Lynch, per Merriam-Webster: “to put to death (as by hanging) by mob action without legal sanction”

The Governor’s life is not in jeopardy. That’s first and foremost. Much as we might fantasize about executing corrupt politicians, that’s not where impeachment trials go.

IANAL, nor am I particularly well informed as to the particulars of the impeachment process. It’s possible that something is rotten in Springfield and the proceedings are grossly unfair. But even a kangaroo court is a far cry from a mob. (It may arguably be mebeliworse, if one is forced to choose between a completely corrupt legal system or individual instances of criminal violence. But they’re nowhere near the same thing.)

You can’t be properly lynched if you’re part of the establishment not even if you’re dragging out of bed by a mob and strung up. Lynching happens to the outsider, the oppressed individual or community. I won’t go so far as to say you can’t be lynched in the U.S. unless you’re black…but it’s really tough if you’re not the member of at least one suspect** class.

* A word that is now reserved (as far as I am concerned) for politicians with serious legal and PR problems.
** Or those that clearly should be.

I will admit that having larvae bore through one’s intestines does not sound like much fun. But if the cheese is sufficiently yummy, it might be worth the risk. It’s not like I haven’t taken my life in my hands before by eating artisanal cheeses.

And I am rather amused by the notation in the Wikipedia clarifying that this cheese is not, in fact, pasteurized.

I have many bad habits, and one of the ur-tendencies, which is at the root of many problems—if not the root, per se—is my inability to balance things. (So much for being a Libra.) Problems that should be manageable become crises. Procrastination and laziness play large roles as well. I doubt I will ever be able to eliminate my tendencies in those directions, but if I can at least reduce them I’ll be in much better shape. I must also try to curb the obsessiveness; even when it’s directed in a somewhat fun/useful direction (as opposed to, say, seeing if any of my flesh friends have updated their LJs in the past five minutes) it’s still not healthy or even a good way to maximize the fun quotient. I have been aware of this for some time. I just haven’t done much about it. There were (are) always distractions to obsess over.

So there it is. 2009 will be a year of improved balance.

* Okay, in addition to. Lose weight, eat better, get exercise, write more, etc. Sort of like resolving to inhale occasionally.

I blame my parents. They’re coming to visit in a few days. The last time they came, the plumbing in the master bath backed up. (Seriously backed up. We have chronic sink clogs, and make somewhat frequent use of the plunger; but on that unhappy day, everything in the bathroom was affected, and we ended up using an alternate bathroom for a couple days. But as periodically annoying as that bathroom can be, if you flush the toilet while the shower’s running the temperature of the water doesn’t change.) So anyway, it’s clearly all their fault.

We got a Christmas tree, and the dogs have not yet attempted to knock it over or eat it. Boo, who we’re pretty sure is the cat responsible for knocking over the tree several years ago, is unlikely to voluntarily wander the middle level unsupervised. We’re cautiously optimistic that the tree will survive until Christmas.

Ah, governors. If they can’t be ethical, at least they can be entertaining.

We used to fly—fly!—to visit relatives. I went from finding flying entertaining (in middle and high school) to finding it a source of general out-of-sortsness as a young adult (I swear, I get North-South jet lag), to outright hating the process. Flying over a holiday weekend only intensifies my hatred. This year, we hosted Thanksgiving for friends. Larry brined a turkey and I actually ate leftovers.

We hung out with various other friends. We did not bring home a new cat. This was not a foregone conclusion. We know our share of cat-pushers. And in October we put Willie to sleep.

I put on Whale Wars as background noise one night, waiting for Larry to come downstairs, and found myself incapable of looking away. (I hate the reality TV thing, and I am typically uninterested in even the less offensive television programs that happen to be reality-based. I like scripts. But there’s something strangely compelling about watching highly dedicated activists, some of whom are such assholes that I find myself sympathizing with the crews of vessels which are almost definitely breaking international laws.)

We went to see the Swedish vampire movie, which for some reason I have fixated upon as the Greatest Phrase Ever™. (I don’t know why; there is nothing inherently amusing about any of the words involved, and there is no particular reason why there should not be Swedish vampires. Certainly there’s a general sense that Scandinavians are nice, second only to Canadians, and niceness is not necessarily easy to reconcile with predation. On the other hand, the nights are long, and there is a predilection for depression which is certainly in line with the mopey vampire of the past three decades.) The movie perhaps suffered a bit due to hype (strictly word-of-mouth hype, of course) but not too much. When watching horror movies, I have found that not-right motion is very creepy, and that tactic was used effectively here with scampering and pouncing that was not entirely within the realistic bounds of human musculature, but close enough that it wasn’t a sigh-worthy exaggeration. I enjoyed the movie a lot, and concur with my dear husband’s appraisal: “that was sweet.”

I came closer to completing an Article of Clothing: a vest I knitted for myself. I have now seamed the back and two front panels together. It looks surprisingly vest-like. I found seaming less painful than expected, and will not fear it in the future. Next up: finishing, in the form of a narrow border and Chinese knots.

I did not blow leaves or take the dogs to the park on Sunday, because it was rainy and yucky. I did take a bath.

I re-read Cyteen (well, I started before the holiday and finished after; but I read a lot over the past few days), because it was mentioned at the Tor blog and I hadn’t decided what new book I wanted to read next. I like it when comfort reading is also good, many-balls-in-the-air reading.

I played Excite Truck. It’s the first time I’ve made use of the Wii. I am a better driver in real life than in video games (which, if it has to be one or the other, is the preferable situation) but this game makes no attempt to emulate reality. I am very good at drifting and can do pretty well on tree runs. Say, rather, that I am very bad at keep on the road, but have a comparatively easy time racking up style points. I never crossed the finish line before Larry—and in several instances, could not make it across in the allotted time—but beat him on points a few times.