Army Holds Annual ‘Bring Your Daughter To War’ Day

I’m going to be upgrading this blog to Wordpress 2.something shortly (only, what, two years late?) and playing around a bit with templates for the next few days. If you see a logo that doesn’t look like mine, it isn’t; I just haven’t built a new one yet.

Likewise, there will be some new modifications made, and probably turned on and off as I decide which I like. If there’s any that you like (or miss — the old ones will likely just be going away), feel free to say so.

EDIT #1: Upgrade complete. New templates and mods coming next.

EDIT #2: I think I’m going to go with this theme, although it’s going to need a lot of customization.

EDIT #3: Gravatars enabled. No, I don’t have these, either, but I’ve seen them on some blogs, and liked them. I intend to set up a few. If you’ve got custom avatars, they’ll show up on this blog now, and in the future.

EDIT #4: OK, the whole page re-rendering every time a tab is clicked on the Branford Magazine template was irritating me. I think I’ll go with this one instead.

They’re back, and they’re delicious. Oh, yes, I love the Thin Mints as much as every right-thinking American does, but I want to praise two less-heralded cookies:

• Samoas - These incredibly evil cookies are coconut, caramel and dark chocolate. (The alternate bakery that the Girl Scouts use produces Caramel De-Lite, which uses milk chocolate, making them inferior but still damned tasty.) They’re the second-most popular Girl Scout cookie. If you’ve never had them, pick them up when the local scouts have run out of Thin Mints.
• Lemon Chalet Cremes/Lemonade - A couple weeks ago, I was introduced to the new Lemon Creme Hershey’s Kisses, which brought back a powerful sense memory of sandwich cookies with strongly flavored lemon cream in the middle. The generics Jenn got at Albertson’s in response to my craving failed to satisfy. (That’s putting it mildly; I eventually chucked the entire package of cardboard-flavored cookies in the garbage can.) The Girl Scouts, though, have a cookie that delivers on this score. Insanely good with milk. Lemonades are the inferior cookie (same company as bakes Carmel De-Lites — coincidence?), which is just a big shortbread cookie with a frosted underside. The frosting is OK, but doesn’t have the same kick as the Lemon Chalet Cremes.

It’s a good thing these things only show up once a year.

… in Crowley, Texas.

I got the news from the Burleson-Crowley Connection:

Places 5 and 6, held by Tina Pace, who is filling an unexpired term, and Beau Yarbrough, will be on the ballot for the election, which will be held May 10. Winners in the races will serve three-year terms.

In the words of William Tecumseh Sherman, if nominated, I will not accept; if drafted, I will not run; if elected, I will not serve.

That said, it’d be kind of fun to win. Vote for me, Crowley voters! Vote for me!

EDIT: False alarm. The paper spelled the councilman’s name wrong. He’s Beau Yarborough.

Crowley voters: WRITE MY NAME IN!

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

Peter put together this slideshow of the lunar eclipse last night. Neat stuff.

I think the ghost moon you see in some photos is a reflection of the lens on the camera’s mirror. Or something. He’s the award-winning photographer, not me.

Shocking!

Amazingly, it turns out that National Treasure wasn’t a great primer on national history: Great Seal Secrets Revealed!

The Seal will remain at the State Department but the interactive exhibit is designed to travel and curators hope it will dispel the rumors and educate Americans about the real meaning of the symbols.

Among the highlights:

_That known Masons like the first U.S. president, George Washington, and Benjamin Franklin had no role in designing the final seal, which uses elements of traditional heraldry, such as the unfinished pyramid to symbolize a work in progress, arrows for war and an olive branch for peace. Masons share some of those symbols, but they have never been exclusively the domain of the order.

_That the phrase “Novus Ordo Seclorum” below the Roman numerals for 1776 at the base of the pyramid translates as “A New Order of the Ages” that began with independence and does not imply the United States will be the lynchpin of a sinister “New World Order.”

_That the words “Annuit Coeptis” (”Providence favors”) and the eye of providence that hovers over the pyramid refer to unexpected interventions of fate that assisted the colonists in creating a new country.

_That the references to 13 refer to the number of colonies that formed the original United States.

As of yesterday, I am finished with my Christmas shopping, done 100 percent online once again.

You may proceed to hate.