Sat down next to me; before he got mobbed, we had a few words. He ended up interviewing me for one of his next podcasts. What a sweet guy. It's interesting that when I've heard his voice in the past—on his podcasts and on Bill and Jeff's experimental web radio show—his Tennessee dialect appeared more muted than it does in person. (Tracking accents is among those things that I like doing, but do not do particularly well. Singing is another.)

I'm terribly tempted to buy his book while I'm at the convention, though as it is I'll have to discard most of my clothing in order to fit all of the tomes I acquired here into my suitcase.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 11:24 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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1 Perhaps if you discard more of your clothing you'll make his blogroll, if you know what I mean & I think you do

Posted by: beautifulatrocities at February 10, 2006 12:13 PM (bCCgf)

2 One word: Fedex The clothes back home, I mean. (Heck, don't most of us blog in PJ's or naked anyway?)

Posted by: Desert Cat at February 10, 2006 12:30 PM (B2X7i)

3 Little Miss Attila talks! Can't wait to hear YOUR dialect.

Posted by: Sissy Willis at February 10, 2006 12:32 PM (FU1id)

4 Oh, how fun! I *so* envy you, but CPAC simply wasn't in the budget this year, even assuming I'd figured out how to get invited/but a ticket/crash the party. *sigh* Perhaps next year. But, it sounds like you all are having a fun and informative time! Good for you! -- R'cat CatHouse Chat

Posted by: Romeocat at February 10, 2006 01:04 PM (/gCto)

5 How did cat bloggers hijack this thread?

Posted by: beautifulatrocities at February 10, 2006 02:16 PM (bCCgf)

6 Hey now! I rarely cat-blog (unless you count my moniker--then it's all I do).

Posted by: Desert Cat at February 10, 2006 04:07 PM (B2X7i)

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the Walrus did beseech.
"A pleasant talk, a pleasant walk, Along the briny beach.
We cannot do with more than four
To give a hand to each."

The eldest oyster looked at him and never said a word.
The eldest oyster winked his eye, and shook his heavy head—
Meaning to say, he did not wish
To leave the oyster bed.

—Lewis Carroll

Posted by: Attila Girl at 09:50 PM | Comments (20) | Add Comment
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1 Let's see...You're either obsessed with your bed. (Not surprisng now that you can breath and sleep) Or having a few too many oysters. Tasty? Is it true what they say?

Posted by: Darrell at February 10, 2006 10:05 AM (2zCMq)

2 I would answer that if I knew what you were talking about Actually, it has to do with leaving the bar early last night right after a bunch of tequila shots mysteriously showed up in front of all the females. it was good tequila, but I'd already had a drink. I sipped it for a moment and then took off.

Posted by: Attila Girl at February 10, 2006 11:53 AM (SipPa)

3 They say: There's only one thing better than an oyster, and you don't put it on a cracker to eat. This is the same sweet New Orleans-type teeshirt that a guy will wear, who also has such t-shirts as: -Mustache Rides- 25c They also say oysters will ramp up one's sex drive, reportedly because of the zinc.

Posted by: k at February 10, 2006 02:06 PM (y6n8O)

4 Or because the experience of eating them is so sensuous. Of course, mangoes aren't too bad in that category, either.

Posted by: Attila Girl at February 10, 2006 02:24 PM (SipPa)

5 Oh yeeeeeeeeeesssssss. Specially those extra juicy velvetly no-fiber slippery sweet smooth velvety kind that likes to grow over my back fence...

Posted by: k at February 10, 2006 05:19 PM (y6n8O)

6 Imagine. I said all that without saying a thing!

Posted by: Darrell at February 10, 2006 08:33 PM (f/jKP)

7 Did we read you right?

Posted by: k at February 10, 2006 09:49 PM (y6n8O)

8 No walks on the wild side, here. I'm just too, um, settled in my ways. And married. And so forth.

Posted by: Attila Girl at February 10, 2006 11:52 PM (F7zrJ)

9 Likewise. But I sure enjoy thinking about my mangoes.

Posted by: k at February 11, 2006 07:12 AM (wZLWV)

10 Recall, I said nothing. That's why I said nothing. I like mangoes. I don't own any t-shirts with slogans. I find myself thinking about k's fence...

Posted by: Darrell at February 11, 2006 09:38 AM (AyROc)

11 I'll tell you a blog family secret, Darrell: Every summer, k sends Little Miss Attila a nice big box of those exquisite mangoes.

Posted by: k at February 11, 2006 11:23 AM (wZLWV)

12 I'll ponder the million images that brings to mind. I'll get back to you next Tuesday...

Posted by: Darrell at February 11, 2006 02:58 PM (UW1Q8)

13 I like eating a mango standing over a sink, since the juice gets everywhere: it runs down my arms to the elbows. It gets all over my face, and runs down my chin. It can't be helped, I don't think.

Posted by: Attila Girl at February 12, 2006 05:37 PM (F7zrJ)

14 I'm enjoying a cigarette now... After four hours or so, I end up with a chapped face. Doctors in France need to work on a cure.

Posted by: Darrell at February 12, 2006 08:28 PM (jM8RY)

15 Um...chapped from eating too many mangoes? Or indulging in t-shirt supported activities?

Posted by: k at February 12, 2006 11:18 PM (y6n8O)

16 Let's say mangoes, for everyone's safety. It's better if I don't shave, but the "mangoes" don't think so, so it is quite the quandry. The curse of being born with sensitive skin...

Posted by: Darrell at February 13, 2006 09:42 AM (++mZq)

17 Miss Attila! Perhaps we should let the poor man have some rest, so he can apply some soothing lotion?

Posted by: k at February 13, 2006 11:38 AM (y6n8O)

18 There is no rest, k..So many mangoes! So little time. Maybe when they get that face transplant thing perfected, they will turn their attentions to mango chapping. I would love to get you the descriptions you want concerning my mango techniques but I am not clever enough to describe all the details without someone getting the wrong idea. It all starts with the lips, though, and a gentle suckling action...

Posted by: Darrell at February 13, 2006 12:25 PM (cMW6Q)

19 Did you know this one?: the two fleshy parts of the fruit that lay along the sides of the mango's large flat seed are called *cheeks.*

Posted by: k at February 13, 2006 03:08 PM (y6n8O)

20 I'm not surprised, k. But you got me looking for other fun facts. The name 'mango' is derived from the Tamil word 'mangkay' or 'man-gay'. Seems a bit harsh, but OK. The "mango tree" plays a sacred role in India; it is a symbol of love and some believe that it can grant wishes. I've always found that to be the case. Or rather, my profound wish...When choosing a "mango", roundness and plumpness are said to be best. The self-heating/spontaneous combustion risk is rated at "no risk", but I seriously doubt that.

Posted by: Darrell at February 13, 2006 09:06 PM (ME0W0)

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Tom Tancredo is, of course, a pistol. He's a strong speaker, and one of the important voices right now advocating for immigration reform. His stance is uncomprimising: the border must be sealed as soon as possible, he insists, using both a physical barrier and more efficient deployment of our manpower.

He talks about his experiences as a freshman congressman, bringing this problem to the attention of the country: “I wasn’t a committee chairman. By the way, I’ll never be a committee chairman. I’ve burned too many bridges around this issue.”

He voted against Katrina slush fund, he reminds us. He voted against the PresidentÂ’s Medicare prescription drug policy program.

And he voted against CAFTA. Why is it, he asks, that we no longer have treaties to control trade policies? All our new laws are called "agreements." Why? To pass a treaty, two-thirds of the Senate must vote for it. With a simple change in nomenclature agreements, all they need is 50% plus one vote.

President Bush, he proclaims, is in favor of open borders, and his proposed temporary worker program is sub rosa amnesty. The audience applauds. People filter into the back of the room, and stand there, listening to him speak. It is, of course, an impressive bit of speech-making.

Cheap labor, he tells us, is only cheap for the employer—not for the taxpayer. [I do hear that a lot, but I remain unconvinced, since the figures I hear are contradictory.—ed]

Tancredo has more red meat for us: “God bless Denmark," he proclaims, and the audience goes wild. "No new world order," he thunders. [Does that mean, I wonder, "no coalition-building?" Or does it mean "the Trilateral Commission is going to get my momma?" Unfortunately, NWO is another term with a somewhat flexible definition.]

"You young people are the hope of America," he proclaims. "America is something unique, an ideal worth fighting for.

I commend you to that task."

What I cannot argue with is his exquisite delivery, much as I can't bring myself to condemn every piece of wall that gets covered by his paintbrush.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 10:01 AM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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There are a lot of ideas out there on how to deal with the problem of our porous borders, and it seems that people are finally approaching the issue in a serious way, recognizing that the present situation is untenable.

The main two debates seem to be (1) between those who believe that some sort of guest worker program must be a component in whatever we set up, vs. those who feel that this would be tantamount to amnesty. And: (2) those who feel that enforcement of our existing laws should come first, before we address the issue of how to deal with those who already live in the "shadow world" of illegal immigrants.

James S. Gilmore talked today about the necessity to design a system to deal with immigration in a way that is humane. He maintains that we cannot take punitive action, because other miniorities might then think that "they could be next." Also, in the Hispanic areas of American cities, illegal immigrants are intermixed with legitimate immigrants, so it's more complicated to identify the illegals than one might suppose.

He insists, however, that we must control our borders, and cannot have any kind of anmesty program.

["Amnesty," of course, is becoming one of those squishy words that has at least two separate definitions, like "affirmative action"—which either does involve quotas or does not, depending upon how you feel about the issue. Everyone is against quotas, just as everyone is against amnesty. It's a question of getting more precise than that and figuring out, for example, whether we can have a guest worker program—or enhanced rates of legal immigration—without creating the kind of amnesty that only encourages a sudden, overwhelming flood during a perceived "window of opportunity."—ed.]

Some kind of guest worker program might help us to get our arms around this, Gilmore suggests, and it might be better to do that rather than simply letting the situation “drift.”

Posted by: Attila Girl at 09:10 AM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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. . . is where I spent most of the afternoon. Last night I flew out of LAX to Chicago, where I arrived at 5-something a.m. today local time. I had just enough time to grab breakfast, which consisted of my standard Starbucks order (a grande chai latte) with a big, fat, disgusting, decadent cheese Danish. (Women who pull all-nighters for a good cause deserve cheese Danishes. That's just the way it is.)

As I got to the gate, my flight from O'Hare to Reagan National was already boarding. At the time this struck me as rather lucky; what I didn't realize is that the tight time frame between flights made it possible that my suitcase didn't make the same connection I did.

Now may be the time to tell you that I planned very cleverly for this trip, realizing that in both Chicago and D.C. I'd be indoors all of the time, so there was no reason to lug a big, heavy coat around with me on two planes. After all, before I'd actually emerge into the ambient temperature of D.C., I'd be able to retrieve my coat.

This plan was much more clever in theory than in practice, a point that was driven home to me every time the wind kicked up as I stood on the elevated Metro station waiting for the train so I could get to the hotel—wearing a long-sleeve T-shirt with a cashmere sweater over it, a hat and gloves, a scarf, and the flannel shirt that serves as my jacket when I'm in Los Angeles. I found the ensemble a bit inadequate, if you want to know the truth.

Back at the hotel, I couldn't decide if I was more hungry, or more exhausted. This dilemma was solved when I was invited out to brunch by Girl on the Right and Wonder Woman. I sort of walked briskly along with them to stay warm until we found a nice bistro, where I had pasta and Merlot, figuring that this would help me take a nap when I got back to the hotel. It worked so well that I started to get sleepy right then and there, and as I recall started babbling inchoerently, asking them how the plans for Canadian World Domination were coming along. We walked to a nearby drugstore after our "early" lunch (it was late as far as my inner clock was concerned), and stopped at a local drugstore, where they could pick up some stationary supplies they needed for their next meeting—and I looked at cheap gloves in the children's sizes that fit me. They went off to their appointment from there, and as soon as I was over my acid flashback ("oh, hey—like, look at the weave of the yarn, man") I picked up some snacks and came "home."

And then I crashed out for what was supposed to be a 2- or 3-hour nap. I woke up eight hours later at 7:00 p.m. local.

My bag arrived at the front desk about an hour ago, and I went down to get it because I'm too cheap to tip people for bringing things up to my room. (Other than that, I'm a nice person.)

And now I need to sleep enough tonight that I can get up early for the first day of Conservative Political Action Conference, which includes the ill-named "Presidential Banquet." (It's actually a Vice-Presidential Banquet, since Cheney will be there and G.W. will not, but I'm off-duty as an editor, here, so I'll let that one go.)

Please note that CPAC will pool all our blogging, and we'll also be posting to our own sites. Make sure that, in addition to the wall-to-wall Cotillion coverage, you check out Scott Schmidt's posts at Spot On.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 07:43 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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