Loving the Bad-Ass Presidents.

Favorite quote so far:

[Washington] described being surrounded by bullets and death and concluded by saying "I heard the bullets whistle and, believe me, there is something charming to the sound of bullets." When he caught news of this, King George III reportedly remarked that Washington's attitude would change if he'd heard a few more. But King George III didn't win the war, so fuck him.

While I don't consider the British Army of that era by any means paragons of virtue and goodness (because they demonstrably weren't), I've spent far too much time reading, researching, and writing about them to see them as Evil Other.

Jackson...wouldn't have felt the same:

During the American Revolutionary War, Jackson, at age thirteen, joined a local regiment as a courier.[4] Andrew and his brother Robert Jackson were captured by the British, and held as prisoners of war; they nearly starved to death in captivity. When Andrew refused to clean the boots of a British officer, the irate redcoat slashed at him with a sword, giving him scars on his left hand and head, as well as an intense hatred for the British.[5] While imprisoned they contracted smallpox, and after their mother secured their release, Robert died a few days later. Jackson's entire immediate family died from war-related hardships that Jackson blamed upon the British, leaving him orphaned by age 14.

That said, I strongly suspect that Jackson is the kind of guy who draws fans who take a somewhat...simplistic view of races and nationalities? Not saying this very well. But while I would say he's a rather fascinating and complex individual, I find myself not at all surprised that there's a certain jingoism to his fanbase.

Thanks, TB. I fear my mother's at her wit's end too.

Damn. I really really want to help. But I guess there is absolutely nothing I can do. Which is probably the same frustration you and your mother are undergoing only a billion fold. I send you my love cause I guess that is all I can do.

OMG, I so needed to see this: [link]

HILARIOUS.

According to the Road Runner Sports website (in a popup, so I can't link), Stability shoes are for average arch, Neutral shoes are for high arch, and Motion Control are for low arch.

I overpronate horribly and have extra-flexible ankles (I've had a few times when I've stumbled over something and my foot ended up bent far enough that the inside of my ankle scraped the ground), so I always need to buy the shoes at the far end of the motion-control line.

Susan, if you want a scholarly (yet accessible) defense -- indeed, hagiography -- of Andrew Jackson, check out Arthur Schlesinger's The Age of Jackson, which should be available at your favorite source for used books at the very least. Much of his argument -- "he destroyed the Second Bank, which was getting too big for its britches under that megalomaniac Nicholas Biddle."

Dear me. I want to photobomb.

And nap.

I have snuck into a conference call. I just want to listen. I don't want to admit to anyone that I'm here.

Thanks, Fred! I'll put it on my list.

photobomb

Still laughing!