Howell News -- WHAT A WEEK!!!

So, where to begin... This has been a really big week for our family. Huge, actually. First of all, the Red Sox maintain a 7 1/2 game lead in the AL East as of this writing, which is important, as the Yankees have been on an absolute rampage lately. Granted, they have been playing some fairly pathetic teams (KC and Tampa), but it's still important to keep that cushion. Brittany and I both think the Yankees will catch the Sox by September, and that the Sox will have to depend on the wild card for their playoff berth, but we'll just have to see how the next few months play out. Schilling's rehab is going well (he says he has more "pop" on his fastball than before he got hurt) and Manny is starting to get hot (he hit the third longest home run in the history of Jacobs Field in the game against the Tribe a few days ago).



I should also note that there continues to be a lot of rancor about Iraq in both the house and the senate. Neither party seems to have a clue what to do, so for now, we are stuck with the President's position, which is to keep doing what we've been doing for the past 4 years. Eventually the parties will have to call him on his bullsh*t and force some end to this awful occupation. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that a guy who was doing coke (not the kind that comes in a can) and relying on his daddy's connections to avoid Vietnam should have failed to learn the lessons of that horrible and costly war. This war will cause America to step back 50 years in our foreign relations, and I doubt whether I will live to see the day when we have recovered from the mistakes of the past 5 years. Arrogance is no substitute for knowledge, grasshopper, and force is no substitute for wisdom.



I was thinking of buying a gas-powered lawn mower, but ultimately I decided to stick with my man-powered lawn mower. Not only do I feel less "Al Gore guilt" (Brittany's label), but I actually enjoy the effort of mowing my own peice of earth -- Howellacre. My lawn mower makes a whirring sound that simply can't be replicated by a gas (or even electric) mower. I may change my mind after we re-sod the back yard and I triple the size of Howellacre, but I will burn that bridge when I come to it. Mower selection aside, the important point is that doing a good job on the trimming and edging (two distinct arts, you must know) is far more important than my ruminations on mower selection. Trimming and edging are like the punctuation in a sentence -- the meaning of the grass, the feeling of the yard, the peace foretold by the blades of grass -- all are born of these finishing touches. Not to wax too poetic, mind you, but you see that this is a topic I have considered in depth. To mow is to live.



We are almost out of toilet paper. I never know how much to buy, as I feel like people look at me strangely when I am in line at Jewel with three 24 packs of Charmin... "Hey buddy, maybe instead of buying all that TP, you should eat less pork!" Don't think I don't hear you -- it cuts me to the core, Baxter. I know they are right, which is why I usually only buy one 24 pack at a time. Perhaps I should start shopping at Cosco, where everyone in line is buying toilet paper by the pallet. I would certainly feel less out of sorts with my own pallet of TP, and wouldn't need to justify buying hemoroid cream by the gallon, which is really the only way to buy it if you care deeply about value, like I do.



In other Howell news, Sophie's diaper is poopy and full of corn.