Sort of a book review

I just finished reading one of the most disturbing books I have ever encountered, John Grisham's The Innocent Man. Normally I don't read true crime books, but my sister (another bookworm) recommended it, so I gave it a chance. I read a lot and I read some pretty macabre fiction, but this is one of the few books that has given me nightmares.

For the uninitiated, it is the story of several men wrongly convicted of capital crimes in Ada, Oklahoma, and their struggle to be released from prison. The main character, Ron Williamson was innocent and had also previously been declared mentally incompetent by the state, yet he was still tried for capital murder (with no real evidence) and given the death penalty. He spent ten years on death row before finally being released.

I have always thought along the same lines that all the men in this book did: if you are innocent and you tell the truth, everything will work out in the end. Not so, apparently. Even after DNA evidence cleared two of these men, the district attorney was still working on ways to re-convict them. How could it possibly be better to the DA to have the wrong person in prison rather than to just admit he was wrong? What a twisted logic.

I am glad that I read the book and it is definitely a story that needed to be told, but I can't say that I enjoyed it. I do have a renewed respect for The Innocence Project and the people in the legal system who were willing to stand up and do what was right. But my belief that justice will eventually prevail has definitely been shaken.

Lawyer up, if you ever find yourself being questioned. Lawyer up fast. That is what I learned.

The cost of smoking

Normally I let Spork do the ranting, but over the weekend while we were buying a stand for our replacement tv, I glanced up and saw that the price of a carton of name brand cigarettes has gone up to $50. I actually yelled, 'FIFTY DOLLARS!" and startled the poor cashier. Ages ago, when I worked in a grocery store, I couldn't believe people were willing to shell out $20 a carton, but $50? No way!

Now don't get me wrong, all the PC-police that want to tell other adults what they are allowed to do with their own bodies can just get bent. But my inner cheapskate nearly fell over and died at the thought of $5 a pack cigarettes. Yowza! I guess I finally found the one benefit of suffering serious migraines during adolescence: I couldn't stand to be around any type of smoke, so I never once tried smoking.

$50!?! Great googley-moogley.

Bye-bye blackberries, hello salsa! (And other miscellaneous ramblings)

We've gone from harvesting berries to harvesting peppers and tomatoes, here at the stuga. This was our first batch, a nice pico de gallo. I also made a batch of roasted tomatillo salsa, but didn't think to take a picture until after it was all consumed (there might have been some beer involved). You'll just have to take my word on its awesomeness. And oh, it was awesome.



There was a group birthday party on my side of the fam over the weekend. Since there are so many of us, we batch them to keep from going insane(r). My birthday was included, but us old folks let the youngsters, Kyle and Emily, do the candle extinguishing.



Earlier this spring, I bought an unlabeled rose (a pity purchase - who else would take it?) and have been admiring its unnamed blooms all season. I finally ID'ed it last week after spending a ridiculous amount of time on the gardenweb rose forums.

Insert silvery trumpets: Dum da da dum! I present to thee the hybrid tea, First Prize!



We are still seeing our foxes fairly regularly. We know now that there are two (mother and baby), but the only pictures we got of them together are pretty grainy. Baby is big enough that we can't tell them apart unless they are together (and baby is being chastised). So here is one of 'em, chowing on some birdseed.




And since you asked so nicely... Yes, that is the bottom of my palm tree bird feeder pole, prominently featured in an issue of Birds & Blooms this year. Thank you for noticing!

Today is National Gingersnap Day

Who knew? Apparently I've gone my entire life without celebrating a whole slew of national food holidays. Why, in June alone I missed:

• National Candy Month
• June 3 Donut Day (1st weekend in June)
• June 7 National Chocolate Ice Cream Day
• June 14 National Strawberry Shortcake Day
• June 16 National Fudge Day

I wonder if any of them are considered work or school holidays? July 11, National Blueberry Muffin Day, should definitely be a day off, primarily because July 10 is National Pina Colada Day. I'm really miffed that no one told me February 22 is National Margarita Day. I would have celebrated the hell out of that one. I'll probably abstain from August 28, National Cherry Turnovers Day, because of a personal aversion to cherry filling, but I'm so there on November 12, National Pizza with the Works Except Anchovies Day! I'm especially looking forward to December 30, National Bicarbonate of Soda Day. I'm sure the parties will be effervescent.