Brrrr

According to the handy dandy Weather Channel temperature thingamajig on my computer, it is currently 9--no, wait, now it's 10--degrees outside in Minneapolis. Visual analysis indicates there is indeed ice on the inside of my windows. Taken together, this evidence can mean only one thing: winter has officially arrived and as soon as we pull out the down jackets and fur mittens (yay!) the region may be referred to as the "Frozen Taiga of the North," and the Little Bro may now call to let me know how warm it is in California. Just thought I'd share :)

The upside? "It's always summer in the fishroom!"^TM

Hot chocolate, anyone?

Tempest...

...in the Mondale Teapot.

I'm sure I've said this before, but...

The next time I think it's a good idea to leave something until the very last minute, please, well, please DO something drastic! (I once requested to be threatened with beets and it worked reasonably well.)

Will I never learn?

Goodbyes

RIP, Milton Freedman.

Out-tooled

Yes, it's true!

Some folks at Claremont McKenna have taken political junkyism to a Whole New Level with the creation of...Fantasy Congress! (Does Pomona wish they'd thought of it first?) The Nomad Little Bro, a proud CMC alum and government (and finance) junkie, mentioned this brilliant new development recently, and a scroll through the Corner just now reminded me of it. Very awesome.

I have a hunch at least a few friends out there could get very excited about Fantasy Congress ;) Maybe more than a few, even.

Now if only they'd add a "Bury that bill!" t-shirt, or perhaps "Step away from the purse strings!"...

----
Hey, Little Bro, have Pitney, Kesler, & Co. formed teams too? Oh, and Bernard Lewis is speaking at the Ath next Tuesday! Pity you're not still there. And yes, I *heart* my Claremont Review of Books, even though it didn't come until, like, October.

All Astonishment!

Go Tigers: it's a bonfire year!

8-1 on the year? Goodness, gents! I am pleasantly shocked indeed. And to everyone who can attend the bonfire, enjoy!

Oy

Oy. Sigh. I am but one little lass with one little vote, which I did wield, albeit to no avail; nor have I anything to say at the moment, for there's been quite a bit of worthwhile chattering by others recently. Do, however, remind me not to leave funding applications until the last minute: I'm not yet fully qualified as a professional mendicant, so writing this bloody stuff is going to take a while yet. Plus, I hate filling out applications in general. What I would like to say is:

"Hi! I'm cute (for a baby scientist, anyway) and bouncy and I love biology, especially the really cool biology our lab is doing. In fact, I love it so much I enlisted for a PhD, which will be totally awesome, I'm sure, but now I need money. Please fund me! Thanks!" ("Vote for Elle!")

Don't you think that would work?