I wonder how many pasta machines, breadmakers, juicers, blenders, deep fat fryers, egg boilers, melon ballers, sandwich makers, pastry brushes, cheese knives, electric woks, miniature salad spinners, griddle pans, jam funnels, meat thermometers, filleting knives, egg poachers, cake stands, garlic crushers, margarita glasses, tea strainers, bamboo steamers, pizza stones, coffee grinders*, milk frothers, piping bags, banana stands, fluted pastry wheels, tagine dishes, conical strainers, rice cookers, steam cookers, pressure cookers, slow cookers, spaetzle makers, cookie presses, gravy strainers, double boilers (bains marie), sukiyaki stoves, ice cream makers, and fondue sets* languish dustily at the back of the nation's cupboards.

I wish, oh how I wish, that Molly Ivins were here to cover the Republican National Convention. I want to hear her take on how they claim to be in favor of small business but banned independent souvenir vendors so they could garner all the sales for the campaign war chest. No, really.

She was funny, trenchant, smart, ferociously devoted to Texas and feminism and the ideals of the USA. Some of her best quotes:

<blockquote>Satire is traditionally the weapon of the powerless against the powerful. I only aim at the powerful. When satire is aimed at the powerless, it is not only cruel -- it's vulgar.

"I don't so much mind that newspapers are dying - it's watching them commit suicide that pisses me off.

When politicians start talking about large groups of their fellow Americans as 'enemies,' it's time for a quiet stir of alertness. Polarizing people is a good way to win an election, and also a good way to wreck a country.

There is no inverse relationship between freedom and security. Less of one does not lead to more of the other. People with no rights are not safe from terrorist attack.
 
It is possible to read the history of this country as one long struggle to extend the liberties established in our Constitution to everyone in America.

One function of the income gap is that the people at the top of the heap have a hard time even seeing those at the bottom. They practically need a telescope. The pharaohs of ancient Egypt probably didn't was a lot of time thinking about the people who build their pyramids, either.

I believe all Southern liberals come from the same starting point--race. Once you figure out they are lying to you about race, you start to question everything.

What you need is sustained outrage...there's far too much unthinking respect given to authority.

So keep fighting for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don't forget to have fun doin' it. Be outrageous... rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce. And when you get through celebrating the sheer joy of a good fight, be sure to tell those who come after how much fun it was!</blockquote>

How am I going to get through the next couple months? That's a serious question. I keep getting distracted with outrage and my own triggering. For months on end, we've been enduring a political attack on women's rights, on top of the nonstop rape/culture news from Penn State, the Catholic Church, and Readercon. I don't have much left to give.

How are you dealing with the election news? Any strategies I could adopt, other than not going online or listening to the radio until Thanksgiving?