A charming donation from Virginia McGlone of BoontonIt has been great coming to work this week: Every day money arrives in the mail from complete strangers.
I don't get to keep it, though. I'm doing a little charity drive this month. Send me your loose Garden State Parkway tokens -- which will be invalid come January -- and I'll redeem them and donate the funds to charity.
The charity I chose is the New Jersey Hospice and Palliative Care Organization in Scotch Plains. They said they'll accept tokens at their office for folks who find that more convenient.
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This will be worthless in a month...so send it to me.Junk drawer alert:
Garden State Parkway car and bus tokens will be worthless in a month, as they are being phased out. If you've got some hanging around your glove compartment, you can redeem them for cash between now and then.
It's complicated, though. Three designated service areas will take them only on certain days. The main administrative office will accept them through Dec. 31, but you have to schlep to Woodbridge, and that probably isn't going to happen.
The official redemption program has other limitations as well. You have to redeem a minimum of 15 tokens -- as if most people have that many hanging around -- to a maximum of 4,500. (Seriously? 4,500?)
Hence my one-woman, December-only charity:
Nobody likes a gloomy Bond.
That's the conclusion we reached in the parking lot outside the movie theater, after having watched 106 minutes of terse sulking.
The ghost of Vesper haunts "Quantum"
Who gives them the bucks?
Who are these big donors?
Why, John Q. Public -- you and I
Are now their new owners.
Don't be fooled: The painful conversation isn't over.
Yes, we did elect the first African-American to the presidency. That was a wondrous thing, and we've all deserved our collective pat on the back. As a country, we had a good week. Even people who voted for the other guy knew that something special had happened.
It's a stupid question, isn't it?
What meanie gets to tell Piper the bad news?That was a stupid answer on many levels, as I've already said. It implied she would lose; stupid. It implied the clothing wasn't necessary; stupid. It implied that if the clothing had come from Target instead of Neiman-Marcus, she might have been allowed to keep it; stupid
I'm officially off the clock.
Punching out.
My daughter turned 21 this week, so my work as a mother is done.
I have to side with Sarah on this one.
We're supposed to be appalled and/or amused that the Republican National Committee spent about $150,000 on clothing, hair styling, makeup and other "campaign accessories" for Sarah Palin last month.
Soon to be donated to the Smithsonian?Sorry the blog has been so neglected. My brain has been otherwise occupied with this:
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/10/mystery_in_the_desert.html
Like many Americans these days, my workplace will be undergoing some change, and some people I routinely spend my day with will be moving on.
A co-worker I particularly enjoy was chatting with me about Usain Bolt, the Jamaican sprinter, after his Olympics medal sweep. She was telling me how instantly popular he had become among Jamaicans.
We laughed, and as we parted ways to resume our work, I realized with sadness that, if she were to leave, I'd probably never see her again. We live far apart and travel in different circles, so it is unlikely our paths would cross.
I can't figure out what to think about Sarah Palin's wink.
The first time I saw her punctuate a pithy line with a devilish wink, I was impressed. There she was, making her national debut at the Republican National Convention, and she was actually relaxed enough to throw in a wink! Wow.
In the steamy soup that is the state of public opinion about Sarah Palin, we have beauty, brains, child care, sex, abortion, the glass ceiling and mooseburgers all brewing in a hot, ugly mess.
Oy.
Forget al Qaeda. Forget the housing bubble. Forget that looming winter heating bill.
It's all about Levi, Trig, Bristol and Todd.
When I read Sarah Palin's compelling life story, I feel a mixture of admiration, flat-out envy and incredulity. Mostly I just feel tired.
Presidential candidates typically have superhuman energy; the campaign trail allows no time for naps. Still, even by those standards, Palin is exceptional.
The mums make me wistful this time of year.
I can't help myself: I'm not ready to see them lined up outside the supermarket. I resent them. I wish they would go away -- at least for now.
A late summer cascadeAs we bid farewell to Beijing, we know it's the last time we'll see Olympic-level competition in sports like softball. That's unfortunate, especially since there are other obvious candidates for the chopping block:
Harder than team handball¤ Men's field hockey. Don't hate us, field hockey fans, but we thought the only reason the sport existed all these years was so girls would have something to play instead of soccer, hockey or cricket. Now that girls are allowed in other sports, it's a small miracle field hockey survives. But why on earth would grown men play it?
