http://www.pleonast.com/user/meditationis recent pleonast.com entries by user meditationis en-us http://www.pleonast.com/user/meditationis?l=5&entryID=600694 I just heard back from one of the craft show folks I contacted yesterday and, yes, they can fit us in! The show is Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., located at the Indiana Traditional Arts Center in Monrovia. Monrovia is just minutes west of Indianapolis, off I-70. So, come by and buy stuff! In other news, Mom may not go with me because my brother requested she come down south early for Thanksgiving. That means I'll work the show alone, but that shouldn't be a problem. 2008-11-18 http://www.pleonast.com/user/meditationis?l=5&entryID=600244 Let's see; what has been going on here? The other day I gave the girls baths, using some new flea/tick shampoo. They now have oh-so-soft coats which makes my sweater jealous. Sadly, they still have fleas, or, rather, they have fleas again. I did treat the couch for fleas as well, but I don't know how well that worked. My new flea comb works all too well on the girls. I wonder if I could put flea/tick killer on the comb and then use it on the doggies.... Fleas or no, the dogs are keeping me nice and warm at night. Mom and I went to a small craft show on Saturday, as vendors. There was a fair crowd but not a great one and, I suspect, they did very little advertising for the event. There were also at least two or three other craft shows (including a big-sounding one in Danville). The sum total of all those events: although we sold a few items, we didn't recoup our booth fee. I was pretty disappointed by that result, but Mom seems okay with it, in part because we now have all o... 2008-11-17 http://www.pleonast.com/user/meditationis?l=5&entryID=597481 One of the sisters here works for Houghton Mifflin. Once a year, HM has a semi-private sale of "damaged" books and Kay often takes "book requests" from us. The prices range from $1 for hardcovers to 50 cents for softcovers. This year, the company not only allowed employees and their families to shop the sale, but friends of employees too. Accordingly, several of us took advantage of Kay's invitation to pick up some "damaged" books on our own. ("Damaged" in this case includes very minor issues, such as a torn dust jacket on a hardcover or a squished softcover.) Mom and I went and had a lovely time. This was our $15 haul. The Independent Book of Super Sudoku, Volume II The Independent Book of Sudoku, Volume I The Great American History Fact-Finder: The Who, What, Where, When, and Why of American History, 2nd ed. by Pam Cornelison and Ted Yanak Pyramid by David Macaulay Mill by David Macaulay Castle by David Macaulay The Age of Napoleon... 2008-11-09 http://www.pleonast.com/user/meditationis?l=5&entryID=597015 Article II, Section 1, clause 5 of the Constitution sets forth the qualifications for president. There are three: citizenship, age, and residency. Two of them are straightforward. The person must have "attained to the age of thirty-five years" and must have been resident within the United States for fourteen years. The third qualification of being a "natural born citizen" is a bit trickier. My cursory reading and vague memories of U.S. history suggests the clause was put into the Constitution after a letter from John Jay to George Washington, in which Jay cautions against allowing foreigners to hold the office of commander in chief. (Consequently, a foreign nation could not simply send an agent to the United States, move him into a position of power, and get him elected president where he could, uhm, engage in much mischief.) The highest office was thus reserved for the natural born citizen. The problem is that the Constitution does not define what it means t... 2008-11-07 http://www.pleonast.com/user/meditationis?l=5&entryID=596763 Clause 5. No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been Fourteen Years a Resident within the United States. --Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the Constitution of the United States of America Annotation on this clause from the U.S. Government Printing Office--- QUALIFICATIONS All Presidents since and including Martin Van Buren were born in the United States subsequent to the Declaration of Independence. The principal issue with regard to the qualifications set out in this clause is whether a child born abroad of American parents is ‘‘a natural born citizen’’ in the sense of the clause. Such a child is a citizen as a consequence of statute. Whatever the term ‘‘natural born’’ means, it no doubt does not include a person who ... 2008-11-07 http://www.pleonast.com/user/meditationis?l=5&entryID=596175 My friends, we have come to the end of a long journey. The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly. A little while ago, I had the honor of calling Sen. Barack Obama to congratulate him on being elected the next president of the country that we both love. In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving. This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight. I've always believed that America offers opportunities to all who have the industry and will to seize it. Sen. Obama believes that, too. But we both recognize that, th... 2008-11-05 http://www.pleonast.com/user/meditationis?l=5&entryID=594726 The preferred viewing is out this door. When she is extremely excited, Fuzzy goes on top of her crate. However, sometimes Fuzzy will take this balcony seat and look out the window. If Mom is sitting there, well, Fuzzy just uses her as an extra step.... 2008-11-03 http://www.pleonast.com/user/meditationis?l=5&entryID=594534 2008-11-03 http://www.pleonast.com/user/meditationis?l=5&entryID=592926 I need to update. 2008-10-29 http://www.pleonast.com/user/meditationis?l=5&entryID=586598 Profounder things had also passed. It was a completely secular age. Of the faiths that had existed before the coming of the Overlords, only a form of purified Buddhism -- perhaps the most austere of all religions -- still survived. The creeds that had been based upon miracles and revelations had collapsed utterly. With the rise of education, they had already been slowly dissolving, but for a while the Overlords had taken no sides in the matter. Though Karellen was often asked to express his views on religion, all that he would say was that a man's beliefs were his own affair, so long as they did not interfere with the liberty of others. Perhaps the old faiths would have lingered for generations yet, had it not been for human curiosity. It was known that the Overlords had access to the past, and more than once historians had appealed to Karellen to settle some ancient controversy. It may have been that he had grown tired of such questions, but it is more likely that he knew perf... 2008-10-12