I always thought of him as being both victim of his upbringing and rising above the expectations placed on him. In many ways, while he had a privileged life, it had to be hellish growing up a boy in that family-- the youngest boy at that-- with Papa Joe as the patriarch. It wasn't so much "Do as I say, not as I do," as it was "Do as I say and do, just don't get caught and if you do, make sure you know the right people to make it go away."

Not to mention there was Rosemary, as a family lesson as to what they would do to you if you didn't come up to snuff.

(She was lobotomized and spent the rest of her life institutionalized as a result.)

If I had a flag, it would be flying at half-mast. People outside MA don't really know what a good Senator he was for his state, working hard to represent them, and using his influence to bring home projects and funding.

I have mixed feelings about Ted Kennedy; he'd never have been elected at all but for nepotism, and he basically killed someone while driving drunk and got off with no punishment, but he did push for a lot of legislative things I believe in.

All of this, but he did turn into an incredible Senator.

So, I have a meeting with outside people, which has turned into less of a Big Deal meeting than we thought, so I'm basically going to have to run the meeting, as opposed to any higher-ups. Too bad I am hungover and tired! A friend's problems made me drink too much last night.

Sad about Ted Kennedy. But given the push for the appointment resolution, I figured the end was near.

Last night, I made croquettes for dinner: [link] They were DELISH!! (And I love that the Ikea plates that the croquettes are on in the picture are see through and you can see the oilcloth on our table), a bit of a mess to make, but good.

FTR, I ended up making them with butternut squash.

A friend's problems made me drink too much last night.

Sympathy drinking is the worst.

I would like some croquettes!

On further reflection, it's got to be more the staying out too late than the drinking, because I'm pretty sure I had like three beers. Hmph.

I'm pretty sure I had like three beers. Hmph.

If you have to use the phrase "I'm pretty sure", you should probably double the estimated amount of booze.

ETA:...says the voice of experience.

If you have to use the phrase "I'm pretty sure", you should probably double the estimated amount of booze.

Of course, there are always Drew's "count the limes" and Hil's "I'll do math in the morning" methods.