So much to say

First of all, I wanted to share pictures from the weekend's apple picking adventure. I am going to attempt to put a link to Ofoto under a new Pictures section to the right (under the Cool Blogs section). You can usually view pics without signing in or registering, but if you have to register, either let me know and I will give you my login & password, or register - they never bug me and it is a useful site for sharing pictures.

**Postscript, Tuesday, 9:30am. I realized I didn't say much about the apple-picking experience. The orchard was kind of weird because they don't let you walk among the trees; you have to take a hayride to the specific trees they want you to pick from. Once in the those trees, it was a tad difficult to find enough apples to fill our 10lb bag. But the apples we did find were tasty, there were several varieties, not just the usual McIntosh (Cortland, Gala, McCown, Honeycrisp), and I got to be about 8' tall for a little while. There were plenty of farm animals to marvel at and the homemade apple donuts were delicious. On the downside, eating more apples at one time than ever before, Bryan loosened the front tooth that he had broken when he was 11 years old. He lost it completely biting into a particularly vicious onion ring during our late lunch at Kelly's Roast Beef. An emergency trip to my uncle the dentist, Dr. Bob, and he has a full-sized fake temporary in place. Could've been a great, authentic Halloween costume.

Secondly, The Boston Red Sox have clinched a playoff spot. WOOHOO!!! I wasn't too worried (I can't believe I am able to write that with such ease), but it is nice to be official. And I love to see a 4 dinger game.

Thirdly, the impending presidential election has my stomach hurting. I was listening to a report on NPR this morning about women voters and the shift in their allegiance away from the Democratic party toward George Bush. The PR people for Bush's campaign are brilliant. They have labeled women with children "Security Moms" and convinced them all that those children will only be safe with Bush in the White House. Meanwhile, Bush has pulled troops out of Fallujah, which has now become an absolute hotbed of terrorist activity that no one can touch because they lost all control of it when they stopped paying attention. I am not personally too concerned about another terrorist attack. I think that it is possible, but if no one could prevent 9/11, what makes everyone think that anyone will be able to stop another well-planned attack? In fact, I think that most people are more aware of their surroundings and more people are trained to notice out-of-the-ordinary things. The Bush campaign is actually using terror to get more votes. "Women: Be afraid of other people hurting you and your families. Vote for Bush." Fucking amazing.

What I am more terrified of is another 4 years of a conservative, religious fanatic running the country I live in (and love pretty well) and appointing judges and cabinet members who will further the incidiously constrictive agenda of this administration. I fully support the right of people to choose their religion, their medical practices and their moral tenets. I don't believe that Jesus should be thrust on people or that freedom fashioned after a government that has been working on it for just over 200 years should be forced upon an entire country that has existed for so much longer under such radically different precepts. The arrogance of this administration is eschewed by so many in the international community. I fear for America's standing and her dignity if this hubris continues unchecked and unfettered.

Course, after the NPR report on the 'new' attitude of women in the US (I don't remember being asked), they reported on the danger of antidepressants to children. Apparently millions of American children, ages SIX and up, are being prescribed drugs like Zoloft and Prozac. It seems that these children find life too difficult and when they find themselves in a situation they can't handle, like a big move or a divorce, doctors pretty quickly turn to a physiological answer: Drugs. Why aren't mothers concerned about this? We have a large number of drug-induced zombie kids who can't 'deal' with life and Bush has women convinced that their kids are going to die in a bombed building? AMAZING!

In book news, the Man Booker Prize shortlist has been announced. This is usually a good place to go to find some great, new fiction. Some of the nominees seem a bit too grim for my taste, but I am interested in reading the book about Henry James, The Master by Colm Toibin.

I am currently reading the autobiography of cat burglar/jewel thief Bill Mason. The book is called Confessions of a Master Jewel Thief and it is interesting so far. He describes many of his scores in detail (each kind of making me want to don a black outfit, learn to pick locks, scale a wall and steal hundreds of thousands of dollars in diamonds) which have been the most intriguing parts of the book. I absolutely love that every once in a while he throws in a tip to the reader about what not to do to avoid being robbed (like put 4 locks on a thick wooden door next to a full-sized glass window). This man remained largely in the shadows getting caught only once or twice and with relatively short punishments. He did spend a total of 5 years in jail, and while I think that this is a pretty damn long time, it's incredible that one who pulled off so many heists only spent that long, total, behind bars. He has now 'retired' from the life and the statute of limitations has been reached on all of his jobs, so he wrote his autobiography. As my colleague Renee pointed out, this is just another way to get a thrill. He stole for the thrill (he really didn't need the money b/c he was a relatively successful real estate manager) and now that he is finished, he is taking responsibility for all of his illicit deeds, perhaps once again putting himself at risk of retribution from those he robbed. An interesting read in any event.