Carlin Observations for Sig Line

My friend, Marci, sent this today. I just couldn't resist making it my new signature line.

"They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq. Why don't we just give them ours? It was written by a lot of really smart guys, it's worked for over 200 years, and we're not using it anymore." - George Carlin

Beamed Up

James Doohan, who played Montgomery Scott on the original Star Trek series, died yesterday at age 85.

He will be missed.

Ace Jackalope

It occurs to me that every time I put up a photo of Ace, that people want more information about the little guy. Well, he has his own blog now. Hopefully he will still make guest appearances here, but for the official lope lore, check out http://thelope.blogspot.com.

Puerto Rico

I returned last night from a week in Puerto Rico. I was there for the Altrusa International Convention. It was neat to meet ladies from all over who are also committed to the idea of literacy.

I went a couple of days early so I could enjoy some time in Puerto Rico, as I've never been there before. I'm still not exactly sure of the connection between Puerto Rico and the US. They are US citizens but do not pay federal taxes or vote in elections. Obviously, it's a complex situation and not one that requires my understanding, but I couldn't quite grasp the connections.

Someone told me it was Hawaii meets the third world. I was hoping for more third world. I really only saw the Hawaii part of it. It was beautiful, but very touristy. I could have done with a little more experience but there just wasn't time to do all I wanted to do - as if there ever is on a trip.

I took Ace Jackalope along for the ride. We stayed at the Westin Rio Mar so he got in some beach time, drank a Pina Colada at the bar that invented them, toured Old San Juan, and visited the rain forest. We ran out of time for the Bacardi distillery tour.

I also took photos of the Excelsior Hotel - one that is continually recommended but no one can agree on if it's good or bad. Why none of the dozens of people who've posted their thoughts bothered to take a few snapshots I don't know, but I addressed that problem. They'll go on a page at patsyterrell.com and people can look at them if they wish to see what it's really like. It was fine - by the way.

I will have numerous photos to post but at the moment am trying to deal with getting back to real life. I did arrive home to find the dining room closet has been ripped out and is history. That's a bonus. So, one home thing done. Yeah! Of course, the wall has to be mudded and then painted and... well... it goes on and on but at least the closet is gone.

It was a lovely trip to Puerto Rico, but necessitated dealing with the airlines, which was its usual horrific experience. Just when I thought things could not get more unpleasant with them, when I retrieved my bag from behind the counter because it had arrived on an earlier flight than I had - I discovered that it had been ripped open and my things scattered somewhere between here and Puerto Rico. I guess someone is enjoying my clothes and crocs today, as well as other trinkets tossed about. How nice.

Hutchinson Scenes

If you've read this blog for any amount of time, you know I have a fascination with road signs in various places. They really are indicative of an area. A memorable one was the "Hills and Curves - Next 63 Miles" along Highway 1 in California. And, a more recent favorite, posted in the New Mexico materials, of the little graphic of the car with rocks falling onto it. That one could have been in California too, come to think of it.

Well, I was thinking... gosh... we don't have anything distinctive in the way of road signs along here. Then one day I was driving to Wichita and had just gone through Yoder and popped up onto 96. Yoder is an Amish community and on Highway 96 near there are the road signs showing "buggy crossing." It was one of those moments of clarity about how we really do take our immediate surroundings for granted.

One of the things that's interesting about living in Hutchinson is every once in awhile you'll see a buggy parked at Walmart or somewhere else. The other day I had to go to the courthouse to get a new car title and as I was headed back home, I saw this buggy parked at a shopping area. I swung in to the parking lot to snap a photo with the water tower in the background. I should have taken one of the courthouse, too. We have a beautiful art deco courthouse. I'll pop one of those up soon.

Yoder is only about five miles from Hutchinson so this is the closest "big town" to shop in. The Amish believe that to have a photo of their faces taken would be a graven image and therefore idolatry. That's why you often see photos from the back. There was an elderly gentleman in this buggy, waiting for someone I guess, but I didn't want to intrude on him so snapped the photo so he was not in it.

Overheard Conversation

You may recall that I have a "thing" about overheard conversation.

Leaving Wal-mart tonight I heard the following:

"So, it is just the oral fixation thing?"

The older woman replied to the 20 something who asked the question...

"No. Thank you, Mr. Freud."

I thought to myself, I wonder if Mr. Piaget and Mr. Erikson would be upset that their names are never mentioned when stages of development arise in conversation. Maybe they'd just be happy their names are not associated with cigars and what they may or may not mean.

Morning Glories Grow So Quickly

My morning glories have really taken off in the last few days. I just posted some garden pictures a week ago today and they were not at all climbing the string. I think I took those just that day but it might have been the day before. Now they're more than a foot up the string in places.

I've always known that they take off all of a sudden but I've never had quite this kind of photographic evidence. It's fun to see the progress.

I'm pretty happy with the way the garden is shaping up at the moment. Things are growing together and giving that "mixed" look that I love. I am glad I planted so many of the lime-green colored squash vines, as well as the dark purple ones. They're a nice look in the flower bed and they're growing like crazy. I love anything that grows like mad.

I'm thankful for the rocks my former boyfriend gave me from his farm. They really add a lot to the garden. I love rocks and have quite the collection at my front door, but these were picked up on his farm specifically with the idea of using them in the flower bed.

Piano For Free

Yesterday I put one of my pianos on freecycle. Yes, that's right. I own two pianos. I bought one from a church a few years ago so I'd have one to play. When my mom died, I got the one I learned to play on. I decided that only people who are concert pianists need two pianos and that one had to go.

The one from the church is a 1908 Remington - beautiful old piece with nice carving. It has been rebuilt at some point and holds a tune quite nicely. I've moved it into each of the three places I've lived in Hutchinson and I think it's time for someone else to enjoy it.

I had considered putting it in Diana's store to sell. She was very gracious about it, but I could tell she wasn't excited about it. So, yesterday I thought about freecycle and thought it was worth a try.

I had two responses within a few minutes of each other. One of them is going to be here in a few minutes to look at it and see if he wants it. He plays for his church but doesn't have one at home. Seems like it would be nice to go back to making music for a church.

If he doesn't want it, I'll contact the other lady who wants it for her children.

It was going to cost me to move it and I doubt I would have gotten any money out of it, so this will be a better solution for everyone.

I just hope they follow through. My experience with trying to give away the dog house a few months ago was that it was hard to give something away for free. I should have learned my lesson there. I said then that if I ever did this again, the item was going to the first person who said, "I'll come get it now."

I will miss the idea of having it. It's a beautiful piece, but I have a piano to play and it's only right that someone else have one to play as well. Besides, I'm not really using it well, anyway, and I can put the piano from my mom's in that floor space.

I Love Saturdays

I love Saturdays - a whole day stretching out in front of you when you don't have to answer to someone else's schedule.

Even though I have a lot on my plate to accomplish, it's just nice to do it on a Saturday when there's no other schedule.

I got up this morning and worked around the house some until hunger brought me downstairs, looking for food. It was around noon and I decided I'd take a chance Jocelyn wanted to go get some Roy's. So, I called and she was up for it. As a matter of fact, she had just told a friend a little earlier that she was thinking about getting some Roys.

I then went out and about running errands for various things. I had a list of things I needed to accomplish this weekend and some shopping was on the list. I ended up going to a half dozen places and still have two more to hit, but I did get a lot done.

I popped down to Diana's for a few minutes on my way to my office and while I was there Teresa called and asked if I wanted to have dinner. She had been to the Kansas Explorer's Event today. I just didn't think I could afford the time to go and I was right - I did make good use of the day.

But, I went to dinner with Teresa, then did another shopping trip to pick up a couple of little things.

I'm headed upstairs shortly to work on some things up there. It seems there's always more to do in this house than I can get done in a timely manner.

I also have to finish up my beader prayer pouches for an exchange. I rarely participate in exchanges unless they just really appeal to me and this one did. But it's due next week so I want to wrap it up this weekend.

Behind

Well, I'm running behind on blogging - like everything else in my life at the moment! I had a busy work day that was punctuated by a visit from the plumber. I had a couple of small jobs to do and oddly enough, he could work me in today. So, it was good to get that done.

Tonight I moved things around in the house. I've got to move all the dishes off the six shelves in my dining room - let me clear that up - shelving units - so the floors can be done. I have many things that have to find a new place to be while it's happening and I'm trying to figure out where those things all go. I don't know the answer to that yet.

Jocelyn and I had dinner tonight so that was a bonus. I just never get to see enough of her. She's getting ready to do a big show in LA so is trying to get stock done.

Since I booked myself into a show in September, I know exactly what she means. I'm going to put lots of furniture in my studio for them to do the floors upstairs so I won't be able to create for awhile and I'm going to be in a crunch when I get it back as a studio.

It seems there's always more stuff to do than I have time/energy/brain power for. But, I guess I should just be thankful that my life is full.

I had lunch with Theda on Wednesday for the diversity group and we started talking about how some people's lives are full and some are not. Mine is definitely in the former category. At times I get frustrated, but I also can't imagine it any other way.

I'm always amazed when I'm with a group and we start talking about getting together again and I'm the only one getting a calendar out. How can people possibly not have anything on their schedules? It's a mystery to me.

London Explosions

The London transportation system was bombed today. It's not something that would have gathered much attention in the US before 9-11 but now we're hearing that Lisa Kudrow tried to call her former Friends co-star David Schwimmer in London. Do we really need to know that? No. Some real facts would be nice, but the US news media believes that Americans are too stupid to comprehend anything without some "entertainment" thrown in. I've always been a media defender, but they're wearing on me.

I'd really like to hear from real information, other than about the Live 8 concert and celebrities. But, in the US, we're so damned shallow that if it didn't happen to Americans, it doesn't really matter to large numbers of people. Drives me nuts. Oh... btw... it's freaking CNN that's "reporting" what Lisa Kudrow is doing on this day.

As is always the case with such things, when there's a personal connection, it's so much more real. I don't know anyone living in London at the moment, but I certainly recognize those tube stops. My "neighborhood" in London is Bloomsbury - near the British Museum - that's where I stayed everytime I went - and most of the tube stops that were hit were in that area. Kings Cross, Russell Square, Aldgate and Liverpool Street were all names that jumped out at me because I'd been there many times.

I hate the phrases like, "London bombing... How Safe is America?" Can we not, even for a moment, on this day when dozens have lost their lives and hundreds are wounded, just for a second, could we Americans please have just a little shred of decency, just a tiny one, and accept that lives of people other than those born in America are important enough to get their due, to be remembered? If we can't accept it, could we please just fake it for just a few hours? Please? Could we focus on those who are dead and hurt, instead of making it all about America? Just this once? Please?

Making Music

I was watching Craig Ferguson, as I do most nights, and he had Toby Keith on. It was a repeat, I think.

Anyway, Toby did his latest song - "As good as I used to be" - with just him and another guy, both playing guitar and singing. Oddly enough, I just saw the video for this song in the last few days. I'm sure it's been out for awhile, but I'm a "catch as catch can" viewer and hadn't seen it.

What struck me is just how much music the two guys with just voices and guitar made. Compared to the video with a full production musically, this was a very low key offering, but I think I liked it better.

I forget, since I'm no longer engaged in music performance, how different things can be. It made me long to be with people, making music again.

I'm preparing to get rid of one of my pianos - I have two - and will then get the one I'm keeping tuned. Hopefully I'll start playing again then. I do miss performing music.

Maybe I should look into taking some voice lessons again. My voice has deteriorated since I don't sing regularly. It's just like the voice teachers tell you - you gotta use it or lose it.

Creative Sisterhood

Tonight was Creative Sisterhood and it was a really fun night. Virginia wasn't able to join us, unfortunately, but the rest of us were here.

It was a fun night. We laughed a lot, which was nice. Many of us have some serious stresses in our lives at the moment so laughter was a nice stress reliever.

I made brownies tonight. I have been so frantic that I just didn't have a chance to think much about it - or make anything more complex. But, I always love brownies, anyway, so that works out.

I am sending off a copy of Kansas Cookies tonight (http://www.patsyterrell.com/indexksc.htm) and that caused me to leaf through it and look at the recipes again. I must make the fudge cookies again soon - those are yummy. I am overdue for making them.

What Journals Say

I've read multiple times over the years of people getting rid of their journals - sometimes throwing them away or other times doing it as a ritual. I have all of the journals I've ever written and can't imagine ever getting rid of them. I've been writing since I was a kid and have all of them.

I rarely go back and read anything but like having them all around. There are negative things in there at times, although I'm not a big "venter" in my journals. And there are lots of very personal things in there. But, I have never had anyone in my life that would read my journals (nor would I) and so I figure after I'm dead if someone chooses to read them it won't matter.

That's an interesting question.... What would people discover about you if they read your journals after you died?

In my case, people would discover I'm far more fragile than they ever imagined.

Signature quote

I change my sig lines pretty regularly... I've gotten in the habit of posting them here for reference as I do... The new one as of today:

"Nul ne peut atteindre l'aube sans passer par le chemin de la nuit." -Khalil Gibran

(One may not reach the dawn save by the path of the night.)

15,000 Hours

Children from grades 1-12 get 11,000 hours of instruction in school. They watch 15,000 hours of television. Does that seem like a good idea to anyone?

Parades

This morning was the Fourth of July parade. Hutchinson is a town of about 50,000 - big enough to have a parade, small enough that you'll bump into people you know at the parade - or see them in the parade, as in this case.

I was at the Women's Civic Center, a building Trish has taken the lead on preserving. It was given to the library and they wanted to move it or tear it down. I approached them about using it as office space for the MHA but it was way too big for our needs.
But, the Arts and Humanities Council is going to take it over and use it for office space and also a performance area. It is the perfect use. It's a wonderful building on main street, right next to the library, and a block from where I used to live.

I recently joined the board of the Arts and Humanities Council and we decided to give away ice water and lemonade today for the parade. It was a big success. Andrea has been on this board for a long time, but unfortunately her term is about up so we'll only get to be together on it for a short while.

I went to help, but ended up not doing much other than visiting. I ran into Austin and his finace, Amy. Austin is Diana's son, and I just adore him. He's tons of fun - always in a good mood and very witty. I'm always tickled to run into him. Amy is very sweet but I haven't had a lot of chance to get to know her well yet since she doesn't live in town.

Julie and her husband were nearby and came over to visit. I also ran into Rob, who's the head of United Way here. Rob and worked together many years ago when we were both in the radio business. Rob is Martha's brother, just so you have the connections.

It was also a day for politicians, of course. What Fourth of July parade would be complete without that? Mark Treaster, who I'm so very happy was elected last year, walked in the parade and then came over to chat. His wife, Mary, is also on the board of the Arts and Humanities Council. Mark is a really good guy and I'm so glad he's in Topeka. He's not in my district so I couldn't vote for him, but was sure tickled he won.

The democrats had a float, but I didn't participate this year. Kathie was very involved in making it happen.

It was good to see everyone and enjoy the parade. I try to take advantage of those little bits of life that are disappearing. There are things about small town America that I love.

Mark came out for the day and we went to the fireworks at the fairgrounds in the evening, so I had a full day of activities for the Fourth.

I'm a Freak. Who knew?

I'm 85% freak!!

Rainy Day

It has rained off and on all day, and has been pouring for the last few hours. Our temperature is down to 66, which is practically unheard of for central Kansas in July. Not sure how this will affect the parade tomorrow - if it's going to continue or not. I do know it will make the fairgrounds a mess for the fireworks tomorrow night.

I have been moving things around in the house, my "usual" job these days. I'm very weary of this task and it's barely begun.

Teresa called and asked if I wanted to go to lunch, so I took a long break and visited with her. We went to the same place Sondra and I went last night - El Potrillo. Teresa, Andrea and I ate Mexican on Friday night too. Three days in a row now.

Greg and Mark and I are trying to plan a trip together. It looks like it will really happen, so that's going to be fun. I'm trying to juggle a ton of things right now - house and otherwise - I hope I can get it all under control.

I talked to one of the guys Jesse recommended for a handyman today. He's coming over on Tuesday to look at the jobs. It would be good to get some help with these things. I just have too much to do on my own within the time frame.

I snapped some pix of the front flower bed today. I'm amazed at how much the morning glories have grown in only the last few days. Two weeks ago they were only about an inch tall. They seem to stay that way for a long time and then suddenly start to shoot up.

I always think I'm very optimistic when I'm putting up the six feet tall string when they're an inch tall. But, they're starting to grow rapidly now. One year at my old place, I started the seeds early indoors and by July 4th they were all over the front and blooming. These are all volunteer - just came up from the seed I planted two years ago. I love the convenience of that, but it would be nice for them to be further along now than they are. There's a trade off for everything.

This is the first year I've ever mulched but people tell me it will keep the weeds down. I can only hope so. I have really fought with the weeds in this flower bed - and the grass.

But, it always looks so sad to see a flower bed in front of a house that's just weeds and is neglected. It makes the whole place seem sad. I'm hoping many of these come back year after year.

I'm in love with the lime green vines. They're not perennials, but I really love the look of them so thought I'd get some anyway. I guess next year will be the test - we'll see what reappears.

Well, time for me to move a few more things before going up to bed. Today is the last day that my antibiotics should be working and I'm feeling good, but still get tired really easily. So, I need to try and get some extra rest.

The Big Five

I'm a O95-C47-E95-A38-N4 Big Five!!

Working on the House

I've been working on the house today - moving things around and trying to prepare to get the floors done. It is a big job and I'm so weary of moving things. In a little over three years I've moved my household once and my office four times. It's a lot of moving. Even though I had a ton of help from friends - not the least of which was my former bf who was a huge help - I am worn out from packing and moving and doing it again.

I'm trying to find places for all my little "pretties" that are sitting out on shelves. Obviously, those shelves have to be moved off the floors. I'm putting some things on the mantel and I do have some shelves that are mounted on the wall so things can be set on them too.

I guess I'll take all my computer stuff to my office while the floors are being done. That way I can use it there, since I do a lot of work on my home system. It will also keep it from getting dusty.

I have some painting I want to do before the floors are done, too. I love to use carpet as drop cloth and then just rip it out and throw it away. I cannot express how happy I will be to have my home carpet free. I despise carpet. It is the nastiest, filthiest concept anyone has ever come up. How they ever sold it to the American public, I don't know.

Hasn't everyone seen what a throw rug looks like after being walked on for a week? It's disgusting. Tacking it down at the edges - like carpet - does not keep it from getting dirty.

Anyone who has ever ripped up carpet should want to stay as far away from it as possible. It's gross, gross, gross. I don't have any downstairs, but still have two rooms upstairs and the stairway and upstairs hallway. I will be so happy to have it all gone.

Tonight I went to dinner with Sondra. That was a really nice break. It's always good to see her and she's the only person who understands the house thing. She is nearing the end of refurbishing her old house and it's charming.

I was thinking the other day that I'm guessing most of my friends probably think I'm nuts for buying this place that needed so much work. The plumber told me later that he thought I'd lost my mind when he was first in it. I'm guessing his reaction may have been "the norm." But, I love the challenge - as long as it's not so overwhelming I get stymied.

As I was driving home from dropping Sondra off I saw Jesse walking, so I asked if he wanted a ride. He's always such a pleasant sight. I've known Jesse for almost 20 years now - I met him through Mark when they both worked at the same place. He doesn't drive, but walks all over town. Anyway, if I happen to see him I always offer him a ride. He's such a pleasant guy - always in a good mood. He was headed over to a friend's so I took him there but they weren't home so I took him on to his family's house a few blocks away.

I also asked Jesse if he could think of anyone who could use a little extra cash that could help me do a few odd jobs around here. I just don't have time to get everything done I'd like to get done before the floors are done so I'm in hyper drive now. I need some help. And it seems nearly impossible to find someone who has time to do small jobs. Everyone wants the big jobs, but no one wants to do the small stuff. Anyway, Jesse knows tons of people so maybe he'll come up with someone who would want to help. I hope so.

I've also been playing with my PDA today. I am a new user and, frankly, much of this is gobbledy-gook to me. I can't figure out why what's on the PDA is not showing up on the desktop when I sync them. I have it set to overwrite the desktop, but there are appointments on the PDA that are not showing up on the desktop so it seems logical to me that if the PDA blew up that those appointments would not be visible to me. I don't know. But I know it's starting to make my brain hurt. That means it's probably enough for today.

I've had quite a few votes on the glasses, but I'm still taking your comments and votes. :) I'm undecided, still.

Well, I'd best get back to working on the house... stuff doesn't move itself... even if you twitch your nose.

Happy Fourth of July

Monday is the Fourth of July - a time for patriotism, barbecues and parades. Ace Jackalope is already decked out for the holiday.

I'll be spending the morning of the parade helping out with a couple of different floats and handing out lemonade at the Women's Civic Center.

The Great Glasses Hunt

The Great Glasses Hunt continues. Thanks to those of you who have sent your thoughts on glasses! Today I went to my regular eye doctor's office and tried on a few more. So, a couple of those are on the page now, too. I've also moved some of the lower ones up to the top now, as a couple of people mentioned they couldn't see the last 2-3 glasses frames. So... keep voting!!!
www.patsyterrell.com/glasses.htm THANKS!!!

Your Vote on Glasses Does Count

This is Jon, at Myoptix in Wichita. He has the best selection in the area of cool, fun, funky glasses. Actually, he may have the best selection in the region - meaning a few states. OK, probably the best selection except *maybe* on the coasts.

To top it off, Jon is tons of fun. It's hard to believe that picking out glasses could be fun, but he makes it that way. He's a blast.

He will also embellish your glasses with some extra bling if you so desire. He often has a large selection of vintage frames, in addition to the latest and greatest from Europe, as well as the US. So, if you're just not finding what you want, Myoptix should be on the agenda.

Diana, Jocelyn and I went there a few months ago when Diana got new glasses. Now it's my turn to get new glasses so I stopped in when I was in Wichita earlier this week. Frankly, it was the highlight of my day.

Neither Jocelyn nor Diana could go to help me pick out glasses, so Jon took some pix of me in different ones so I could get their opinions. I figured I'd just show them to you, too, and let you vote on your favorites.

OK... this was too bulky for the blog, so... go to www.patsyterrell.com/glasses.htm and you can see some of the ones I'm considering. Please, feel free to vote. I'm taking all comments under advisement. Thanks!

What a Beautiful Girl

If you've been reading here for long, you'll remember me talking about my friend, Trevis, from Scotland. We've gotten to know each other through GAMIAN and last saw each other in Philadelphia last year. I believe I posted some photos of the two of us together.

Well, this week, Trevis shared some photos of her 11.5 year old granddaughter, Taylor, with me. These are from her primary school prom, a tradition we don't have in the US but that seems perfectly lovely.

This was the first photo I opened, and I have to tell you that I was struck by what a beautiful girl Taylor is. Those blue eyes and that porcelain skin are an amazing combination. Absolutely lovely.

I asked Trevis if I could share Taylor's photo. I'm sure it's as striking to you as it was to me. Beautiful girl.

Dreams Come True

I love the surreal bits of life and everytime I see Jack White kiss Loretta Lynn on the lips I get it in living color. Gotta love it. The White Stripes frontman on Country Music Television. Who woulda thunk it?

White is a big fan of Loretta's... it's good to get to live your dreams... man... it's good... very good...

I've been blessed to get to live more than a couple of my own. None of my dreams involve Loretta Lynn or Jack White, but it's still amazing to move them into reality.

Guess it's time to make some new dreams... or get about making the old ones come true... I'm in limbo lately... I've gotta snap out of it... Life is going on everyday and I'm "spending" my time in this lifetime wether I'm using it well or not.

What's in a Name

The question of the day - what do you think about your name and how did you get it?

My brothers (21 and 22 years older than me) named me. It came down to Delores or Patsy. My mother said "no" to Delores. So, Patsy it was.

My mother wanted a boy and had planned to name me Myron David. Oddly enough, one of my best friends in high school was a boy named MD. At some point, when we were seniors, I asked him what his given name was - Myron David. I have no idea where my mother heard the name Myron or why she was attracted to it.

My middle name is "Ann" - like 95% of the female population between 30 and 50.

I have always wished that they named me with a family name - Maranda Rose was my great grandmother and I've always loved that. Her mother's name was Sarah Emaline, which I also love. On the other side of the family, my grandmother's name was Minda Augusta, which I also like.

I don't mind my name at all. My family calls me "Pat" but everyone else calls me "Patsy." I had an aunt that called me "Patty" her whole life.

I don't get really worked up when people mispronounce my name or anything of that nature. Some people freak out. I just answer. It's not that big of a deal.

A name annoyance thing - when they ask me how to spell my name at a restaurant. I always just want to say - it doesn't matter - write down something you can say in a way that I'll know you mean me. You're not going to send me an engraved invitation, you're going to say my name over a $19.95 crackling speaker - the spelling is immaterial.

Wichita - shopping hell

I spent the day in Wichita, trying to gather up things I need for the house. I decided over the winter that this summer I was going to try and get a lot of things done to the house. I've lived here three years and in some ways it still looks like I'm moving in. I think realizing that I'm working on the last room I've not worked on spurred me even further a couple of months ago. So, now I'm trying to cram everything into the next couple of months.

Shopping is not my favorite activity by a long shot, so this was a long day, but I did get some things I needed.

I'm exhausted and my carpenter guy is coming at 8 in the morning so I need to get some rest. He's going to tear out a closet in the dining room that has to be done before they do the floors. I have a lot of other small jobs but I need to see how much time he has to do things tomorrow. He's a busy guy but I always feel lucky to get him - he does great work and he's very reasonable.

Well, off to bed for me. I won't get a lot of sleep because I need to get up early and clean out the closet Chris is going to destroy tomorrow.

Ah, the power of a phone call

Today I finally gave up and called another construction person. Not 10 minutes later, my regular guy called back. Wish I'd thought of that sooner. I had no idea a phone call created a ripple that caused action. I'm making a note.

BTK Confesses - Big News Here

I live less than an hour from Wichita, and the BTK serial killer appeared in court this morning, reciting the details of his killings with no emotion. Of course, this is big news here since it's the culmination of a 30 year long investigation - not that it wouldn't be big news anywhere.

Dennis Rader very calmly gave the details of each killing, in response to questions from Judge Greg Waller. Waller needed to make certain that he really is BTK, so the questions were necessary. But people seemed surprised by Rader's delivery of the facts.

Rarely does the general public have the opportunity to see a known sociopath up close. I'm not a psychologist, so please accept my commentary as personal, and nothing more. Rader's behavior is typical sociopathic behavior - detached and emotionless - while talking about things that are horrific to most of us. Sociopath is the old term, but I still think it's understood better, and more descriptive, than anti-social behavior.

The really frightening part, that we don't want to discuss, is that sociopaths are not that rare - Martha Stout suggests in her book that it's about 4%. Much research indicates that their brains are built differently. So what does that mean for the rest of us? It means that it could just as easily be our brains that were built that way.

The governor said it was good police work that brought him in. I'm afraid I have to disagree about that. Good police work would have brought him in a few decades ago. He had to keep "helping" them with clues.

The Wichita police department has had at least one person on this case for 30 years. To those of us outside the loop, it seems that in 30 years one person could have tracked down everyone living in Wichita at the time of the murders who fit the profile.

Rader did, indeed, fall right into the profile and was on more than one of the lists of potentials. They simply didn't catch it. Obviously, no one knows the details except those involved and it's not my place to say that anyone messed up. But, it is also not appropriate to now try and make us believe that exceptional police work brought him in. That may be true at this stage of the game, but there have been decades where it seems not much was happening in that department.

Speculation is that he started giving them clues, wanting to be caught, because Beatty's book was going to take some of his glory.

The judge hearing the case, Greg Waller, is from Hutchinson, where I live. He spoke at a MLK event I went to here in January. He's a powerful speaker, an accomplished man, and an imposing - but charming - figure. Nonetheless, I would not want to meet him in his professional capacity.

The Wichita Eagle did a special edition today. These are incredibly rare these days because of the expense. They sold out all over Wichita in a short amount of time. I'm sure none even made it out of town.

The sentencing is set for mid August. It seems there will be no quick end to this part of Wichita's history.