Mark Steyn at his best . . .

I enjoy listening to and reading commentary by Mark Steyn. He manages to put into perspective the woes of the day and give us a grin along with the facts. The Democrats started the 'war on dogs' when they bashed Romney for letting his dog ride on a carrier on the roof of their car. Soon, it was discovered that the president had eaten dog as a child. The Democrats soon realized the conservatives were getting more laughs over this then they could appreciate. It hardly seemed the stuff of politics given the mess the United States is in right now but, as we often hear on the playground, "They started it!"

Now they are taking jabs at Romney being a Mormon. Mark Steyn, as usual, puts it all together for us in a recent column and leaves us chuckling.

Brian Schweitzer, the Democrat governor of Montana, remarked that Romney was unlikely to appeal to women because his father was "born on a polygamy commune." Eighty-six percent of women, noted Gov. Schweitzer with a keenly forensic demographic eye, are "not great fans of polygamy." You can understand the 86 percent's ickiness at the whole freaky-weirdy idea of a president descended from someone who had multiple wives. Eww.

Just for the record, Romney's father was not a polygamist; Romney's grandfather was not a polygamist; his great-grandfather was a polygamist. Miles Park Romney died in 1904, so one can see why this would weigh heavy on 86 percent of female voters 108 years later.

Meanwhile, back in the female-friendly party, Obama's father was a polygamist; his grandfather was a polygamist; and his great-grandfather was a polygamist who had one more wife (five in total) than Romney's great-grandfather. It seems President Obama is the first male in his line not to be a polygamist. So, given the "gender gap," maybe those 86 percent of American women are way cooler with polygamy than Gov. Schweitzer thinks. Maybe these liberal chicks really dig it.

I guess you could say (again!), "They started it!"

Rain to sunshine . . .

As usual, the rain quickly dried up from yesterday and the temperatures are heading towards the eighties by the weekend. My husband is hoping for a cold, June Gloom weather situation this year as he has to tear down a fence and haul it away that month. Not a job for a triple-digit day.

Anyway, I enjoyed the sunshine with our uninvited orange cat and found some blossoms in my husband's garden. The direct sunshine was casting some sharply lined shadows so, naturally, I had to snap pictures of that, too.

The voting booth is now open . . . WIDE open . . .

It is amazing to me that anyone can oppose checking ID when you go to vote. The only reason anyone would be against such a requirement is to perpetuate voter fraud. And you don't have to wonder much why anyone would want to insure uncaught voter fraud . . . in order to steal someone else's vote and stuff the ballot box with your choice to win an election unfairly.

I just read that the judges in Wisconsin are blocking the voter requirement in Wisconsion. Gosh, I wonder if it could do with the fact that they are trying to recall the governor and want to make sure they don't lose? What happened to one vote to each eligible person and the best man wins? From what I understand, Governor Walker has brought the state back from the brink yet greedy people who don't want to take cuts, etc., would rather cut off their noses to spite their faces than recognize the fact that something worked.

I imagine that we will be seeing more and more of this sort of behavior this November when our current administration may have to rely on tactics rather than a reasonable voting platform. So far, there isn't much to recommend a second term based on past performance.

The fact that the election might be swayed by improper voting won't keep me from the polls, however. Every vote counts and if we go to the voting booth with a good heart and a prayer, miracles happen in spite of human deceit and antics.

Mr. Einstein had it right . . .!

"The best doctor in the world is the veterinarian. He can't ask his patients what is the matter-he's got to just know."
-- Will Rogers

"If computers get too powerful, we can organize them into a committee -- that will do them in."
-- Bradley's Bromide

"The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is at all comprehensible."
-- Albert Einstein

Pizza Night!

Trying to keep within the budget, we went through the refrigerator and found cheese and a bit of bacon and salami so it was definitely a sign that pizza should be on the menu tonight. I was also inspired by a cookbook my husband brought home from the library.

According to the book, if you heat up a baking stone at 500 degrees and place it directly under the broiler, the pizza will bake up quickly and taste like a gourmet treat. It did! The crust was crisp and slightly charred but in a good way. The toppings melted and the bacon cooked almost crisp.

My husband taught himself to bake when he was a bachelor so acquired some specialty items for the kitchen that I gladly took over when we married. The baking stone was one of those items. As you can see from the picture, the baking stone has seen a lot of baking in it's time.

My two children, currently residing at home, must have liked the pizza as they asked for a second one each. I didn't get my pizza until the very last but I think the wait was worth it as I had really gotten the hang of baking them under the broiler by then.

It's great the way few ingredients and a little work can produce a fun meal for little cost other than the effort.

And, he was a great painter, too . . .!

"The greater danger for most of us is not
that our aim is too high and we miss it,
but that it is too low and we reach it."- Michelangelo

Sunny California?

The weatherman was right . . . rain! It wasn't throughout the day but the couple of storms really drenched us for awhile. The advantage of our usual dry weather is that no matter how much rain falls, within an hour of stopping, it is hard to tell we had a storm at all.