I'm watching The Mentalist. I love it! It's somewhat formulaic police-drama stuff, with somewhat formulaic Sherlock-Holmesian detail stuff, but I just love the star. He's always smiling! There's no overblown anger, or righteousness -- the one time he showed strong emotion, we only knew about it because someone else closed the door to give him privacy.

Okay, and he's a little smug. But I love him anyway.

No snow here yet. And it's a bit warmer than it's been -- it's above freezing! I went to the store around the corner without a hat!

list of Onion stories from the Bush presidency

You know, the funniest ones are the Cheney ones:

June 30, 2006: Vice President Cheney’s Severed Hand Chokes Chairman Of Ways And Means Committee.

February 23, 2007: Dick Cheney Can’t Get Enough New Hearts.

April 11, 2007: Cheney Spends 2-Week Vacation Lying Motionless In Open Grave.

April 9, 2008: Cheney Re-Grows Limb In Front Of Shocked Advisers.

January 9, 2009: Vice President Cheney Seen Dragging Egg Sac Through West Wing.

I wish I could be there, just because I'm never where stuff happens.

I've only seen one Leverage, the mobster wedding one. It was great fun, but I knew I was missing some history of the characters. That didn't take away and I will try it again.

Haven't seen The Mentalist. The BSG premiere was divine.

It was 7 degrees here this morning, with hoarfrost on Everything! My car antenna was pretty and fuzzy. So I'm scraping the windshield and thinking, "Damn, it's cold," then I remembered the Buffistas in the sub-zero conditions, and then I felt warm.

Kind of like "There are starving children in Ethiopia who would be grateful for those green beans," but weather related.

Hee. I was doing that, too! I was all, well at least I'm not as cold as everybody else!

Heh--Joe the Plumber's got nothing on Obama when it comes to plungers!

It's warm here now! 34, apparently! And flurries.

I am wistful about the crowds gathered for the Inauguration. There is something about being in a sea of like-minded individuals, each suspending, for a short duration, their individuality to become a greater, larger mind and heart. I've experienced it in our 500 voice high school choir, in a local all-churches performance of the Hallelujah Chorus, at concerts in my youth.

I can't do crowds, at all, anymore. As Steph says, claustrophobic. Just looking at that picture made my mouth dry and my heart hammer. It's a marvelous thing. I wish I could participate, and I envy those who can.

The feeling of celebration is contagious, though. It feels as though the very air sparkles with it. For me personally it's the end of a blighted era and the hope of enlightenment. I can't feel confident about some of Obama's intentions, particularly toward non-traditional marriage, separation of church and state, and women's rights. I hope to be proven wrong. But the fact that the man has brought such light and hope before even the beginning of his term is enough to buy my good will for the time being.

This feels like those breathless hours before Bill took office, that same sort of optimism and giddy relief. It's a wonderful feeling, and everyone experiencing it should breathe deep, take mental note, and remember it. It doesn't happen all that often.

He's always smiling!

I know! I can't decide if he's the adorablest thing ever, or a creepy mofo.

I'm enjoying Leverage a lot, but I sorta think you need the lead-in of the first two episodes to get the team as a whole. The Hardison and Eliot show is my favorite, though the Hardison and Parker show is a close favorite. What? I like Hardison. Aldis Hodge is from NC.