What is the opposite of xenophile?

My Honey suggests xenophobe, but I disagree: love and fear are not opposites. Love and hate, or at least dislike, come closer.

Anyway, whatever it is, I think I'm becoming one.

False Advertising

I tried to post this earlier today, but apparently MySpace had a bad case of hiccups.

I was sitting here, keeping my grandchild company while watching the "Sprout" cable channel - you know, all kid programming, all the time?Anyway, it gradually sinks into my consciousness that there, on my TV screen, is a purple T. Rex dancing around a bunch of preschool-aged children, exhorting the benefits of eating plenty of fruits and vegetables.

The Trouble With Public Schools

I had a serious case of deja vu today.

You see, when I enrolled as a graduate student in Engineering school, I became a student member of the National Society of Professional Engineers.  For student members, the fees were pretty cheap, and it seemed a good idea to have some kind of membership in a professional organization to list on my resumé when I started to look for work.

Visitation

I went back to visit my work friends today. Seems a little strange, having to be a visitor at the place where I used to work. It makes major changes in how you have to conduct yourself.

I HAVE THE POWER!

Sometimes my erstwhile quiet neighborhood sounds like a war zone. Explosions happen out of nowhere. It's not guns, though. The little subdivision I live in was built in about 1972, and I think all of the infrastructure is still the original equipment. About 2 to 3 times a week something in our local electric grid, probably a transformer, blows up, and it sounds like dynamite going off. In fact, one blew up just before I started this blog. I know that's what it is, because the lights blink, and my UPS alarm sounds, just for a moment.

Hate

Something, I'll not say what, got me to thinking about hate today.

I've done it myself - and I'm sure you have too - said, "I hate [pick a name] !" - sometimes decribing the offense or characteristic that sparked the response, sometimes not, depending on how familiar the audience was with the relationship between the speaker and the object of scorn.

Tired of hypocrisy

Even before I became an adult, I found it disturbing that a politician could get elected solely on the basis of opposition to taxes in any form, and for whatever purpose. It seems that all one has to do, to become a "champion of the sheeple," is say "I’m ag’in’ taxes".