. . . will be back.

Sure: on a strictly partisan basis, what happened in Connecticut is good for the GOP. Lamont is a probably the weaker candidate.

But I liked Joe, and I take no pleasure in this. The Democratic Party is self-destructing before my eyes.

Attila the Hub thinks we may be ripe for a replay of the McGovern candidacy. What a waste that would be. Sigh.

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Ford Motor Company just bought an ad from me. And it's started . . . well, it started a blog. With word entries and video updates about its efforts to go green and turn the company around. It makes me want to buy a Mustang—one that runs on ethanol, of course.

Hat tip: the folks at blogads, who let me know what a brave new world of corporate communications I entered earlier today when I approved that ad.

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The blogosphere's most charming man-about-town was on Fox News this morning.

The Cotillion girls (except those of us who sleep late), waited breathlessly, aggrieved that the people at Faux spent so much time on an immobilized tank, and so little time with Ace.

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. . . is back, Baby. Which is rather nice: his guest bloggers were fine, but I was Jonesing.

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Rusty has the bandwidth.

Submit your best Reuters-worthy P-shop.

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Jeff is a true patriot.

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Can someone give me the step-by-step? Can I do it from within Movable Type?

My readers are the awesomest.

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Beth just put Althouse in her place over her "one true key to weight control" gaffe.

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Which ones do I desperately need to play in order not to be a technological philistine?

Just give me your top ten, and your advice on how I can play 'em cheaply, with minimal investment in equipment.

Thanks!!!!!111!!!!111!!!!111

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I usually start at Protein Wisdom when a scandal is particularly juicy. Goldstein's got commentary and lynx.

I hear Reuters is reconsidering its policy of getting all undead-related coverage from vampires. They're still thinking about it; don't rush 'em.

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The only way to lose weight is to eat less. And the only way to go broke is to earn less—spending has nothing to do with it.

No rich person has ever lived beyond his/her means. Ever.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 07:28 PM | Comments (16) | Add Comment
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1 Losing weight can be hard for some people. I've tried eating it off, I've tried resting it off. Nothing seems to work!

Posted by: Kevin at August 06, 2006 09:52 PM (++0ve)

2 And still you get: ring around the collar!

Posted by: Attila Girl at August 06, 2006 10:07 PM (10HYf)

3 Rich people live beyond their means all the time. See: Michael Jackson, Trump, numerous sports stars that eventually bankrupt. Remember, it's not how much you have that counts, it's how much you can borrow. At the moment, I am practicing to be rich by living beyond my means as well, carrying on a rich American tradition. Of course, if I quit spending that extra $35 a month, I'll be in line with my income, so the World Bank doesn't have to worry about me knocking at their door with a loan application.

Posted by: clyde at August 07, 2006 03:56 AM (6m+7s)

4 So if we ignore your tongue being planted firmly in cheek, we get sarcasm? Any weight you may or may not have gained is surely no fault of your own. Metabolic changes, plots by unseen forces, conspiracies by clothing manufacturers all play a role. Besides, it looks good on you. Only you! Don't you just love it when all their handiwork fails? Wiping my neck with rubbing alcohol on a paper towel usually prevents those nasty rings.

Posted by: Darrell at August 07, 2006 07:12 AM (8JkAl)

5 I can't get over how upset people get at the crushingly obvious fact that fat people are eating too much.

Posted by: Ann Althouse at August 07, 2006 07:53 AM (HtgNW)

6 Some of 'em are, and some of 'em aren't. My relatives who are fat do happen to be overeaters, but there are a lot of people whose meds mess them up, and if they are going to get enough nutrients, they need to eat normally, so they gain weight. And you persist in removing exercise from the equation in your drive to oversimplify, oversimplify, oversimplify.

Posted by: Attila Girl at August 07, 2006 11:22 AM (10HYf)

7 crushingly obvious? Ann, baby, trust me, you are so wrong on this it ain't funny. Sure, there are a lot of fat people who can't stop shoving shit in their faces. But that's not true for everyone. Not everyone is fat because they eat too much. I could give you a hundred scenarios that disprove your theory. You're making yourself look really foolish by persisting with this argument.

Posted by: caltechgirl at August 07, 2006 11:52 AM (/vgMZ)

8 CTG, she's a law prof! She knows EVERYTHING about EVERYTHING!

Posted by: Attila Girl at August 07, 2006 11:58 AM (10HYf)

9 I guess I might be more inclined to believe all of this if I hadn't lived for two years with forty pounds of excess weight on a strict 800 calorie a day diet that I never cheated on, all while exercising, only to find that it was the medication I was taking - a little fact my physician never bothered to tell me. I blamed myself. It never once occurred to me to look outward for the problem because that isn't the way I operate. I kept trying to change my own behavior because that was the factor I thought I could control. Stopped the medication because I suddenly had a feeling something was wrong, lost 40 pounds in under one month and became so ill that it took me eight weeks to get over it and lived through six months of insomia after that, after a lifetime of never having had any trouble sleeping. Everything sounds so simple when you're obscenely healthy, Ann. And I have been, my whole life. You don't really understand some things until you experience them for the first time yourself. All I know is that I will never be quite so quick to judge again. After that my body chemistry changed and it is all I can do now to keep weight ON. I eat the most unhealthy, fatty foods in the world. Ten years ago if I'd eaten like this I'd have been a blimp. Any fool can see that if one's chemistry can change in one direction, it can change in another, and if it can be changed by drugs it very likely can be affected by things like heredity or hormones. And if someone can't lose weight on 800 calories a day and is running and lifting weights six days a week with active duty Marines, you kind of have to wonder just how much "willpower" would satisfy you? Maybe - just maybe - the causal connection isn't quite as clear-cut as you want it to be.

Posted by: Cassandra at August 07, 2006 12:05 PM (eKdAq)

10 Thank you, Cassandra.

Posted by: k at August 07, 2006 03:21 PM (y6n8O)

11 I was pretty chubby until I realized that chinese buffet's are not 'all you can eat', but 'all you want to eat'. I stopped being competitive about it after that

Posted by: Kevin at August 07, 2006 04:27 PM (++0ve)

12 Wait until Ann hits menopause ....

Posted by: Darleen at August 07, 2006 06:03 PM (cXz8w)

13 If there is any doubt, science confirmed the fact long ago:Some people has amazingly efficient bodies--extremely-low caloric burns for a given level of activity. Volunteers(from a particular Native American tribe with an obesity rate approaching 100%) were sequestered in a sealed laboratory room for long periods of time(3 to 6 months) and a complete input/output analysis was performed, including exhalation gases. Even on a complete fast, monitored 24/7, the volunteers lost very little weight--ounces, as I recall. And there have been many more studies since, with similar observations. Some people are given a much tougher row to hoe in life. We can't assume anything when we meet an overweight person, and there are no universal or quick solutions to the problem.

Posted by: Darrell at August 07, 2006 08:32 PM (xY3Zb)

14 We can't assume anything when we meet an overweight person, and there are no universal or quick solutions to the problem. Thank you, Darrell. Nice to hear a little straight talk, as opposed to the faux variety Ann is dishing out.

Posted by: Attila Girl at August 07, 2006 09:54 PM (10HYf)

15 Well, eating less, certainly, or burning more (calories)and eating the same amount, or burning more AND eating less, dynamite!! Anyway, eating less and burning cals, that'll do it. Guaranteed.

Posted by: barrique from the Huns at August 08, 2006 04:59 PM (G1EO2)

16 Again--barring a thyroid problem or a serious reaction to medication, that will usually do it.

Posted by: Attila Girl at August 08, 2006 05:09 PM (10HYf)

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So. How do I add color to this thing?

And does anyone want to be my friend? I have Frappr friends—as Attila Girl—but I'm not in the cool MySpace crowd yet.

Also, please send me money, buy ads, and have your agent friends call me about my book. Thanks!

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. . . decide to teach my sister-in-law to play blackjack. I'm not good at it and don't care to admit this, so I watch from the sidelines. They are at the dining table, betting Monopoly money. Youngest person: the nine-year-old, Ray. Oldest person: my stepmother.

At one point my sister-in-law tells her son Ray that he has to stop betting so aggressively, or he'll run out of money and will have to stop playing. I drop by the bank, pull $50 out in fake money, and hand it to the kid. "Thank you," he says.

Breeding shows.

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my nephew tells me. "Even though it has lots of swear words in it."

"Swear words? Like what?" I ask.

"Like faggot," he responds.

"Faggot isn't always bad," I explain. "It usually is, but sometimes the speaker is just talking about something that's on fire. Especially if they're English—then it might just be a cigarette."

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1 Did you ever watch Arrested Development? English guy to his gf: Whenever I get lonely, I'll put a fag in my mouth and think of you. (cigarette )

Posted by: Kevin at August 06, 2006 01:40 AM (++0ve)

2 Hmmm. When you light a cigarette in England, does that qualify as a "flaming fag"? Just curious.

Posted by: clyde at August 06, 2006 05:07 AM (6m+7s)

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He has a lot of energy, and talks very fast. He's very good at ducking when I point the camera in his direction. Early on, he decides he wants me to give him wine, which I won't do. "It isn't up to me," I explain. When he attempts to sneak a sip from my wine glass I gently take it back and tell him softly to get in touch with me when he's 16.

"Why?" he asks.

"No reason," I reply. "And I didn't say that, either."

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The twelve-year-old is well-behaved, but aloof. When I ask him questions, he says, "do you want the sarcastic answer, or the non-sarcastic answer?" He appears to struggle between his upbringing and his preteen inclination to smart-assedness.

"Don't worry about me," I tell him. "I'll let you know if you cross the line."

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. . . baaaaaaaccccckkkkk . . .

Thank God. You know what protein deficiencies can do to a girl.

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For the high-intensity writing workshop, it won't do to throw the characters into the scene and figure you'll do a re-write on it later. No: actionless characters who are just standing around get noticed in this crowd. Not in the good way. Enough with the cut-and-paste: only take stuff there after it's been polished to some degree.

(Aw, come on, guys: I can take it. I really can. It won't slow me down. Not to worry, though when you finally read it I hope you'll be a bit gentler than this group was.)

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It can really turn on a dime.

I'm still broke—which is annoying, and all that—but in almost every other category things are really going my way.

Which is sobering and scary. It means I have a lot to lose. I may need to act accordingly.

Double criticism groups again this week: tonight, and tomorrow night. Wish me luck.

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. . . with the Reverend Macktastic Dazzle. We don't discuss evangelical theology much, which is good. He knows I'm gun shy. He respects that.

Instead, I ask, "do you think the Lord ever got drunk?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

"He drank constantly. He had to at least get tipsy."

"Tipsy, I believe. And there's nothing wrong with that."

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