So my time and money is going to Lawton for the not-for-governor gubernatorial race.  She's great.  And I hold Obama personally responsible for screwing up her chances and those of Dems in this state by giving Doyle the idea that he could go to D.C. . . and thus keeping him from doing what he ought to do.

After all, Doyle said he would do two terms at most.  Time's up, guy.  Instead, he's pulling a Tommy Thompson and keeping the party in suspense.  Tommy pulled that off, because it was the Repubs.  The Wisconsin Dems cannot make that work, as they always have to work 'way ahead to hope to pull even.

And I do not, not, not want a return to Republican dominance of the state.  We will not recover from that for decades, as it is . . . because Doyle, frankly, has not done the job to get us back on track, either.

And that's another risk McCain runs picking a much younger running mate--the inevitable comparisons as they stand together on stage.

I do occasionally miss the ability to just pop down the street for good Indian or Chinese food, or better yet, have it delivered.  But for a nice chunk of the year, you can eat like a king with fresh produce from your garden or one of the numerous small organic produce places in the area, raw Jersey milk from the spotlessly clean farm down the road, your own or your neighbor's fresh-laid eggs, and even naturally raised beef, pork, lamb and chicken, if you can afford it.

Once I knew I was going to move here, I bought a couple of beginner's Indian cookbooks and stocked up on spices, so I can satisfy my craving once in a while with just a little effort.

Irreplaceable is the quiet, the clean air, the beauty all around, the privacy, the utter trustworthiness of local workmen who treat you like a neighbor and not a cash cow, the dedication of the town road crews who scrape every last speck of snow off the roads as soon as it falls, the huge benefits to your car's mileage and engine health from driving only on fast country roads with no stoplights, never mind a traffic jam.

I don't know what happened to me since I was born and grew up in Manhattan, but there was some kind of karmic mistake somewhere since I've always been a country girl at heart, just never got to actually live that way until a few years ago.

Re napping-- once your mind learns that you truly don't have to get all 8 hours of sleep in one go but can split it into two or three chunks and be just as fully (if not more) rested, life becomes much easier if your work is on an irregular schedule.

I am note a republican and have no intention of voting for any McCain ticket but I can't hide the fact that Sarah Palin impressed the crap out of me.

She held several other executive positions before being elected Gov. including mayor. She quit ha position rather than be part of corruption and has kept her campaing promises; chief among them selling the plane her republican predessor (sp?) had purchased on the taxpayer dime. Not to mention she ended the 'bridge to nowhere' project.

FP creds are important but so are executive esperience and energy policy, both of which she stands tall on and could help McCain greatly.

She also has a less than hard-line stance on gay rights/marriage. She opposes same-sex marriage; but, she has stated that she has gay friends, and is receptive to gay and lesbian concerns about discrimination. While the previous administration did not implement same-sex benefits, Palin complied with a state Supreme Court order and signed them into law.