Elise Sereni Patkotak

I don’t know what’s worse, the inane chatter from the commentators during the Olympic games which makes EVERYTHING sound like only the Americans count or the painful overdose of political ads about mines and candidates and wolves and….STOP IT! STOP THE MADNESS!  Commentators….just shut the hell up and let the athletes do their thing. Accept that other countries might have athletes who are competing and may actually win. Stop saying that a gymnast who is number fourteen after four rotations has a shot at a medal. We are not idiots. We know he or she doesn’t. Show us competitors from

Well, I now know that thunder and lightning also freak out Blondie.  I’m ready now on New Year’s Eve for a sixty pound dog to try to leap in my lap when the fireworks start and try to claw her way under my skin for protection. But I must say I was totally unprepared for the same reaction when the first thunder clap sounded.  You really don’t know the meaning of being startled until a dog…did I mention she weighs in at sixty pounds…runs across a run and tries to leap into your lap as you sit at your computer. 

I’m watching the Olympics the other night and there is good old George W, the man who’s still our president, having a good old time watching the swimming. And all I could think was, “Really? Is this how irrelevant you have finally become? We are at war. Our economy sucks. People are losing their homes. Some have no idea how they will heat their houses this winter. Many have no way to pay for the medical care they need to save their lives. And you sit in China watching the Olympics as though none of this has anything to do

You should keep old friends around for a lot of reasons. And this is one of the best. When you can’t remember the name of someone from the old neighborhood or the name of the nun that taught you in fourth grade or where the piano recitals were held for Mrs. Kramer’s students, she’s there to not remember with you.

Ted Stevens not only wants his trial to happen quickly but also to happen in Anchorage….well, there you go. You can’t buy that kind of wonderful campaign publicity. Right next to your “Re-elect Ted Stevens” ad in the paper will be the story on the latest sleazy revelations from his trial. Yep. That should help his campaign no end. AND….do it in Anchorage where the local media will be all over it like butter on toast.  Maybe Ted’s thinking he’s more interested in an acquittal so he doesn’t spend his waning years in jail than in actually getting re-elected and

I also feel compelled to admit that while I may bitch and moan about the rain, I actually like the cool weather. I would not be unhappy if it never got above sixty degrees. That’s my cut off point for cool and comfortable versus hot and miserable.  And if I have to take the rain to get the cool weather, so be it.