Remember Vice President Cheney’s “surprise” trip to Iraq in December? He gave a speech then in a thinly veiled attempt to cheerlead the troops into believing that everything was just fine and they were risking their lives for the right cause. However, it didn’t work out quite as he intended. He was peppered with rather tough, serious questions in a round-table discussion, and during his speech it was clear he was working a tough room when he got to the sure-fire, killer sound bite designed for maximum network impact: Star-Telegram | 12/19/2005 | Cheney talks of progress in Iraq Shouts…

It’s so dark outside, and it’s 11 o’clock in the morning! And naturally, I’m stuck at work while David has one more day off. To add to the kvetchfest, my lunch is later than usual today and the cafeteria will probably be closed anyway, so I’ll have to go off-site. Meanwhile, it’s very foggy and socked in and rainy, and it’s washed almost completely away the memory of bright sunshine. Yuck. Bleargh.

Mmmmmm. That was some good chicken! I started here, and made the Lemon Chicken with Garlic version. We didn’t mess around with making sauce from the pan drippings; an ill-considered decision to bung portobello mushrooms into the pan too early resulted in fragrant, flavorful charcoal in the bottom of the roasting pan. However, the chicken turned out to be delicious and juicy, with crispy skin and tons of herby flavor goodness. In addition to which, we made yummy latkes!! MMMMMMMMMMM!! We pretty much followed the recipe for Shirley Edelman’s Latkes to the letter: Shirley Edelman’s Latkes 5 large potatoes, peeled…

Michigan man bowls third 300 game of life, then dies PORTAGE, Mich. (AP) – He rolled the third perfect game of his life and then collapsed and died at the bowling alley. Sixty-nine-year-old Ed Lorenz bowled a 300 in his first game last night at Airway Lanes in Portage. In the middle of his second game, he clutched his chest and fell over. Efforts to revive him failed. Mom’s a good bowler – just don’t give her any ideas.

Humorist and damn-fine blogger Adam Felber comments on the (mostly harmless) “War on Christmas” and wishes his readers the politically corrected holiday wishes: Fanatical Apathy – Merry Christmas, Mr. O’Reilly… But what I really wanted to do this holiday season was to wish all of you, the readers of Fanatical Apathy, the merriest and happiest of holidays. I hope you get all the gifts you want and give away more than you can afford. I wish you all the best. May your cups runneth over, and may your designated drivers help you clean up afterwards. Remember late tonight, when you’re…

It’s a low-key Christmas here at Chez Geeque. I’ve got 2 pies in the oven, and I’m thinking about making a batch of cookies now that the oven is the right temperature. It’s raining, which is depressing, and I’m listening to This American Life‘s Christmas Spectacular (which may prove to be depressing also, but quirky and entertainingly so). As a bonus, they offer their entertaining “In a world…” promo tags as downloadable MP3s. I’ve been laughing at these all week. Jesus has never had such a happy birthday. Tonight I’ll sing at the evening service at Holy Moly, share some…

No, I’m not bored with blogging, it’s just been hella busy at work this week, and it was hella busy the week before that. What’s that? I was off all last week? Well, I was hella busy completing a lot of Sudoku puzzles. I’ve gotten pretty good at it. Oddly enough, soon after I got hooked on it, David figured out how to play it on TiVo. I guess we’ve both been hella busy with it lately. It’s all Going Underground‘s fault, it is. Blame it on Annie.

Via: Flickr Title: Birds! By: GinnyRED57 Originally uploaded: 13 Dec ’05, 9.38pm PST

Via: Flickr Title: 12-11-05_1309.jpg By: GinnyRED57 Originally uploaded: 11 Dec ’05, 7.12pm PST Christmas bags for the needy