It’s mystifying to me in what universe anyone would think the featured Thunder cheerleader is anything but hot, but fashion/style types do tend to try to promote the emaciated look.

As if to illustrate that point, I was emailing a friend about the (alleged) Anna-Megan Raley blog post when this email from Macy’s arrived to my inbox. Immediate reaction: Good gawd, I hope there is some food in those bags for that poor (but apparently ecstatic) concentration camp survivor.

I hope this woman has some food in those bags

Strange times.

* Said blogger is allegedly Anna-Megan Raley, posting under a pen name, who before hanging with John McClain and trying to sell herself as a “journalist” of some sort, was known for occasionally posing in skimpy Texans attire.

We’ll first start with the headline:

Bill Could Reduce Number of Texas Abortion Facilities

Headlines are important. A good headline should briefly convey what is to come, and what is most important about what is to come.

Headlines reflect editorial choices and emphasis. For example, the Texas Tribune might have chosen the following factual headline: Legislators propose to tighten abortion clinic safety requirements. They did not.

The Texas Tribune might have chosen to append “critics say” to their headline. They did not.

Rather, the Texas Tribune chose a headline that signals to readers, right off the bat, that there is merit to the critics’ assertions — that they are closer to fact than opinion.

It’s preliminary framing, and indeed sets the stage for what follows.

Photo Caption/Graf A

A nurse explains to a patient the effects of taking the abortion pill at Whole Woman’s Health Surgical Center in San Antonio, Tuesday, March 19, 2013. Proposed state legislation would create greater restrictions on abortion facilities. Only five of the existing facilities offering abortions would meet the standards. photo by: Jennifer Whitney

A relatively neutral, factual graf, although it foreshadows the notion that the legislation is intended to reduce the number of facilities that can offer abortions.

Graf 1

A bill advancing through the Texas Legislature could drastically decrease the number of legal abortion facilities in the state.

Say critics. Yet Tribune presents this opinion as fact, and chooses to begin its coverage not with the proponents’ concern about safety, but with the pro-abortion opponents’ concerns about the impact on existing abortion facilities.

Graf 2

Supporters of Senate Bill 537, which would increase regulations for abortion facilities, say it will improve women’s safety. But abortion rights advocates say that the bill is a thinly veiled effort to close 37 of the state’s 42 abortion facilities, and that it would reduce women’s access to legal abortion.

Here’s the typical “proponents say/opponents say” graf — except the graf is framed in such a way that the opponent gets the last word (rebuttal), effectively casting the legislation as a not-so-veiled effort to shut down clinics rather than to boost safety.

Graf 3

“I understand the suspicion, but this really is about improving health care for women getting abortions,” said the bill’s author, Sen. Bob Deuell, a Republican from Greenville who is a primary care physician.

Proponents of the legislation FINALLY get a chance to speak on behalf of it without rebuttal. But not really. Instead, the reporter forced the proponent to respond to accusations that the legislation is not what it appears. More framing.

Graf 4

The bill would require abortions, including those induced by drugs, to be performed in so-called ambulatory surgical centers. The regulations for such facilities include specific sizes for rooms and doorways, and additional infrastructure like pipelines for general anesthesia and large sterilization equipment.

We are now four grafs and a photo caption into the story, and the Tribune finally shares SOME ACTUAL PROVISIONS of the legislation after multiple grafs of framing. Public Interest Journalism!

Graf 5

The Senate Committee on Health and Human Services approved the bill on Tuesday, sending it to the full Senate for approval.

A neutral, factual graf.

Graf 6

“There’s no recent spike in risk or safety incidents that this regulation is responding to. It’s pure politics,” said Amy Hagstrom Miller, the chief executive of Whole Woman’s Health, which operates four abortion clinics throughout the state and an ambulatory surgical center that performs abortions. “The thing we need to worry about is, when you take away women’s access to safe abortion, then what’s going to happen?”

An opponent of the legislation is allowed to present a critique AGAIN, without any rebuttal (the opposite of the treatment of the proponent’s comment in Graf 2). More framing.

Graf 7

Thirty-seven abortion clinics in Texas would not be in compliance under the new regulations. Of the 416 ambulatory surgical centers in Texas, five perform abortions.

A relatively neutral, factual graf.

Graf 8

Abortion rights advocates say Texas women will be forced to seek dangerous and illegal abortions because they will no longer have ready access to the procedure.

Opponents of the legislation are allowed to present another critique, without any rebuttal (the opposite, again, of the treatment of the proponent’s comment in Graf 2). More framing.

Graf 9

Ambulatory surgical centers cost more to build and operate than abortion clinics, which in turn raises the cost of abortions for patients. Whole Woman’s Health, for example, says it spends $40,000 more each month to operate its surgical center than it does for an abortion clinic. Its patients pay $1,277 for an abortion at the surgical center compared with $540 at a clinic.

A relativeley neutral, factual graf, so far as it goes.

Graf 10

More than 72,000 abortions are performed annually in Texas. No deaths from complications related to abortion have been reported to the state since 2001. While there are risks associated with the procedure, there is less than one death per 100,000 legal abortions in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A relatively neutral, factual sentence, so far as it goes, although one would think “death” is a subset of “risks” and that the two perhaps should not be conflated.

Graf 11a

Dr. Mayra Thompson, an obstetrician and gynecologist, told senators during a committee hearing on Tuesday that serious complications could arise from surgical abortions.

A proponent is finally allowed to comment without rebuttal.

Graf 11b

“It shouldn’t matter if you’re pro-life or pro-choice,” Thompson said. “The point here is the safety.”

In my view, this is merely a continuation of Graf 11, and I’m treating them as parts of the same conceptual graf for that reason.

Graf 12

Texas passed a law in 2004 requiring women seeking an abortion after 16 weeks of pregnancy to undergo the procedure in a surgical center. At the time, no abortion facilities met the standards.

A relatively neutral, factual sentence. It would be nice to know how quickly the number of facilities that could meet the standards increased. In the public interest, you know!

Graf 13a

A study by Ted Joyce, an economics professor at Baruch College of the City University of New York, on the effects of the 2004 law found that the number of abortions after 16 weeks dropped in Texas to 446 from 3,642 in the first year, and that more women sought abortions out of state. Joyce said last week that he expected Deuell’s measure would have similar effects.

Conveniently, one academic is quoted in support of the framing of the headline and the story’s setup grafs, without any rebuttal or dissenting voice or balance. Sadly, the study is not linked, despite Texas Tribune’s origins as an online startup that should understand the power and utility of hyperlinks. It would be interesting to know what the rates did after the first year, or what the author’s other conclusions were.

Graf 13b

Although surgical centers would eventually be established to meet the demand for abortion services, Joyce said, his research showed that, in the short term, existing surgical facilities would be flooded with patients and “it’s going to force women either to go out of state or to carry to term.”

As in Graf 11 a/b, I’m treating these two as parts of the same conceptual graf. Again, it would have been nice if the Tribune had linked the study, or had provided some detail from the study on how quickly services were established to meet legislative standards in the past. If the issue is simply a matter of a time lag, then perhaps a legislative compromise involving a timed phase-in of new standards (with additional safety regulations/inspections of existing facilities in the interim) could address the concerns raised. But that doesn’t seem to interest the Tribune. Public Interest Journalism!

In any case, note that the perspective of the opponents regarding the legislation is presented as fact by the headline, is featured first, is used to rebut the proponents of the legislation, and is featured last.

THAT is a prime example of how a story is framed (with clear bias), and among many that one can regularly find in the John Thornton/Evan Smith experiment in “public-interest journalism” (as they call it).

I decided to revisit this one because CLEARLY neither the Texas Tribune reporter nor the editors thought that true health and safety concerns could possibly be motivating the proponents of this legislation. The entire thrust, or framing, of the story is meant to cast doubts on the stated intentions of the proponents of the legislation, and to (not very subtly) frame the effort as just another battle in Texas’ (read: Texas Republicans’) “war on women” (to borrow the vulgar discourse of our Demagogue in Chief and his message machine).

One wonders, in light of the ongoing revelations about the grotesque serial baby-killing spree of Pennsylvania abortionist Kermit Gosnell, if Texas Tribune might now handle this story a little differently than they did just a few weeks ago. Even ignoring that story however (as much of the establishment media has preferred to do), Texas is not the only state considering beefing up safety requirements for abortion clinics — note how this Washington Post story treats a similar debate in Virginia, including a discussion of the timing/grandfathering issue I raised above. Also note that the Washington Post story remains wholly factual with its headline, and leads the story with facts and assertions rather than framing (in stark contrast to the Texas Tribune piece). For some reason, the (Public Interest Journalism!) Texas Tribune did not see fit to mention these moves taking place elsewhere, even though they seem quite relevant to the debate.

Greeks find cause of all their woes: the Jews (Abraham Cooper and Harold Brackman, Times of Israel)

I almost didn’t post about this, because at first, I thought the headline writer was trying to make a subtle, “see what I did there?” point about the silliness of peoples irrationally blaming whole other peoples for their woes. But upon reflection, I’m still not convinced the headline writer was trying to do that, and even if so, I think many readers would miss the subtlety (making it ineffective advertising for an article meant to draw attention to the rise of anti-Semitism in a country).

Now, it’s true that anti-Semitism is on the rise in Greece, and this is troubling. I would never suggest otherwise, nor do I have any complaints about those who monitor such developments very carefully (a Holocaust can and should attune people to such matters!). The problem in the headline is the broad use of “Greeks,” implying that Greece in its entirety is part of this anti-Semitic wave (rather than a bigoted faction, who should rightly be called out). I don’t think that’s the case at all in the country — although it IS true that there is a rise in anti-EVERYTHING attitudes nationwide (revulsion at the European Union for effectively extending the credit card then taking it away, revulsion at Angela Merkel and Germany in general for being “austerity” proponents after taking the credit card away, revulsion at Greece’s own crony-kleptocratic political leaders, and yes, among some factions, revulsion at “the Joos” as if they are somehow to blame). None of it is wholly rational, nor is there any single “anti” thread that prevails among all Greeks — beyond the despair that many feel about their country’s current plight.

Oddly, the article’s subhead would have actually made for a much better, much more effective headline than “Greeks blame Jews”:

As Greece’s economy teeters on the brink, virulent anti-Semitism is making an alarming comeback

That’s true, so far as it goes, and describes the thrust of the article. The additional context of the rise of so much “anti” sentiment in general in Greece is probably worth noting, as well as the impact of the same on elections (who can really say WHAT “the Greeks” voted FOR in their most recent elections).

As recently as 2003, the president of the Greater Fort Bend County Tea Party had a very different title: director of propaganda for the American Fascist Party.

James Ives, a prominent Tea Party activist who has hosted statewide rallies and political debates and has been a regular contributor on conservative radio, was the AFP’s fourth in command, commenting about the party’s principles on a fascist message board. An image of Ives in what appears to be a black uniform with yellow shoulder patches can be seen in a 2006 promotional video for the party.

Mr. Ives tells Texas Tribune that he discovered the group’s online message board, and decided to participate as part of his research for a future novel (as yet unwritten). Make of that what you will.

Dan Patrick, on whose radio station Mr. Ives has appeared, seems to be backing away as quickly as possible now:

State Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, whose radio station has regularly hosted Ives’ political commentaries in recent years, said that if his past connections to the American Fascist Party were legitimate, the station would no longer put him on air. Patrick said Ives had “never been on our payroll, never been an employee.” He called the promotional video and online postings “very disturbing, no matter how far in the past it is.”

True, it does seem to go somewhat beyond painting one’s face Oilers (Luv Ya) blue for Houston TV, or broadcasting one’s vasectomy on one’s own radio station.

Debra Medina had this to say:

Debra Medina, a well-known Tea Party activist who ran against Gov. Rick Perry in the 2010 Republican primary, said she isn’t familiar with Ives and isn’t in a position to judge his dealings with the fascist group.

Ah, well, THAT sounds like someone to quote (if there’s no editor minding the store, anyway).

Not that it changes anything, but it would be really interesting to know who dropped this tidbit in Texas Tribune’s lap (since we’re pretty sure the American Fascist Party-Texas message board archives probably aren’t part of any regular beat at the online news shop).

Here’s an excerpt from a fitting tribute to Dr. Van Cleave by longtime associate Frank Gaffney:

There’s a certain historic symmetry that we mark the thirtieth anniversary of President Ronald Reagan’s historic unveiling of his Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) within days of the passing of a man who played a central role in inspiring it. We must take the occasion of celebrating the former to honor the latter: Dr. William Van Cleave, an unsung hero of the War for the Free World, and most especially the part of that long and continuing conflict known as the Cold War.

How fitting as well that the same day Dr. Van Cleave died in his Southern California home, the Obama administration was forced publicly to reverse course on its systematic efforts to diminish the direct manifestation of Mr. Reagan’s SDI program. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced on March 15th that the modest array of U.S. missile defenses now in place would be enhanced in the face of a growing threat from the increasingly truculent regime in North Korea. Bill Van Cleave would consider that to be the very least we can do given Pyongyang’s declaration that it is prepared to launch a nuclear attack against us.

The entire post is here.

Instead of the usual long-winded staff-prepared speeches that we’ve all come to expect from most of that chamber’s gasbags, we instead got a bit of constitutional textual analysis and commentary from the junior Senator from Texas, Ted Cruz. Here’s the transcript of Cruz, courtesy of ABC News (there are some obvious errors in transcription; I’ve indicated my corrections with brackets):

Cruz: [It] seems to me that all of us should begin as our foundational document [w]ith the constitution. And the Second Amendment in the bill of rights provides — the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

The term the right of the people, when the framers included in the bill of rights they used it as a term of art — That same phrase the right of the people is found in the First Amendment — The right of the people to peaceably assemble and to petition their government for redress of grievances[; I]t’s also found in the Fourth Amendment the right of the people to be free [f]rom unreasonable searches and seizures.

And and the question that I would pose [t]o the senior senator from California is [would she] deem it consistent with the bill of rights [f]or congress to engage in the same endeavor that we are contemplating doing with the Second Amendment [i]n the context of the [F]irst or Fourth Amendment[--] namely [,w]ould she consider it constitutional for congress to specify that the First Amendment shall apply only to the following books [a]nd shall not apply to the books that [C]ongress has deemed [o]utside the protection of the bill of rights[. L]ikewise[,] would] she think that the fourth amendment’s protection against such searches and seizures [c]ould properly apply only to the following specified individuals[, a]nd not to the individuals [t]hat congress [has] deemed [o]utside the protection of the [Bill of Rights]?

It’s a smart bit of textual analysis to note the consistency of language used in the First, Second, and Fourth Amendments in identifying “the people” and it’s a pretty interesting question that Sen. Cruz raises — surely worthy of substantive followup in America’s great debating forum!

Instead, Sen. Feinstein decided mostly to emote:

Feinstein: Let me just make a couple of points in response. One I’m not a sixth [grader] Senator[, I've] been on this committee for twenty years. I was a mayor for nine years[.] I walked [in,] I saw people shot[.] I’ve looked at bodies that have been shot with these weapons[. I've] seen the bullets that implode. In [S]andy [H]ook youngsters were dismembered.

Look there are other weapons. [?] I’m not a lawyer[,] but after twenty years I’[ve] been up close and personal to the constitution.

I have great respect for [it]. This doesn’t mean that weapons of war[...] and the Heller decision [c]learly points out three exceptions[,] two of which are pertinent here. And [so] you know[, it's fine you want to] lecture me on the constitution. I appreciate [it. J]ust know I’ve been here for a long time.

So, in response to Sen. Cruz’s substantive questions, Sen. Feinstein’s initial response it to make it about herself, then to emote rather than address his substantive points, then to mumble something about the Heller decision (a substantive point might have been made here, but wasn’t really), and then back around to taking Sen. Cruz’s comments personally instead of addressing them substantively.

It will be interesting to see how this is covered over the next 24 hours. I’m sure many political journalists (of the left-leaning, emoting school themselves!) will laud the senior senator from California for dressing down the brash young ideologue from Texas.

It’s really a shame that Sen. Cruz didn’t make his point a little more clearly for them by offering an amendment that would,say, prohibit certain “dangerous” words under the First Amendment, but now I’m likely putting myself at risk of being called an ideologue.

Texas Longhorns add new material to life skills playbook – MackBrownTexasFootball.com (11 March 2013)

Texas Football met on Sunday, February 24, for its annual fine dining meal at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse in downtown Austin. The dinner, an anticipated tradition in the football program, takes place during each student-athlete’s first year on the team, during which etiquette coach Mary Ellen Oliver instructs the young men on proper and respectful conduct while at special events.

…

The annual event started as a combined effort between Coach Brown’s wife Sally, academic/life skills counselor Jean Bryant, and Oliver. Sally had noticed during Coach Brown’s tenure at North Carolina that his players constantly looked to her for guidance on what to order and how to act while at banquets and special events.

“Knowledge is power. We want to give them the skills they need so they can be successful. And it helps all the way through life – it will help them with their careers, family, children – all of it,” explained Bryant.

While the format of the event has largely remained the same, one way it has evolved over the years includes Oliver discussing technology etiquette. She touched on the importance of knowing when cell phone use is inappropriate, and provided examples on how to respectfully approach use of technology in social settings.

Even as sophomores, wideout Cayleb Jones and linebacker Dalton Santos both already recognize the long-term value of such an event.

“Miss Mary Ellen taught us certain skills, so if you’re at a formal event, you know how to conduct yourself or what to order. For example, if a lady is present, stand up if she’s excusing herself from the table,” said Jones. “Certain skills that we learned tonight we’ll use for the rest of our lives in business meetings and at formal events.”

Emphasis supplied by me.

Cayleb Jones has, of course, been in the news lately, and not for his newly honed etiquette skills:

Texas sophomore wide receiver Cayleb Jones was charged Tuesday with felony aggravated assault of a Longhorns tennis player, with police saying he fractured the victim’s jaw with a punch outside a downtown nightclub.

…

According to police, Jones punched Joseph Swaysland after Jones confronted Swaysland and Texas volleyball player Katherine Bell on Feb. 22. She told police she had been in a relationship with Jones that ended badly and that Jones had previously threatened to fight Swaysland.

Bell said Jones told her he didn’t want to see her speaking to any men, notably the victim, according to a police affidavit in support of the arrest warrant. The charge is a second degree felony with a punishment range up to 20 years in prison.

At next year’s Longhorn Etiquette Dinner, look for Mack Brown’s staff to offer instruction on how to conclude relationships gracefully (without breaking anyone’s bones, getting arrested, being suspended from the team, etc).

As noted in the last post(s), real life sort of took precedence over internet life in 2012, especially when it comes to blogging. Obviously, it’s been pretty quiet here, but we have also taken a needed break from blogHOUSTON (which should return sometime in 2013 with a new WordPress install – hoping for earlier than later, but, we’ll see. Maybe even a FEW more posts here, but no promises)…

2012 turned out to be quite the travel and social year.

Float Trip 2012 saw new faces (which should return for next year) along with the usual diehard crew, and we spent quality time with family and friends (and wine, LOL) throughout the year. Xmas 2012 was also quite the blowout — I think we’re still recovering. :O So much social time cut into the time we used to spend geeking around on the ‘net, which is probably a healthy development overall. Zooming around in aluminum tubes at 30,000+ feet also soaked up some time…

Some travel writer somewhere once said that if you chase good fares, you’ll wind up seeing some pretty interesting places, and so finding nice fares remains an obsession. Add following my friend Stephan’s advice that all these miles accumulated in one’s loyalty program of choice (United’s MileagePlus in my case) should be cashed in for at least one luxury trip per year, and it was a great travel year. Highlights included:

• A $325 roundtrip to Brussels on Air Canada, which involved weather delays on the outbound (we watched a pretty snowstorm from the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge in Montreal’s airport, and we eventually pushed out after a few hours of delay), a mechanical on the return, and all sorts of fun things that eventually resulted in some proactive rerouting (and Y fares to BRU, boosting the mileage earnings on my ridiculously cheap fare). People complain all the time about airlines, and there is a lot to complain about, but there are also ways to work things in your favor (most of which involve BEING NICE to the front line agents, and having backup options in mind for when you actually get in front of an agent who can help you during irregular operations). I probably ought to post more about those experiences, hmm? In Brussels, this guy made us two nice meals at his quaintish restaurant.
• Relatively cheap fares to Madrid (a new destination for us, which I liked and Callie was kind of “meh” about) and London (always a good trip – we visited the Camden Lock area this time, which was a first and kinda fun).
• Reward travel in International First to my favorite islands, and back in Business. Since Lufthansa has now restricted reward availability in First considerably, I decided to jump on the seats when they came open several days before our trip — and it worked out well, since we arrived at a remote stand and enjoyed limo service from the tarmac to the terminal. I probably won’t blow the additional miles again anytime soon, but the first class treatment (not to mention Lufthansa’s First Class Terminal in FRA) is fun. The islands, by the way, were THRIVING. The mainland — every bit as depressed as one might expect, given the news reports, sadly so. Quite the contrast between the two.
• Return trips to Alaska (never gets old, even though a marine wildlife excursion in the bay in early May is QUITE chilly *brrr*) and New Hampshire (food run to Maine, also never gets old), plus a trip to Rhode Island (first trip – we discovered the winery in Newport puts out a decent little Cab Franc).
• With a little help from PQMs via a legacy CO credit card, I made Plat for the first time at the very end of the year. We’ll see if the benefits make it worth pursuing next year.

Travel lowlights, unfortunately, included more delays, schedule changes, cancellations, refunds, and time spent on the phone with agents in one year than I’ve experienced in any previous year of flying (and maybe cumulatively — it was pretty bad). I was also 0/2 trying to fly United’s new 787 Dreamliner (once because of a schedule change, once because of a mechanical). I will say that United agents were very helpful in accommodating my requests to reschedule or cancel/refund, and we were lucky in that we were never stranded for any real period or put in a situation without good options. The merger is proving more of a challenge than I think many of the former Continental execs expected, but I’m still fairly optimistic that they’ll eventually work out the kinks. Here’s hoping the new United will continue to have a very good rewards program as well (which is a key source of my loyalty).

Callie is well, loved ones have (mostly) been healthy this year, Kiwi is trucking along, and we added a new dog to the mix (Jefe, an energetic chihuahua mix who wound up in our yard over one stormy night and was never claimed). So overall, I think we put 2012 in the win column.

Most anyone who follows this blog is surely following me on facebook or twitter, right? And doesn’t that mean this media form known as personal blogging is surely as deprecated as HTML 4.0? And I’m not going to get started on the state of indie political blogging these days (another time, perhaps in person over wine, but let’s just say that way too many bloggers seem to think it’s great to turn over THEIR space and name to being unpaid dupes for political candidates and/or parties).

Well, whatever.

The urge strikes to put out a little update on things, so here’s a quick rundown of 2012 stuff we’ve been doing:

• Still getting in lots of people time. Home-ownership and the patio from which this blog post is being composed tonight have made me much more social (not media, but the real thing). It doesn’t hurt that we’re blessed with some great neighbors who have become good friends. There is now a tiki torch in our driveway to signify when we’re carrying on and neighbors should come join us on the patio. This is fun, I think. Your mileage may vary.
• Additional home/patio enhancements…. We put XBMC on an old laptop, only to figure out the poor machine really couldn’t carry the load. So we upgraded to this little guy, and added some speakers on the patio. It’s not my friend John’s badass system, but it serves our more modest needs (movie/music server) quite well. Being able to control the sounds on the patio with my rooted Atrix (running CyanogenMod) is sweet.
• Mr. Tom Hanna moving to town, and even staying with us for a little while, has also been a most welcome development. As one gets older, the value of old friends becomes greater. Even if I don’t always stay in touch like I should.
• We’ve flown around 37,000 miles so far this year, fairly cheaply. Some have been mileage runs. Trips to Madrid and Brussels were fun trips also flown for mileage. Facebook/twitter/flickr followers have seen a bit about these trips (which probably would have gotten posts here once upon a time). Mileage trips to Alaska and Manchester on tap for later in the year. A Delta trip to Montana looms. A biz class reward trip to Guess Where is on tap. And I need to book us another 2000 miles or so on United/Star for gold purposes…. Fun stuff! Even though the customer service experience gets worse all the time, I never tire of the air travel experience (especially airports — love them).
• Less biking and hiking than I’d like so far this year. Boo. But Alaska and Montana should help with the hiking, perhaps. And so too should…
• Dropping around 20 pounds from a recent (unfortunate) high about a year ago. What can I say, the diet slipped a bit in the year after my mom’s passing, and I know better (I can’t handle bad carbs and starches — it’s sure, fast weight gain). Back now on a pretty strict ketogenic diet, and recommending that folks read this guy and this guy. They are pretty sharp. Thank goodness wine (preferably French, or old world at least) is carb friendly, although I need to limit it to weekends for weight purposes.
• And now that I’m back down to my fighting weight (and still losing), it’s time to start thinking about… getting back to lightweight backpacking. I miss hammock weekends in the Ouachitas. Both the physical challenge and the beauty/solitude of the place. Maybe a trip this fall, definitely activity next spring.
• Slippage on blogHOUSTON. We’ve done the thing a long time now, and I’m thinking a little break is in order for a software update, a mental refresh, etc. Then we’ll get back after it. With the right energy. Maybe some new contributors (anybody interested? Party/Candidate-bloggers need not apply. Resistance may be futile, but hey).
• My first passover Seder! And no, not the Hittner political event (I won’t ever see an invite to something like that! LOL), but a genuine thing put on by lovely people. Really cool.

That’s the quick rundown of 2012, so far. Orthodox Easter is this weekend, and we’re hosting (after the smashing success that was Xmas). Weather should allow for plenty of patio/outdoor time, and a mix of white and red wine to go with the traditional Greek Easter foods and family. The wine should help both go down a little better!

The Float Trip is not far off, either. If you’re reading this and haven’t committed to joining our annual gathering of friends and family, well, it might just be time to give that some thought, hmm?

Since this is a not-quite-yet-abandoned personal blog that’s sometimes also about politics, that requires some sort of personal statement, right?

Damned if I know what that is, except blogging has kind of jumped the shark, hasn’t it?

I had thought the blogging impulse would come back this year, but instead … it was a lot more interesting spending time with actual people (social instead of media?). Grilling (with neighbors and friends). Wine (with neighbors and friends). Travel (50,000 paid miles, another 12k of reward travel, and aiming for roughly the same in 2012). Face-to-face interaction of all sorts. And my nose in the Kindle more (but in the woods much less, which is not so good). And yeah, a bit of social media (okay, probably too much time on twitter) and some home improvement. There’s your 2011. With plenty of (parentheticals)! Woo! (By the way, Parentheticals wouldn’t be a bad blog/tumblr name, wonder if it’s taken?)

Here’s wishing a Happy and Fulfilling 2012 to the folks who may still be following the little blog. I won’t promise there will be lots of blog posts in 2012, but maybe we’ll have the chance to grab a beer or sip some wine or share a campfire or… well, you get the idea. Hope to see ya around!