Good god. What is wrong with some people?

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That's appalling.

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Egad. Not least because racially-motivated lynchings continued long after slavery ended.

Also, just saw this:

Of course, a humid, polluted metropolis that combines the innovative urban planning of Sugarland, Texas with the vibrant, multiethnic culture of Greenwich, Conn. might not be quite as big of a tourist draw.

Sounds like my soundbite description of Houston after my first trip there -- New Orleans without the personality. (I stayed near the Galleria, and it was a business trip involving a very contentious matter, so I'll now admit that I may not have had a complete picture.)

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How can people still be so fucking stupid???

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According to the Boston Foundation and the Citizens' Housing and Planning Association's "Housing Report Card" cost of living is the highest in the country. [link]

Hmm. I thought LA's median housing prices still beat out Boston, though. But that's just my sense of things, not backed up by facts.

The cost-of-living ranking comes from the Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan Washington think tank.

So I guess it's not just a Boston oriented organization leading this charge.

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Timelies,

6 hours of sleep last night. Not great, but an improvement at least.

Woke up this morning to find my cable modem working. I'm on the fence as to whether I should cancel the service call for this morning or not, I mean it's been down since Wednesday with no explanation from Comcast and I'm wondering if my cable modem is slowly dying. I'd like to know for sure what's wrong, but I don't know if the service guy is just going to go "Well, it's working now. See ya."

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We have a new family at our school. They're here from Alaska. Maybe I should ask Juliana and Libkitty if they know them.

It's a small state sometimes. One of us just might.

ita, have a wonderful trip! So very exciting.

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I won't be gone near long enough, considering -- I'll be back on the 17th.

How long is the flight?

two insensitive crew members were dismissed after they approached David Brown holding nooses, suggesting that he and Foxx were heading for a Ku Klux Klan-style lynching.

Oh my word. Animals.

According to the Boston Foundation and the Citizens' Housing and Planning Association's "Housing Report Card" cost of living is the highest in the country. [link]

Hmm. I thought LA's median housing prices still beat out Boston, though. But that's just my sense of things, not backed up by facts.

I haven't read the article so I'm talking out of my coffee cup more than anything else, but cost of living takes into account more than just prices. If places like SF, L.A., etc. have higher housing prices (and they likely do, although we're always nearish the top) they probably also have higher wages, and/or lower [other things] which may be included in the calculation.

It's a small state sometimes. One of us just might.

Don't we have another Alaskan here, in addition to you and libkitty, j? Oh, wait, I think we do and the Alaskan's name actually is Another Alaskan.

I don't suppose you've heard that any of your friends/neighbors/relatives have moved to the Boston area? I know the youngest boy's first name is Ian. He came to school in a dress shirt, tie, and slacks--his hair high and tight and I was wondering about hwo formal he looked (we don't have a dress code). Then I spotted a wee little diamond stud in one ear. Adorable. He's in kindergarten with Chris. They also have a first grade girl in Julia's class, and a fourth grade girl in Ben's class.

Kindergarten students only attended for an hour on the first day, with parents in tow. Ian's mother asked a question about snacks, and said that "in Alaska" (her words, not mine--and my inner-Buffista really wanted to question her whether this was true for the whole state, or just their former school, but I was good) the snacks had to be healthy, and even when she'd baked Banana Bread, it was taken away from the kids, and they weren't allowed to eat it.

When we picked up Ben and Julia at the end of the day, I asked Julia who the new girl was, and she was very excited to tell me that she was from Alaska. Then Ben said, "Hey! I have a girl from Alaska in my class, too!"

Oh dear.

I thought I had an amusing finish for my story, because it was kind of neat (if you were there) to realize, but um...I guess I don't, so...

TA DAH!!!

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TA DAH!!!

This makes me think of that picture that Nilly has of us that we are all in, with Theo and a couple others, doing a TA-DAH! sort of pose.

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Today is the (round numberth) birthday of my little sister, Nutty. I wasn't best pleased about it at the time, but look how lucky I am now! Happy Birthday, Nutty!

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