedly from AOL that told me I needed to 'update' my account information and if I didn't, my service would be suspended.

That brought me pause, stopped me in my proverbial tracks. First of all, I don't have an AOL account, although I retained the address when I switched to another server. Secondly, AOL was always very clear that they would NEVER request personal information online. The form I was to fill out was unbelievably thorough, including credit card verification numbers, my mom's maiden name, my passwords for my internet accounts and bank. When I clicked on the various AOL-typed icons around the site, they all came up "Site not available" -- another red flag. How easy (and remarkably stupid) it would have been for me to give them all that info. I clicked on "Report Spam", hoped I'd never see their message again and that AOL would, and that big, heavily armed, scary, hairy men and women would raid their lair and arrest them all.

What is really frightening is how naive I am. I'm the last one to see a scam. I think Bernard Madoff looks like such a nice man -- those cute cheeks, and that innocent twinkle in those calculating eyes. (Not like Ann Coulter who just looks nuts.) In my personal journey, I have had to learn the hard way that evil sometimes looks so beautiful, so friendly, so caring and honest. I'm not alone; sometimes we all trust too easily, too readily. In the words of James Taylor in "Home by Another Way," "Herod's always out there, he's got our cards on file... A king who would slaughter the innocents will not cut a deal for you." We all need to take heed.

Four Little Words

Yesterday, I made progress with the book I'm currently reading -- The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb. I've read his other works, and this, like those is expertly crafted, beautifully written, but it's not a thoroughly pleasant read. I really need to take 'breaks' from the lives of the Quirks, the main characters and their tragic lives, and so I put the book down for a while, put a load of laundry in, and turned on the TV for a bit. That's when I saw it. The commentator on CNN was rehashing Rush Limbaugh's comments about Barack Obama. CNN replayed what Limbaugh said, "...I don't need four hundred words; I can say it in four. I hope he fails." Limbaugh then repeated the four words.

Flabbergasted at his mean tone, I sat there trying to process the statement. This is like saying, "I want the whole country to remain divided, partisan, and caught up in the strife of a failing economy. I want those people teetering on the edge of bankruptcy to lose their homes. I want the banks, the car industry, steel, to fail. Let's continue and increase our dependency on foreign oil, and build up that carbon footprint as much as we can." But then, I thought, maybe that's not what he is saying. Maybe Limbaugh is annoyed that his fellow uber conservative Republicans failed miserably and he wants to give them another whack at it? Maybe he is saying that total chaos and utter poverty are better than having a Democrat for president? Or maybe he is just a miserable, pill-popping, pusillanimous, contentious demagogue.

A Cold, Cold Day

I've been a real vegetable all day. I think the below freezing temperatures have finally gotten to me. I even missed my day at the gym (I'll go tomorrow), but just couldn't face going out in the snow. Yes, it FINALLY snowed here. We only got a bit -- maybe an inch plus, but it's covered everything and looks so pretty. And now the temp is dropping yet again. My hands are cold, my feet are cold, my back hurts, and my knees are killing me! I want a warm beach!!!

So today I read blogs and made comments, wrote a long overdue letter, made a dent in the book I'm reading, The Hour I First Believed, by Wally Lamb, rested, and tended to the two fires we have going: one for comfort in our family room, the other out of necessity on our passive solar sun porch. (There has been no sun today and without the cast iron stove out there, we could hang meat).

The only big news is that the baby, now nine months old, has been standing and on Saturday took three steps toward Richard. I know this eclipses the Inauguration, but had to share it with you. I hope President-Elect Obama forgives me.


This is the first time she has been in her crib. She has been sleeping beside her mother in a portable one. I'm not sure she knows she is supposed to sleep in this new place, but she sure is enjoying it.


We'll blackmail her with this when she becomes a teenager. Surprisingly there's enough room in her little tub for her and all those toys. Are we absolutely, over-the-top, gaga about this baby? You betcha! Forgive me, everyone.