I had a root canal done today by an archconservative endodontist who is a great fan of Rush Limbaugh and listens to his talk radio show all day

The following was reported in the Portland Tribune on that day and blogged by b!X:
But the last word belongs to 6-year-old Gabrielle Thornton, who awoke to find her parents glued to the television set. She watched for a while before they noticed her there. “Oh, hi honey,” said her mother. Gabrielle didn’t respond directly. She had something else on her mind. “Mommy,” she said, “What planet is that?”
I defer to b!X’s chronicling of the related events here.

I just have to share the ego boost I got tonight. Someone who knew me in college — which was almost 45 years ago — and hasn’t seen me since, recognized me. I was covering a Big Band cruise on the Hudson River for the dance magazine I edit, and he was there with his wife. He stopped and asked me if I had graduated from the State University and if I had been in Beta Zeta sorority. He didn’t remember my name, but he remembered that I was a good swing dancer back then as well. I mean, I don’t think I look anything like I did 45 years ago. Hell, I weighed about 100 pounds back then, and I’ve put on almost a pound year and my hair’s a different color and different style. But he recognized me anyway. Makes me feel that there’s still a lot of that vibrant teenager left in this ol’ Crone, and it’s still visible. My ego’s feeling good tonight!
(The photo on the left is me in costume for a college musical.)