a beautiful saturday morning

my little brother evan turns 16 today (i don't have any recent pics scanned in). evan lives in halifax, nova scotia and i missed his visit to the states over christmas because of my ridiculous work schedule. so this summer i will hopefully visit him on his tiny canadian penninsula and see if he is taller than me yet. he almost was last summer.

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it is a beautiful day. not a gloriously sunny day with not a cloud in the sky. but an almost chilly day with everything clean and damp from yesterday's rain. the air smells fresh and the birds are singing in the trees. amanda, joe and i mosied down to farmer's market. slo's saturday farmers is my favorite. and there is always someone you know to chat with (today it was johnny b and markus and zach). and the girl who sells me tomatoes (and today i added basil and brown jumbo eggs) recognizes me now from my hat. "there's that hat again," she said sweetly this morning.

the hat is an old nike cap that i've always loved, but hated the logo. so i covered with a felt heart that everyone seems compelled to comment on.

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yesterday i got to leave work two hours early. and as it was misty and rainy i bundled up in my bed and finished my book. what a great afternoon/fun read. i totally cried near the end -- which caught me by surprise. but you gotta love a writer that can actually make you cry while reading. that doesn't happen very often.

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illinios govenor jim ryan (r) pardoned four men on death row yesterday after determining that all four had been tortured into confessing to crimes that they did not commit. torture included beatings, electric shock, and being smothered. today he commuted 160 inmates death sentences to life in prison.

i want to write that man a letter and shake his hand for doing the morally correct thing in the face of a state and nation that still supports (no -- demands!) the death penalty. that took some guts.