(no subject)

West's flu shot must have made a big impression, he is now telling his panda that panda is at the doctor and he's going to get a big shot. This weekend at the playground he was pretending to drive to the doctor to get a shot. Also, West can totally draw circles now, I love watching him learn new things.

(no subject)

I have to put this somewhere or I'll explode, and I have a personal policy to never engage in arguments on Facebook in comments on a friend's post if I don't know the commenter. A FB friend posted about an Elizabeth Warren canvasser coming to the door at 9 pm (admittedly, that is super late, I'd be pissed if someone rang my doorbell at 9 pm, OMG some people have sleeping children!). Anyway, totally ok to complain about on FB. A commenter, though, had this to say "I would also suggest calling the cops next time. Unless I recognize the person, there is now way I'm opening the door unarmed."

Wait. Just wait a minute. Seriously? Is that we are coming to in our society? You have to go to your door armed?! If I were home alone and it was night I might not answer the door if the person looked wholly sketch, but come on. What the F is wrong with people that it's a first instinct to be armed when dealing with strangers. It doesn't help that I just read this article in today's NYT, about a guy legally being able to shoot a neighbor who was in his garage (said neighbor was potentially about to assault the guy for cheating with neighbor's wife, but unless the guy was threatening murder himself, it's not a circumstance that warrants being able to stone-cold murder somebody and get away with it). Grar. Also, surprise of all surprises, said FB commenter is a Scott Brown supporter. 'Nuff said. I just... I don't think there's anything that will allow me to comprehend where these people are coming from.

(no subject)

Genealogy is so addicting! I've been doing some basic flailing around on ancestry.com on a free trial and digging up lots of good stuff. I think I overcame a huge block on my dad's side of the family, though I need to confirm it (my dad told me his grandfather's name was X but I think that was actually his great-grandfather, which would explain why I was stuck not being able to figure out my grandfather's line for so long). I have most of my dad's side traced back to the folks who were born in Ireland. I figure trying to follow the leads into Irish records is probably going to be next to impossible (oh hey, Irish families with kids all named Mary, John, and Joseph, you don't say!). I am pretty sure I come at least in part from Cork.