Wow.  It's been awhile.  Haven't even gotten around to welcoming the new Pope, Francesco Primo.  Well, it's been a little busy around here.  I've been knocked flat a couple of times by the aftermath of dental surgeries (me, who can fall asleep during a root canal -- this was brutal stuff).  All the while trying to work on a play with the small-fry, and preparing for the wedding in So-Cal, now just about ten days away.

And, to no great surprise, I'm not hanging around today to write anything profound or even playful -- too much to do.  Just stopping by to say this, as I munch on a carrot pulled out of the red Georgia clay:

If I have to lie, steal, cheat, or kill -- as God is my witness, I'll never let my blog go hungry again!

And then there's this:

Heh.

AVE ATQUE VALE

Effective today, Pope Benedict XVI descends the throne of Peter and leaves the Catholic Church with the task of praying itself into a new era, a new Pope, a man with the fortitude to guide the Barque of Peter through the treacherous waters of the present day.  No one will pray more fervently for the triumph of the Holy Spirit than the retired Bishop Emeritus of Rome, who will live in peaceful seclusion on the fringes of the struggles, intrigues, and majesties of the Holy See.  And we your children pray and give thanksgiving for the strength, wisdom, and love that you have lavished upon us these eight years, dear Papa.  Ave, ave, ave.

Thumpthin' sthpecial? Nah.

Is it BLOGGER, or just the Blogger?

[I say this because the new Blogger set-up irritates the bejeebers out of me -- because, being a good conservative, I believe that all change is bad, even change for the better.]

I continue to be bloggily flabby these days, putting my random thoughts up on Facebook, where my 50-odd friends can read them, rather than on my blog where they might reach my 8 or 10 regular readers (!) -- it's just so much quicker and easier, and that's what it's all about these days, right?

Very Busy doing Mother of the Groom stuff for a wedding just 6 weeks away on the opposite side of the continent.  (Long-distance preparations for that just came back to bite me in the arse -- see below...)  Also, I am ducking more serious thoughts, expressed at considerable length, until Cincinnatus is wheels-down on CONUS (Continental United States) soil, back from the 'Stan and all the hijinks (Haji-nks?) of Camp Bastion, just a short dusty ride from beautiful downtown Kandahar.  When we have achieved that little maneuver within the next [REDACTED!!!!] I will breathe again, and then perhaps start breathing fire about all that sucks in the Cosmos.

Till then I will be content to say:

Oh crap -- just got a call from the bank (WAS IT THE BANK?????) telling me of three mysterious charges for $1.00, 78 cents, and $500 worth of Lego.  Think it was a kid?!  Grandson?  Was that you?  Yet another VISA card on its way to me.  At least this time I didn't leave it at a cash register somewhere.  (Or under a luggage cart at De Gaulle airport...)  This time I just left it hanging out on the freakin' INTERNET!!!  Mostly I love the modern world.  Other times I think we should still be conducting all purchases via the Wells Fargo Wagon.

NEWSFLASH!!!!

MY MAN RUBIO
SCHOOLS RUSH LIMBAUGH
INTO SILENCE!

IT CAN BE DONE!

Now, I suspect that things were working out exactly as Limbaugh hoped, with Rubio dominating the conversation, getting all his arguments out to the widest conservative audience in the country, without Rush having to accept any responsibility for taking a position he essentially supports, or at least would be content with, if executed as planned.  But the overall impression is that Rubio steam-rolled the master.

And returning to the air from the break, Limbaugh can only say, "IS THAT GUY GOOD, OR WHAT?!"

I believe we have our candidate -- and he's only gonna get better.  Let's just hope the premature hair loss doesn't accelerate.....

El Presidente d'Estados Unidos 2016, El Boo-jah!

HELLO BLOG

Bless me, Oprah, for I have sinned.  I have been unfaithful to my blog with that cheap and easy tramp, Facebook.  Can't help it -- I am weak and selfish, and FB satisfies my urge to pontificate quickly and without prescription medication.



THE LEMON IS IN PLAY

Mine favourite actroid of late, Balancebeam Cabbagepatch, has taken it upon himself to portray a first-class sh#t, in the form of Wikileaker and professional misanthrope Julian Assange, Ecuador's "Man Who Came to Dinner", in some Dreamworks (no great surprise) flick due out in the fall.  Can't imagine what would drive anybody to identify his own face with that of the self-sodden creep who cares not a whit whose lives he may ruin, or even cause to be lost, by making government documents indiscriminately public.  Fortunately, he deals in wholesale bulk product, most of which is such a bore that even the world's homicidal bad-boys probably can't be bothered to sift through it all -- but you never know when our strange world may produce a terrorist with as many personality disorders as the Ass-hat himself, who decides to plough through the files and find a way to kill off one of my kids or his military brethren. 

Julian Ass-hat is a scourge and a curse upon civilization, and I wonder how many of those involved in bringing him unmerited cinematic attention would appreciate having their addresses, phone numbers, bank accounts, incomes, family members' homes, and private email exchanges published just because Julian knows that he can.  He's apparently quite pissed off about the film, so if I were Cumberbatch and Co., I'd be sniffing out a witness protection program.

The Cumberboy is now one of the highest-demand talents in his profession, and seems to be accepting as much work as a human bean can handle.  This is a two-fold problem:  (a) he is in serious risk of being over-exposed, and if the Assange pic is a genuine lemon (which is entirely possible, since Ass-hat is well past his best-before date for his 15 minutes of ill-gotten fame), there will be the sound of a massive dull thud just as his star is in ascendancy; and (b) if he doesn't take a break he'll never meet a nice girl and settle down and have lots of lovely children, which he's always saying he wants to do. 

[See what happens when there's Too Much Information floating around the inter-webs?]

Far better to apply one's long face and cupid's bow lips to a more fitting biography. 

Anyone thought about Mr. Clusterbomb for a life of Albrecht Dürer?

Can you see it?  Huh?  Huh?