Mala Fide dotcom

From Merriam-Webster.

Contumacious

Pronunciation: “kän-tü-‘mA-sh&s, -tyü-‘, -ch&-‘

Function: adjective

Date: circa 1600

: stubbornly disobedient : REBELLIOUS

– con·tu·ma·cious·ly adverb

And I’m cute, too.

Along with the Patriot Act, the Department of Homeland Security is now an annoying reality. Everyone behave until we find out what’s going to be considered suspicious behavior.

"Patriotism is often an arbitrary veneration of real estate over principles."

George Jean Nathan

"Irreverence is the champion of liberty and its only sure defense."

Mark Twain

Are your papers in order?

Thursday is the US Thanksgiving holiday. Harboring no illusions about who reads this page, I am thankful for friends and acquaintances like y’all, but what I’m most thankful for is my family.

"Home is the place where, when you have to go there, They have to take you in."

Robert Frost

My family is large for this era; my parents had five children. With marriages, children, and the fact that we’re Cajun (immediate family includes grandparents, your parents sibs, and first cousins), there’s a really big group of folks that have to take me in.

I’m going to spend the next month or so shopping, fighting traffic, and counteracting being driven insane by the Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy with my lounge singer rendition of Let It Snow. But at the end of this annual madness is a happy and effortless day with my family.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Mea culpa. No, really. I’ve managed to kill my fish again.

When I first moved to Houston I brought three goldfish with me; Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup. After I’d been here a while I moved them into a larger tank and added Mojo. Then I had to upsize the bowl I kept them in while I cleaned the tank. I think I rinsed it insufficiently and the soap killed my fish. Mojo and The Girls died over a couple of days and were fed to some local turtles.

I don’t know what happened this time. Le Bec, Tubby, and Bravo have all gone ad patres. Goldfish may not seem like much as pets, but The Crewe were always happy to see me (because I fed them) and were a bright spot in any day. Bravo would lead the way wiggling like a puppy in the top corner of the tank waiting for the food; the very aptly named Tubby would follow thrashing and banging the tank cover; Le Bec would rise to a safe middle distance, ready to dodge back to the bottom of the tank.

I’m going to gather my fishy friends and find some turtles.

Ave atque vale!

I purchased a few new computer games recently. "A few" because I kept returning the ones I didn’t like until I finally ended up with something that I enjoyed. When returning items one is asked for a reason. I tell the truth; "I don’t want it." This inevitably evokes a puzzled silence. It’s not a difficult concept, is it?

I’m a former retail manager and I haven’t been a well-behaved customer since the the corporate office of the Giant, Soulless Chain Bookstore I was working for forced my store to issue $25(US) gift certificates to a couple of people who’d been insulted by a former employee at a party in another city. Obviously the squeaky wheel gets the grease. I started squeaking. I encourage you all to do the same.

Thank you for shopping Mala Fide Mart!

From Merriam-Webster.

Mea Culpa

Pronunciation: “mA-&-‘kul-p&, “mA-ä-, -‘kul-(“)pä

Function: noun

Etymology: Latin, through my fault

Date: 1602

: a formal acknowledgment of personal fault or error

I love being ironic in Latin.