Make that SIXTEEN Gold Gloves

Guess who won the award that means he's the best fielding pitcher in the league. Why, Greg Maddux, of course. This year's is even sweeter because (don't think I enjoy saying this) he played more than half the season with a less than stellar (OK, crappy) Cub team.

Maddux's agent and the Dodgers' GM meet next week. I hope they can come to an agreement on a nice little two-year contract, and I hope they do it fast. I'll feel better when my favorite future Hall of Famer has a roster spot somewhere.

"So up on your feet! Somewhere there's music playing."

Barbara mooning over Cliff ... Bob obsessed with both Barbara and his tuba ... flat-chested Julie complaining about her archrival, Trish the Dish ... Ann making sure everyone at her office calls her "Ms. Romano" ...

Yes, I've discovered the One Day at a Time reruns on OnDemand. I don't know why, but I loved this show.

It's not particularly well written, nor well acted. Everyone yells. But I love revisiting the 1970s hair and fashion. And I seem to recall watching it while I was babysitting and fantasizing about an apartment like theirs, all those little nooks and crannies.

Ladies Rock!

I swear. A lot. I was amused by the fuss about Streisand "dropping the f bomb," because I don't think I've gone a day without doing the same, and before 10:00 AM. For example, as a Cub fan, I believe that the personification of evil is F-ing Steve Bartmann. I've said it that way so many times that I think I subconsciously believe F-ing is his given name.

I love greasy spoons. I am happiest in restaurants where the menu is laminated and where the waitress leaves you a bowl of peanuts while you decide whether you want a burger or a cheeseburger with that beer. I would rather remove my own spleen with a butter knife than eat sushi or drink wine.

I have a very vulgar, perhaps even infantile, sense of humor. My gay friends still very patiently sit through my Brokeback Mountain jokes because even after a year, few things crack me up more than gay cowboys.

And yet, and yet, these are the women I grew up on. These are the women I still admire.

But please don't tell anyone. I have a trashy image to maintain.

"It's always easy to manipulate people's feelings"

That was Laura Bush on C-Span, talking about Michael J. Fox, Parkinson's disease and stemcell research.

But look at this heartbreaking photo and you'll see that the First Lady sure knows what she's talking about. Her husband is a pro at this. These guys probably enlisted to fight terrorism because this President asked them to. Now they are poking fun at a decorated war hero because this President is exploiting a bad joke for political capital. (Even Andy Card has said he doesn't think President Bush honestly thought Senator Kerry was attacking the troops.)

Gentlemen, John Kerry believes that "protest is patriotic." So knock yourselves out. He supports you, even when you don't support him. When you come home and find that your veteran's benefits have been slashed so that the wealthy can enjoy tax cuts, know that he will be one of the lawmakers on your side. After all he has been fighting for veterans for decades. (Remember Agent Orange?) When at night, alone with your thoughts and distant gunfire, and you wonder why you are fighting harder for the Iraqis than the Iraqis are, know that John Kerry wants to bring you home. Gentlemen, he supports you because he WAS you. Like you, he volunteered during a time of war when his country called. His father was a diplomat, his mother's maiden name was Forbes ... he certainly could have pulled strings to avoid service, to put his Yale degree to use like this President did in the long ago 1960s but no, he joined the Navy instead.

A very wise coworker once gave me this advice when it came to navigating office politics: "Don't listen to what they say, watch what they do."

The advice applies to many situations outside the workplace, too.

And, by the way, while I am disenchanted with this war, I remain in awe of everyone who puts on a uniform and puts themselves in harm's way on my behalf. So, Gentleman, thank you. Sincerely.

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/10/31/laura-bush-michael-j-fox/