I love the James Herriot series like I can't even tell you. I think they were my most-read books when I was young.

I loved them too! hmm... I wonder if my 9-year old big reader niece who currently wants to be a vet has read them yet.

Am v. annoyed by the goddamn motherfucking republicans who voted against giving me representation. I mean, fine, unconstitutional, whatever--let's see one of you start the ball rolling on amending the constitution, eh? OR on giving DC a little bit more self-government, and not trying to rule us just cause you happen to flit in and out of here feeling important?? GRRRRRR.

Not a Republican, but I'm sorry meara and other DCistas, that sucketh. No taxation without representation, huh? Also sorry the Maryland court decided you don't have the same rights as me.

People suck today.

Yeah, not really surprised about Maryland. But the taxation without representation thing...damn, people, that's what the founders FOUGHT for, and you piss it away for us?

And you know the R's just care cause D.C.'s Democratic anyways. Fuckers.

This bill was going to add a seat to Utah too, so it's not like the "delicate" balance of the House was going to change! Sigh.

57 votes--enough to pass, but not enough to bust a filibuster.

Is it anything like the old anti-smoking commercials, "Like father, like son?"

Basically. His son swears when he spills a drink in the car, then says he learned it by watching his dad. Later he prays before bed, and says the same thing, blah blah blah.

Also: Felt like this should not be in a post about people sucking

That is very cool Susan. According to mom that's the same way I a) started reading to myself in bed and b) saying I didn't want my "thin books" I apparently wanted to make up stories with the adult books with the words I could make out.

Maryland can go ahead and suck me right now. It's bad enough they ruled that same sex couples don't have the right to marry. They also claim that sexuality is not immutable and therefore not comparable to race or gender.

Basically. His son swears when he spills a drink in the car, then says he learned it by watching his dad. Later he prays before bed, and says the same thing, blah blah blah.

Yeah, not nearly as heartwarming a father and son country song as "A Boy Named Sue."

Oh, and the racial implications are kind of gross, if you think of it. Open-minded guy like Trent Lott, how dare I? (I wish I could send Omar to take care of him.)

That's very cool, especially given that you're teaching her a love of reading.

Well, it does make me more aware of what else I might be modeling for her, for good or ill, without realizing it!

Tangenting off to taking a book on the bus...lately I've been subtly nosy about trying to see what my fellow bus riders bring along to while away their commute time. Last week I sat next to a woman reading War and Peace and was duly impressed. There's one guy who gets on at the stop after mine on the way home who diligently improves his marketable skills by always reading software how-tos and the like. The week where it seemed like half the bus was immersed in Harry Potter was fun.

What surprises me a bit that only 1/4 to 1/3 of bus riders on an average day are doing anything to occupy themselves, be it book, iPod, paper, conversation with friend, or whatever. Granted, it's a shortish commute (15-25 minutes from my park & ride to my stop, on an express that basically takes people from two park & rides and drops them off at a cluster of hospitals), but I can't imagine just sitting and staring out the window at exactly the same things I stared at yesterday, day in and day out. Too many books and too little time!

I can't read on a city bus or CTA train without getting nauseous. More comfy trains like Metra or Amtrak it's not a problem.

I get nauseated when I read in the car or on a bus. Sometimes even in a plane. Which sucks. A lot.

One cool thing I saw in Honolulu was a couple of kids riding the bus and they younger (a boy probably about 8-10 years old) picked up the newspaper and turned to the comics page. He read the paper the whole time they were on the bus and shared it with the older girl he was with. The Honolulu Advertiser has an impressive 2 page comic spread in their daily which I really liked.

The journalism student in me gets a happy when kids read newspapers.