Which ALL demonstrates the most important characteristic of us humans-the reason we are at the top of the food chain.  We ADAPT to whatever nature throws our way.  We invent air-conditioning so we are able to live in very hot climates.  We develop insulation, so we are able to live in very cold climates.  And everything in between.

Obama, in all his life, has been "social promoted", coddled, and praised, for simply being "himself".  He has never had to face actual consequences of any of his behavior.  Being mixed-race (NOT black), most of the adults and superiors in his life have been hesitant to discipline or correct him, for fear of being branded racist.  Now, you may have noticed, everyone who disagrees in any way with him or his policies in immediately branded racist by his minions in his administration and the press. None of his behavior is a pose.  He 100% believes what everyone has been telling him throughout his life.

He is never "wrong".  As "president" he is never responsible for ANYTHING that goes on.  He can express disbelief and shock at all the scandals, because he's simply not connected to any of it.  [see..Limbaugh Theorem]

[Refuse to submit that new Obamacare form next year with your taxes. Do not count on legislators to address a pre-legal issue.]

I have already decided to do just that.  No more e-file for us.  Print out all forms and mail, sans the "Obamacare" form.  I believe, however, that this will not be necessary until 2015, when filing your 2014 taxes.

I also choose Jarrett.

If you actually sent this letter to your senator, would you sign your name? If you did, what do you think the chances would be that YOU would be marked for the "audit treatment"?  Just askin'.

As the organizer of the Seattle Meetup next week, I am HONORED, HONORED, to have Dave as part of our little group (11 so far, including myself and hubby).  I am just blown away by his perfect communication skills.  I bow at the feet of the most humble Master.

Excellent!  If you and "calendar-keeper" want to come, please PM me with your name tag preference (handle alone, handle with real name).  Just FYI, everyone, Dave Carter is planning on coming.

iTunes gift card.  If they do any music, that could be demo opportunity.  You can get movies there, too.

Well, this Jew loves Carmina Burana.  when I played in a semi-professional orchestra, we played it with the local semi-pro choir, and it just transported you away.  We musicians sometimes had to shake ourselves, so we would remember to play when it was time.  I've heard it so many times, I just about have the sections memorized, which made it much easier to play.  It's a percussionist's dream!

Normally, I'm not much of a jazz-lover, but we have a subscription to the complete season of the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra, and they are just wonderful.  My group is now playing a medley of "Leroy Anderson Favorites" (which I normally hate), but I find it easier to play Blue Tango now that I have a bit more jazz knowledge.  With jazz, it's not the notes, but what's between the notes!

Be ready to sell?  Nope, be ready to buy when the market is down, but your favored companies are not changed one bit.  I make it a point of NOT selling when the market plunges-why would I want to make it worse?

Sounds like our "man with the perpetual sneer" Rick Larsen.  Do you know, he has not had a public town-hall meeting in the past 6 years.  I did a post on my own blog entitled "My Congressman is Afraid of Me", because I think they really are afraid to confront their constituents in person.  And they really don't care what we think, they just vote every day to take away more and more of our liberty. But what's REALLY scary is all of our fellow citizens who agree with the diminishment of our liberty.

Excellent movie-soundtrack music, both to listen to and to play: Lord of The Rings, by Howard Shore.  My little all-comers orchestra played selections from the first movie at our last concert,  the audience just loved it.  Also, we played selections from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and that was great, too.

I did not discover Handel's Messiah until I was an adult, but now I play the complete work every year at a local church, which does a sing-play-along the day after Christmas.  They pack the place to the rafters with singers, and we players are pretty cramped, but exhilarated after nearly four hours.  And the tape inside my head plays selections all year around.

Hubby has discovered Buxtehude's Organ Music, and it's pretty much the sound track of our weekend mornings.

Elgar's Violin Concerto is my desert-island piece, rarely performed because it's 45 minutes in length.

You can find just about any piece of classical music on YouTube.  I found a gentleman playing Charpentier's Prelude to Te Deum, on the organ.  Awesome!

I just love Shostakovich-played his String Quartet #1 once.  Much of his music was written with tongue planted firmly in cheek (variations on Tea for Two).

As a classical musician (violin), I hate much of 20th century music.  Lots of it is totally un-listenable, and some is positively painful.  Like 20th century artists, many composers wrote awful music, mostly for themselves, with not a care whether any audience would sit still to listen.

Yeah, Ryan, you can say that, while living in one of Washington State's premier wine regions!  Surrounded by literally dozens of fine wineries! My attitude is: either I like it, or I don't.  If I like it, I buy more, if I don't, I don't.  I recognize that I don't have the wine vocabulary, and it doesn't bother me one bit.  We have a pretty extensive cellar, and we can always find something suitable for what we are eating.  Never have a problem when we have parties, either.  And our glasses are mostly acquired at wineries, so each one has memories.

Suggestion: next time you break out that bubbly, drop a fat strawberry in the bottom of your glass, drink the wine, then eat the strawberry.  Delicious!

Thanks, Doug, for reminding me why my own HOA is so great.  Our complex of mostly-detached condos has only 85 units, and the association is incredibly well-managed.   Our finances are in excellent condition, and we have never had even one "special assessment" in the 13 years I've lived here.  We have an every-6-year painting schedule, covered by HOA dues.  Our first-built units are about to get new roofs, and that too will be covered by existing reserves.  In the housing meltdown, we had only two units foreclosed on, and right now exactly one unit stands empty.  And our dues haven't been increased for three years.  We even have a resident who's a handyman, so if you need repairs, he's right here.  Also, one works for Orkin, so if we need "pest control" we get that too.  Not all boards are awful.