MTheads

Sexy Is As Sexy Makes Intelligent Cogent Arguments That Speak To The Libertarian In Me

I love Thomas Sowell.  Several of my favorite books of his are Knowledge and Decisions, and The Vision of the Anointed:Self Congratulations as a Basis for Social Policy.  What a wonderful thinker.  I was just thinking about him today and decided to catch up on his weekly columns.  I particularly liked his latest one, The Limits of Power.  It's about the limits of using force to compel humans to achieve certain results, especially results in the higher strata of achievement. 

He makes the argument that President Obama's calls for such "arbitrary goals" like affordable housing for all or for universal health care are similar in nature to the five-year plans and other diktats by totalitarian regimes.  They both assume results can be achieved through the power of governments to either legislate or to use force to make their citizens carry out their imperatives.  Sowell....what a sexy brain.

That Face Followed Us For Hours

Who needs a DVD in the minivan when you have "magic" lights right outside the window?

Too Lazy To Look Up Where I Read That Book Review

Georgian restaurant near our domicile I'd like to eat at.  Gotta start saving my rubles.

My son has shamed me into writing about Moscow (I will crush him and his blog readership numbers).  I don't write much about Moscow because I'm slow to come to conclusions when it comes to people and places.  I wait -- sometimes for years before I fully digest what I've seen and experienced.  It took me a decade after visiting Riyadh, Saudi Arabia before I came to a conclusion on the "custom" of women covering their faces.  At first, I let the idea ride.  Now, I hate it.  Oddly, I have heard otherwise feminist women defend the custom as a woman's choice to decide how she presents herself to the world.  You know, it's voluntary, like suttee and genital mutilation. 

Anyway, I haven't been in Moscow long enough to come to any strong conclusions.  It's an exciting city.  It's Europe's largest city.  Is it a great city?  Would I want to spend years here?  Would I put it up there with other great European cities?  Outside of Russia's museums and the arts, I don't know yet. 

I recently read a book review in the Wall Street Journal or maybe The Economist (yes, I am better than you because I read these publications) for a book written by a woman ex-pat in Russia.  The book reviewer first promises his readers that this memoir is nothing like most of the rather common ones written by wives brought to Russia through their husbands' jobs.  This book got a good review because the author herself is interesting, and she had made all sorts of connections with Russians through her own job. 

I'm aiming much, much lower.  I know I know nothing outside of random facts about the country.  I know I don't know anyone particularly important or connected.  Nor do I have the kind of personality capable of, or even interested in, ingratiating myself into any sector of Russian society.  I just wanna have some fun.  And make some friends.  And eat good food.  And see interesting things. And that's what I'll write about. 

I Give Up

I'm sticking with the green design until I get a chance to learn how to design my site from scratch.  Oh well. 

My son just started a blog under my blog's domain.  Unfortunately, since our blogs are kind of linked together through Typepad, much of what each of us does on our individual blogs shows up on the other one.  So, no, I'm not suddenly interested in rip sticking or playing the xylophone.  And my son is not baking rye bread.  We keep changing each other's profile pictures, too.   When he is at school, I like to put up a girl with pigtails and lots of ribbons for his profile picture.

I love his blog.  It's chatty and interesting and personal in a way that reveals a bit of what it is like to be a kid living in the diplomatic community in Moscow. 

See? Already I'm making a muddle of the blog by pushing the "publish" button like an ADHD Jeopardy contestant with a coffee addiction.

Trying to update the blog -- make it cooler, smarter, more environmentally friendly...nah, just sick of green. So expect dust and the occasional grammatical error as I adjust your screen.

Trying to update the blog -- make it cooler, smarter, more environmentally friendly...nah, just sick of green. So expect dust and the occasional grammatical error as I adjust your screen.

Guess Who Just Asked For A Martini?

My dog really knows how to relax. 

Paul Bunyan Called. He Wants His Stove Top Percolator Back.

My son claimed the preceding picture didn't fully show the freakishly gargantuan size of the big bialetti.  Just saying it was the size of an ox wasn't enough, I guess.  Well, maybe this picture shows the contrast.  It is difficult to pour.  I usually have to get several neighbors to help.

And One Bialetti To Rule Them All...

As you can see, the bialetti stove top percolators are my preferred instrument for making coffee.  They make the best coffee.  Unfortunately, they don't make a lot of it, so if I have more than one person over, I have to pull out all the little guys.  This will make coffee for 5, maybe six.   My kids get a kick out of the large one because it looks so funny next to the other guys on the stove.  You may not be able to tell from the picture, but the large bialetti is the size of an ox.