Buffett, describing himself as "an old hippie" and "Southern radical," says now, "I'm an Obama person."

"Everybody knows my politics [he campaigned for Jimmy Carter and Al Gore and has played twice at Bill Clinton birthday parties]. But half my audience is Republicans — and that's OK. People should be communicating, which is the biggest factor to me."

He has been opposed to the war in Iraq since the beginning. "Anybody who makes policy in this country oughta have to walk by the Vietnam memorial on the way to work," Buffett says.

So why not vote for Vietnam vet John McCain? "I respect John McCain, but it's old stuff. John McCain is older than I am!"

"And world peace? I've got an answer for world peace. We take the money that it'd cost us to build just one B-1 bomber, you know that one that doesn't work? We change it into five dollar bills. We put all of this money into bags and we fly over the Atlantic Ocean, past Europe (because they're getting their shit together anyway). We drop this money on the Russian people. All those little tiny pictures of Abraham Lincoln come tumblin' down out of the sky.

I want them to feel those sawbucks in their hands. You know how your money feels when you accidentally leave it in your blue jeans and you take it out and it's all warm and soft, oooh!

Well we let those Russian people hang on to that money for about a week and then we fly back over there. We fill our airplanes full of mail order catalogs from L.L. Bean. From up in Columbus, Sporty's Pilot Shop. And Victoria's Secret!

The Russian people have this money in their hand, the catalogs come down. They look at those pictures on the opening pages of the Victoria's Secret catalog. (Not back in the outdoor section: you know what I'm talking about, right?)

They got the money, they got the catalogs: they're going to get the idea. They send all the money back to us to buy the stuff. We have full employment. There's world peace, and the Russians have crotch-less underwear through the twenty-first century!"

"The true voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes; in seeing the universe through the eyes of another, one hundred others—in seeing the hundred universes that each of them sees."
    -Marcel Proust (1871 - 1922), "Remembrance of Things Past"

"I feel, when I kiss you, how recklessly my soul leans forward at my lips, as if to step across." - Plato, 4th Century BCE

There's one more component of your Christmas-defense kit: It's the "Operation: Just Say 'Merry Christmas' Bracelet." They make great stocking stuffers, but why wait! Make your feelings about Christmas known to one and all. Wear them to pick up the kids, when you buy groceries and when you go to work. They're guaranteed to ward off the evil spirits of the ACLU grinches.

"Sail the main course, sail it in a simple, sturdy craft.
Keep her well stocked with short stories and long laughs;
Fast enough to get there, but slow enough to see,
Moderation seems to be the key!"
    -Jimmy Buffett, "Barometer Soup"

vi.1. Prajapati, being desirous of propagation, underwent penance; from him when heated were born five, Agni, Vayu, Aditya, Candramas, and Usas as fifth. He said to them, 'Do ye also practise fervour.' They consecrated themselves; then when they had consecrated themsleves and had acquired fervour, Usas, offspring of Prajapati, taking the form of an Apsaras, came out in front of them; to her their minds inclined; they poured out seed; they went to Prajapati, their father, and said, 'We have poured out seed; let it not remain here.' Prajapati made a golden bowl, an arrow breadth in height and similar in breadth; in it he poured the seed; then arose he of a thousand eyes, of a thousand feet, with a thousand fitted (arrows).

1. Don't Stop the Carnvial by Herman Wouk - I am Norman Paperman on my best days


2. Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie - "Peter Pan would understand his schemes, dreams and ploys"


3. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry - It's the sword in the stone, don't you see?


4. Where Is Joe Merchant? by Jimmy Buffett - Frank Bama and I are kindred spirits, with the same problems and the same god-damned resolution issues.


5. A Salty Piece of Land by Jimmy Buffett - That wasn't Tully Mars checking in. It was me. I hope I check out half as fortunately as he did.

"Come, come to my house," reads one section in the Semitic language that is supposed to be the snake's mother speaking, trying to lure him out of the tomb. In another passage, the snake is addressed as if he is a lover with "Turn aside, O my beloved."

"Gods do not, generally, have a lot to say, but what they do say is worth listening to."
     -Phil Hine, Pseudonomicon

tesinth

singingwren

Esus, guide me to cut the right branches, to cut them the right length, and to cut them with the knowledge that I have to.

191. You've got to make a sacrifice.

1. Wednesday night: I was two minutes early finishing my devotional.
2. Thursday night: I was in town but not at my altar at sundown, and I didn't have my travel altar with me

181. Quit acting so blasé.