Why I Oughtta

“I don’t want to give birth to anything — including babies.” — Morgan

…especially if you have a tendency to avoid a certain swear word having to do with a specific lady part.

When the weather turned violent and stormy on Tuesday evening, Lori Mehmen, who lives in the small farming town of Orchard in northeastern Iowa, looked out her front door and saw a funnel cloud bearing down — and evidently had the presence of mind to grab her digital camera and capture this shot before taking cover. The local paper, The Mitchell County Press-News, posted the photo on Wednesday and The Associated Press picked it up today.

The Press-News report says no one was injured by this tornado, which was one of scores reported in Iowa and across the Midwest this week, where storms and heavy rains have also produced widespread flooding.

Ms. Mehmen told the paper that her funnel cloud came close to the ground only briefly, then retreated back up into the clouds. Still, the high winds from the storm knocked down trees, damaged crops, and left behind one indelible image.

My fancy article on The Internationalist — a Weekend Pass cover story.

…features pomeranians.

Apparently, this dog belongs to a friend of a friend.

Wait for it.

My brother and I are very different in general.  We don’t look alike.  We’re interested in different things.  He likes girls.  He’s very bookish and academic while I’m very… TV blog.

In any case, sometimes we do share a certain comic sensibility.

Here’s the backstory on this: My brother has never liked animals. I wanted one my whole life. Still do, in fact. When I was little, I wanted to be a dog when I grew up. That never really materialized, but I am still best motivated by food and belly rubs.

In any case, my sister-in-law, much to my brother’s chagrin, is also a dog-lover and launched a get-a-dog campaign. Meanwhile, she also launched a let’s-move-from-Virginia-to-Maryland campaign.

Soon enough, a deal was struck. If my brother agreed to buy a house in Maryland, they would never own a dog. Cut to the chase, they moved to Maryland. My brother is very pleased with the way this turned out.

Fast forward to the recent past, my brother was getting his new driver’s license when he created this on his laptop using their engagement photo and MS Paint (his preferred method of art, if you recall).

Here’s a video of some jubilant gay folks waiting to hear about the California gay marriage ruling. Wait for it at the 3:30 mark.

My article about Los Campesinos! in The Washington Post.