Author: Julia

a source of strength

I very rarely watch the evening news, but on September 11th and throughout the following days, I was glued to ABC and Peter Jennings. I was grateful for his calm air, his continuous presence, and his sheer humanity. After I’d spent too many hours of staring disbelievingly at the screen, his weariness was a welcome reminder that I was not alone, and that it was okay to feel so…well, I guess you know.

Thank you.

Fish On!

I’ve been meaning to blog this for weeks now, and I’m finally sick of seeing the business card on my desk.

Fish On! Restaurant in Lewes, Delaware is the bomb. The atmosphere is classy but relaxed, the service is friendly and gorgeous, and the food…Oh! the food!

I had the medium rare spice crusted grilled tuna with green beans, tomatoes, and smoked bacon. It was heavenly. The fish was sushi-fresh, the flavors complimented each other perfectly, and even the green beans, which I don’t usually like, were amazing.

My fellow diners were kind enough to share samples of their entrees as well, and they were equally fabulous. Just don’t ask me what they were.

So if you find yourself anywhere near it, I highly recommend stopping in.

***UPDATE***

http://www.fishon.bz/staffpoems.htm

I love these people.

true value

Yesterday I went to Home Depot to purchase non-lethal mousetraps.

As I entered the store, I saw a young man slowly moving items from one box to another. He glanced up at me, we made eye contact for the briefest of moments, and he quickly turned away. “That’s okay,” I thought while scanning the banners at the end of each vast aisle, “I’m sure I can find someone to ask.” And I meandered over to the “Garden Center” banner, thinking it a more likely spot than “Plumbing” or “Electrical”.

The Garden Center was full of barbeque grills, cleaning supplies, and even candles — but there were no mousetraps of any sort in sight. So I kept wandering.

I wandered through half the store looking for clues, or at least an employee. Finally, in Cabinets, there appeared an obese man in an orange apron.

“Excuse me,” I said. He turned his head so that he was almost looking at me. “I’m looking for non-lethal mousetraps.” He blinked.

“For what?” he said slowly.

“Non-lethal mousetraps.”

He blinked again, but the eyes that opened were no more comprehending. “Uh. I guess that would be Garden. Down at the end of the store, through the sliding doors, outside.” Another man in an orange apron walked by, and the obese man confirmed that they thought that if they had them they would most likely be in Garden, but there was really no way to be sure.

I thanked them and began walking back toward the sliding glass doors. The obese man in an orange apron remained glued to his spot in Cabinets.

I passed through the sliding glass doors into the inferno that was the outdoor section of Garden. “Near the insecticides,” they’d said, but I could find no insecticides. Just bags and bags of dirt. I had no idea there were so many different kinds of dirt.

I began a fresh search for an employee, thinking that perhaps another orange apron could further narrow the hunt. There was no orange anywhere.

I walked back inside and took one more trip down the Garden aisle. There were no mousetraps; there were no employees.

I kept walking, right back out to my car.

This afternoon, I went to Hepfer’s True Value Hardware at the Highland Plaza in Lemoyne to purchase non-lethal mousetraps.

I walked in through the sliding glass doors and a blonde woman in a white t-shirt emblazoned with the words “True Value Hardware” looked up.

“Hi,” I said, “I’m looking for non-lethal mousetraps.”

She smiled and nodded. “Let me just get Ray to show you were they are. Ray?!”

Ray appeared.

“Can you show her where the non-lethal mousetraps are?”

Ray nodded, and began walking. I followed.

We arrived at a wall of assorted kinds of mousetraps.

“This what you’re looking for?” he asked, placing it in my hands.

It was exactly what I was looking for.

I took it to the front. I paid for it. I said thank you. I left.

judging roberts

Newsweek: Judging Roberts

This article is encouraging, given, you know, everything else. I was recently lamenting the political nature of modern Supreme Court nominations, wishing we could return to the days when nominations were
based on legal prowess, rather than stance on issues. I don’t doubt that Roberts’ stances, where they are discernable, are not necessarily in line with my own, and I’d rather he err with the Constitution rather than with the legislature, but… It’s also possible that he sees the difference between a district court and the Supreme Court, and will be less likely to side with legislatures when his is the final word.

Anyway, it’s impossible to know what kind of justice he will turn out to be, but I’m thinking it could be a lot worse.

streets of London

The London police shot the wrong man. Ouch. But I think it’s a little silly for people to get “outraged” and be “demanding answers”. Clearly they need to examine what happened and figure out how to minimize the chances of making the same mistake in the future, but the implication that this shooting makes London less safe than Brazil seems a little absurd to me. This sounds like an extremely tragic mistake, but not a crime against an entire community.

the half-blood prince

So I just finished the new Harry Potter, and now I’m ready for the next one. It’s a little frustrating to have waited so long for something to be done with it and back to waiting so quickly. But, of course, I do take a little bit of misplaced pride in finishing it the day after it was released (and I didn’t do the midnight thing).

Anyway, Potter fans won’t be disappointed, although I’m not sure there was any doubt about that. Devastated, perhaps, but not disappointed.