I had a lovely spring break last week and spent time here in Buffalo and at home. (e:Janelle), thanks again for taking care of China Cat. I have to post these pix before I can get to the St. Pat's pix.

Nisha was a grubby, stinky mass of poodle fur - her last haircut was 9/28 ((e:heidi,45816))


She's much cleaner now


My dear Uncle Dudley ((e:heidi,46397)) and her boyfriend have started a company that makes decoration holders for headstones. They're called Headstone Halos (TM, patent pending). Eventually I will need to make a website for them, so I took some pictures this weekend.





I've passed by these signs several times, the last time I was home - in JANUARY, and several times on this trip. There is a pair of them just south of the Presho exit on US Rt. 15, one for northbound traffic, one for southbound traffic. This isn't anywhere near the Canadian border, the near-unanimous language of choice in the area is English, and even though the sign reads KM/H, it's tracking in MPH. WTF??





A's gig was pretty successful. They opened for a popular Corning-based blues-rock band, the Brainbell Janglers.



And finally, the sunset Saturday on my way back to Buffalo was gorgeous.



I was reading (recently, not while driving) about taking great sunrise/set photos and the author suggested turning around. Here's what i saw


Okay, prolly shouldn't be taking pix while driving, but it was just so pretty... notice the star (planet) in the middle. [edit: okay, you can't see it in the shrunken version, but trust me, there's a cute little white dot.]

Saturday March 14, 2009 06:19 EDT
The success of drug decriminalization in Portugal

In 2001, Portugal became the only EU-member state to decriminalize drugs, a distinction which continues through to the present. Last year, working with the Cato Institute, I went to that country in order to research the effects of the decriminalization law (which applies to all substances, including cocaine and heroin) and to interview both Portuguese and EU drug policy officials and analysts (the central EU drug policy monitoring agency is, by coincidence, based in Lisbon). Evaluating the policy strictly from an empirical perspective, decriminalization has been an unquestionable success, leading to improvements in virtually every relevant category and enabling Portugal to manage drug-related problems (and drug usage rates) far better than most Western nations that continue to treat adult drug consumption as a criminal offense.

by Glenn Greenwald

Read more

Would any (e:strip)pers like to coalesce for the St. Pat's parade? It's my first time and I would love a tour guide.

I need to go home this week - would anyone like to come visit my sweet purry China Cat Sunflower? Three visits would ensure her happiness.




Back when I bought a ticket to DRUMLine Live ( based on the movie ) at UB North Center for the Arts, I didn't realize I had spring break this week. So, anyone want a ticket? 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, March 10 Orchestra Row H, Seat 112.

Searcher, there is no road. We make the road by walking.

--Antonio Machado, Selected Poems

I've befriended the neighbor kids' grandmother and father, my aunt's best childhood friend, A's aunt, a former landlord, and my dad's cousin in the past week on Facebook. It's freaky.

# 45% of Facebook's US audience is now 26 years old or older.

1. The fastest growing segment in the US: Women over 55, up 175.3% in the last 120 days. Facebook growing faster with women than men in almost every age group.

At least one person attributed some of the growth to 25 things meme (see (e:lauren,47634) and (e:metalpeter,47564)).

Why now? Why facebook?

I much prefer estrip.