Miracle Fruit Annual Update

I recently replanted my miracle fruit because I felt that it might have reached it's capacity within the original pot.  I must have been on to something because after the re-pot it took off!  For comparison first I'm posting my old photo from June 09 that shows March 09 when I got it and 3 months later.

The shadows might make it hard to make out details but the base is no longer a silly twig, it's several inches taller (currently 12'') and from a different angle it's spread is actually around 22'' so it's spreading more like a tree.  Also, there's new growth everywhere, from the inch segment on the top that sprung up over the weekend to new leaves at pretty much every intersection (new leaves are red so they stand out).  I'm still crossing my fingers for a little white flower to pop out somewhere, though I know that's very optimistic.

Lazy name change

Erik has brought to my attention that I was lazy with my choice of Loddie and I changing our last names.  The following are the rules:


Each party to the marriage may adopt any of the following last names:

• The current last name of the other spouse.
• The last name of either spouse given at birth.
• A name combining into a single last name all or a segment of the current last name or the last name of either spouse given at birth.
• A hyphenated combination of last names.

There are many possibilities given these rules, and obviously I'm only talking about the third rule.  Only a few minutes of brainstorming came up with Arse (ironic to go from foot to ass, right?), Ooaga, Oo, Goose, aGoose, aFoose, and then stretching it maybe Ooaa, Aooga, Shag, Hog...

Submissions in the comments are welcome!

Every choice is a winner...

Once I saw all my options I just started to consider the possibilities!

For my Mom

My mom says I don't blog enough (that sounds pretty strange all by itself) so here's one just for her:

The American Dream

"Seven out of 10 say it is harder to get rich in America today than it used to be, according to the most recent Bankrate.com survey conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International."


The article goes on with a gem like "Back in the Clinton era, everyone seemed to be getting rich" and lists the respondents self-perceived obstacles to achieving prosperity:


27% - too many bills, not enough income
27% - job loss or income reduction
11% - credit card debt
11% - Health problems or medical bills
8% - A setback in investments due to the market
4% - A family disruption
3% - Negative home equity
9% - Other or don't know


Like any survey there's ambiguity in the question which ultimately causes it's own problems.  For instance, what is rich and how are these people conceive of being rich?  If credit cards, bills, and job losses are on their list then they're not worried about being rich, they're just trying to break even and make ends meat as far as I'm concerned.  True wealth, the kind where you don't actually have to worry about money (though many rich people still do worry plenty) is just as hard to make as it ever has been, which is very.  That's why a very very small minority of people are actually rich by any standard I would hold out.  So if asked again, I wonder if 7 out of 10 people would actually say it's harder today than it was a decade ago just to scrape by, because that I'd believe.