just a thought, or two

Probably not at all original, but this hit me this morning. You've no doubt noticed the various States' scramble to keep moving the primaries earlier and earlier. There's even now a chance that the first primary will be this December. Why?

I think it's the collective unconscious at work - everyone (especially the GOP) wants to be rid of Bush as soon as possible, and, short of Impeachment, this is the safest way to hurry along the irrelevance which we all wish for him.

Change of topic.

Currently reading: The Yiddish Policeman's Union, by Karen's not-too-distant relative Michael Chabon (on her father's side). It's screamingly funny (more laughs-per-page than most of Woody Allen's recent New Yorker pieces in toto), but I doubt that non-Jews will find it so.

There are many concessions to non-Jews in the text (the first time kugel is referenced, it is as 'noodle pudding', a phrase Jews would never use in place of kugel). Ditto for 'skullcap'.

Other references would go over the head of anyone who didn't grow up with a Jewish education. For example, one of the detectives is named 'Karpas', which produced a big laugh in me. 'Karpas' is the Hebrew word for the 'eat a green vegetable' step in the Passover Seder. See what I mean?

It's sort of like James Joyce, without the intentional layers-upon-layers obscurity, but with an equally devilish sense of humor. This is a book to savor, and a heck of a great story, too. I am about a third through, but, unlike Harry Potter, I am in no hurry to rush thru to get to the end.

Saturday morning in Portland - cool but sunny. Perfectly delightful weather for household chores - a time to contemplate the luxury of living in this place, at this time. Far different from the BBC story I listened to, at 3 am, about falling water levels in Lake Victoria, Africa, as Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania deal with a deadly combination of climate change, invasives, the unintended consequences of human engineering, and the timeless devastation caused by human greed.