Seven quick takes

• There's nothing better than beef & noodles on mashed potatoes.
• I'm currently on an American history kick (one of my ever-revolving cycle of interests) with this and this. The former is inspired by the Texans who are talking secession - I'm trying to see whether that idea makes sense. The latter is the first in my in-depth note-taking course in American history. Every time I find a date I note it in a file, the goal being a comprehensive database of American history. A happy consequence is that it slows my reading down so more of it sinks in and I have time to make connections and explore side roads. I chose that book more or less at random - I had trouble finding a list of early histories of America, and this one covered the pre-Revolutionary period I wanted to start in. As I come across references to other books and build a bibliography, I'll uncover more early histories.
• Mmm... fresh clean socks.
• Why could a cat pee on a dvd?
• Lisa's off to a Mom's night out - her Mom's group is meeting to assemble meals to take home & freeze.
• When covering Greek myths with the kids, follow Edith Hamilton rather than Robert Graves. He gives all the sick depraved details; she politely glosses over them.
• Did you know the northern states were seriously planning secession back when Jefferson was president?