Attracting pandas

I need to brag on my awesome wife's awesomeness a little bit.

We had to make up for how horrible we were to each other last week. I bought her champagne grapes, fixed her some chicken salad (she likes to sleep, then have a midnight snack, after a mentally and physically exhausting Friday), then went to go see Talladega Nights. She didn't want to see it. It was hilarious! It was Will Ferrell's usual very physical, not very cerebral stuff on a race track, but I love his usual stuff. It doesn't exactly make NASCAR drivers look like a brain trust, but it's almost polite to the fans. Of course--we're the ones paying to see it!

So I got home, and there was a little gift bag on the table. There was a post-it note that said, "2 help u atract panda bears," with a detailed sketch of a panda paw and a heart and her first initial in lieu of a signature. I know it may sound condescending, but I treasure those post-its, bad spelling and text message-style language and drawings and all. Inside was a T-shirt in a beautiful shade of aqua, almost the same shade as a late, lamented T that I'd stained with yellow mustard. It's 60 percent bamboo fiber. There was also a turquoise-painted bamboo bracelet. I got it--pandas eat bamboo! I totally loved it! She said apologetically that both were on sale for 70 percent off, as if I'd hold that against her or something.

We had a slackass Saturday, because nobody wanted to do anything or wanted us to do anything. It was wonderful.

Tony Stewart came in eighth at the Brickyard, and Jimmie *&#&$@ Johnson won it. Damn! Well, at least Tony's more securely in the top ten, and Kevin Harvick did all right, too. L'Ailee and I really anticipated that since, between the two of us, we like Stewart, Harvick, and that creep Ryan Newman, and they all seemed to have a good chance, we'd get to chase all our friends out and celebrate. Instead we waited until they left, then comforted each other. ;-) Amazing how that works.

We had the prescence of mind to TiVo the 4400, and we were *so glad*. We watched it really late last night, and we wanted to applaud it like a movie.

I've got that dang post-it stuck in an inconspicuous place on my desk right now!

Florence King on Ann Coulter Florence takes Ann to school, with her usual style and panache.

Criminals get to feeling lazy in August, too!

Looks like I need to get something at Home Depot soon. I'll have an opportunity, if I can find one in the area--I'd have to go way away, I think. Or I could beg a receipt code off my brother, who practically lives there and wouldn't be nearly as happy to meet Tony Stewart as I would be...