The comments from Dick Durbin regarding Guantanamo Bay, and the lack of reaction from leading Democrats and the newspapers/television, provide a great example of why I really dislike the Democratic Party and pay no attention to mainstream media. Michelle Malkin has a roundup; Hugh Hewitt also covers the bases. Despicable.

On the Chabah front, we've had good news. We got an SBA loan to help pay for some ongoing expenses - wow, is that ever easy! I applied with Bank of America Monday online, got a phone call Tuesday, received a FedEx Tuesday night, returned the FedEx, and had money in my account on Thursday night. What a country!

We've also been updating the site. The product pages now show actual photos of the different color variations. Also, product availability is more closely controlled, so that any order placed can be filled from inventory. We'll be adding more inventory shortly.

Tomorrow, we'll be at a Church sale in Greenbelt, and for Father's Day I'll be at Eastern Market. Should be awesome!

I also get to knock the sh*t out of the old shed - I have to remove the roof so that we can move the walls to a new location. Joy!

Well, we just found out that we're no longer expecting a baby later this year. It's no tragedy - the fetus just never developed. The first stage of pregnancy was confirmed, but it just sort of fizzled out. We're OK - it's not like a 2nd term miscarriage or anything; there was just not much going on. I suppose this is why people wait a little longer to announce things, but I wanted to get the word out earlier and it certainly didn't affect the outcome. We've got our hands full with Artemis, such as it is.

Thanks.

We had lots of Chabah and other news last week.

Well, I have been batoned by Brian, probably because I'm one of the 5 people who read his site daily (natch!). No, really, it's a chain letter type thing that I will answer but not continue (which is 50% more than I usually do). Answer questions, I will:

Total size of the music files on my computer:

Here, let me turn on my TV and boot my Mac mini...it is my dedicated music and movie computer. Not much firepower, but fine for tunes and visualization or non-multitasked movie watching. It rests silently, hidden behind my big screen, awaiting wireless instructions from my white keyboard or mouse. It boots Tiger in 20 seconds...and the answer is...27.55 GB, or 18.4 days, or 5508 songs. That includes a few books on tape, and entire albums captured as a single track.

The last CD I bought:

Last entire "CD" was Dave Matthews Band Stand Up, through iTunes. The last phsyical CD...well, we picked up some CDs in Thailand, but they weren't entirely legit, I fear. The last legit CD I purchased, I believe, was Dave Matthews' Some Devil, simply because it wasn't available on iTunes.

Song Playing Right Now:

Actually, nothing this second. Earlier I had on a mix of my general favorities. Nothing terribly interesting, I'm afraid. iTunes says I listen most to "American Baby" by Dave Matthews Band and "Clarity" by John Mayer a lot.

Five songs I listen to a lot, or that mean a lot to me:

I'll answer the or clause. Start with"Lodestar" by Sarah Harmer, because it was given to me by a close friend, and I used it as the soundtrack for Artemis' birth video.

Second, "Daughters" by John Mayer, as I like it a lot and I used it for our Thailand video (see above left).

Third, "Live to Tell" by Madonna. A funny one, I know, and a song I rarely listen to. Important nonetheless.

Fourth, "Enjoy the Silence" by Depeche Mode. Few songs bring back such startling and fresh memories, but can also be intensely impersonal depending on the setting.

For 5, I am really split. I have my favorite female artists, and somehow Sinead, Tori, Sarah, and Kate are not listed yet. Also, The Cure. This is why picking 5 songs is hard. But, I'll stick with the personal theme and go with "Possession" by Sarah McLachlan. I'll just have to keep "Disintegration", "Jealous", "Upside Down", "This Woman's Work", and similar "Moments of Pleasure" "Close to Me".

No baton passing...