Nobody Knows Anything

Welcome to Diane Patterson's eclectic blog about what strikes her fancy

Random and sundry

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In no particular order:

  • Super what? No, I’m not going to be all self-congratulatory. I hate it when people are all “Modern culture’s got nothin’ on me, man.” I honestly have zero interest in professional football and it really wouldn’t occur to me to spend 4 hours watching a commercial fest interspersed with bits of a football game. I used to watch baseball, but that ended in 1993.
  • I ran on Thursday. I ran this morning. I didn’t run far, but given that I think I may have run twice in all of January, I’m feeling pretty good about it. You don’t have to plan out your exercise regime for the rest of your life. Just for today.
  • I’m starting BJ Fogg’s Tiny Little Habits program tomorrow. When he sent out the materials on how it works, I said, “Ohhhh.” Yeah, duh. Anyhow, I picked a few things to work on. I’ll report back later this week as to the program’s effectiveness.
  • Man, if you want to get a lot of hits on your blog, just talk about ebooks versus physical books. Also: the curly hair method.
  • I drove to Union Square yesterday to have lunch with a friend. Getting into San Francisco is a pain in the ass. Getting out of San Francisco requires wiliness and stealth and maybe rocket launchers. If you’re leaving from Union Square garage, what in the best way to get out of the city? It took me about 25 minutes to get to the freeway on-ramp on 4th Street and I was a nervous wreck by the time I got there.
  • Turns out everyone else in town decided this Starbucks was a good place to spend time during the game as well.
  • This Nissan travel mug is basically the greatest travel mug ever.
  • I didn’t have my phone with me today. It’s amazing how naked and out of touch I feel now without it. My phone, my self.

Halloween on a Sunday

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You know, I keep hearing that I’m supposed to respect other people’s beliefs, but goshdarnit they make too hard sometimes:

NEWNAN, Ga. – Across the Bible Belt this Halloween, some little ghosts and goblins might get shooed away by the neighbors — and some youngsters will not be allowed to go trick-or-treating — because the day falls on a Sunday this year.

“It’s a day for the good Lord, not for the devil,” said Barbara Braswell, who plans to send her 4-year-old granddaughter, Maliyah, out trick-or-treating in a princess costume Saturday instead.

Some towns around the country are decreeing that Halloween be celebrated Saturday to avoid complaints from those who might be offended by the sight of demons and witches ringing their doorbell on the Sabbath.

“Moving it, that’s like celebrating Christmas a week early,” countered Veronica Wright, who bought a Power Rangers costume for her son. “It’s just a kid thing. It’s not for real.”

It is an especially sensitive issue for authorities in the Bible Belt across the South.

“You just don’t do it on Sunday,” said Sandra Hulsey of Greenville, Ga. “That’s Christ’s day. You go to church on Sunday, you don’t go out and celebrate the devil.”

In Newnan, a suburb south of Atlanta, the City Council decided to go ahead with trick-or-treating Sunday. In 1999, the last time Oct. 31 fell on a Sunday, the city moved up trick-or-treating to Saturday, which brought howls of protest.

In Vestavia Hills, Ala., a suburb of Birmingham, a furor erupts every time Halloween falls on Sunday.

I don’t feel at all bad keeping my kids away from religion. Not a bit.

Interesting things on tax refund checks

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We finally got around to filing our taxes (YES, WE FILED EXTENSIONS, DON’T BE A GIT) and got refunds. Of course, we got far less money back than Darin was expecting (so much for our percentage of the great tax reduction pie), but it was still a nice chunk of change to show up on our doorstep. And I noticed two curious things on the checks:

  • On the California state check, the “fund name” is the “Tax Relief and Refund Account.” Isn’t “tax relief” a Republican talking point? Why did California name its fund that?
  • The US Treasury check was issued in Austin, Texas. Just in case I was wondering where the money had gone.