Riddle: Something that all four of these things may have: old dishes, British pub, shoulders, poker table. (Answer below.)
Owl Chatter is delighted to report we located a specimen of a highly endangered species: The decent Republican. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine vetoed the anti-trans bill that had passed in the state legislature. It would have restricted both transition-related care for minors and transgender girls’ participation on school sports teams.
DeWine said the “gut-wrenching” decision about whether a minor should have access to gender-affirming care “should not be made by the government, should not be made by the state of Ohio,” rather it should be made by the child’s parents and doctors.
More than a dozen major medical organizations — including the AMA, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association — support access to transition-related care for minors and have opposed the state bans.
I don’t think DeWine could have slept at night if he went along with the hatemongers and child-killers for crass political gains. It’s a wonder all those others can.
Answer to the riddle: Chips.
So we watched Moon last night, starring Sam Rockwell. It was decent but not great. Sam was great. Can’t recommend it.
Checked on the Pistons after that. Holy Cow! They were up in Boston where the Celts are invincible and heavy favorites, like fuhgedaboutit. But when I went online to find the score Detroit was only losing by three, 106-103, and as I was looking at it, they tied it up. It turns out they had been ahead by 19 at halftime. Incredible. But the third quarter was a disaster and the lead dissy-pated. In the end, the game went into OT and the Pistons lost. Whew. It’s loss after loss, but they’re pretty intense lately. Good games.
I tell this story in my law class when we cover notes and drafts (negotiable instruments). I tell them it’s a story about a different type of note – a love note.
When Sam was just a little boy, in 3rd grade, he came home from school one day so upset I got worried. He was drenched in sweat and hyperventilating. I said, “Sam, what’s wrong?” I thought we might have to take him to the ER. He said he was in big trouble. “What?,” I asked. He said he wrote a secret love note to a girl in his class, Amanda, and he was was worried she’d find out it was from him.
Well, that was a relief (for me). I said, “Okay, let’s go over all the details. Sometimes when you do that, you see that there’s nothing to worry about.” I just made that up and had no idea if it was true, but I thought it was a good way to get the story out of him.
“So, what steps did you take to keep it a secret?,” I asked him.
“Well, I didn’t put my name on it.”
“He’s a genius!,” I thought.
“I typed it, so she wouldn’t see my handwriting.”
“Okay.” (This was back in the pre-computer days. We had an electric typewriter Sam liked to play with.)
“And I made sure I was wearing gloves whenever I touched the paper.”
“Why the gloves?” I asked. It was June and 80 degrees out.
He looked at me like I was a complete idiot. “Fingerprints, Dad!”
Of course! Sam had received a “detective kit” for his birthday, so he knew all about fingerprints. (BTW, thanks to the Fisher/Price people, your typical ten-year-old in this country is perfectly capable of pulling off a bank job.)
“Okay,” I said. “It looks like you’re pretty safe. How did you get the note to Amanda?”
He told me he gave it to her friend Emily to put in her book bag.
“What!? You’re dead, Sam! Emily’s one of them. She’s on her team. Of course, she’s going to tell Amanda it was you!”
But Sam said he was absolutely certain Emily was trustworthy. He wasn’t worried about that part of it.
“Alright, alright,” I said. “Sounds good. But let’s say, worst case scenario, Amanda does find out. Why would that be so bad?”
“Oh, no, Dad,” Sam said. ”I put too much love in it.”
Like there could be such a thing.
“Well, what did it say?”
He started pulling little snippets of paper out of his pocket. His teacher that year was a big believer in rough drafts, so Sam made a rough draft of his note to Amanda.
“What’s that one?,” I asked.
“That’s a draft of the note Greg wrote to Erin.” Aha! It turned out this was all Greg’s brilliant idea on the love notes. He was writing to Erin, and Sam was writing to Amanda.
“What does Greg’s note say?,” I asked Sam, and he handed it to me.
First of all, Greg spelled Erin incorrectly: Instead of ERIN, he wrote ERNI.
“Dear Erni,” it began.
I said, “Sam, I’m no expert in affairs of the heart, but it seems to me if you are writing a love note to someone you should spell their name right. How did you spell Amanda?”
Now he was panicked all over again. ”A-M-A-N-D-A,” he said.
“Good! And what did you write to Amanda?”
He said, “I wrote: Dear Amanda, my heart goes for you.”
I said, “Sam, that’s beautiful. You’re only in third grade and you’ve already matched the most beautiful sonnets of Shakespeare. I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”
And he didn’t. Amanda never discovered who sent her the note.
So I tell that story ever semester, and I say “So the next time you are alone with your special someone, and the lights are turned down low, and your favorite song is playing on your iPad, turn to him, or her, and say ‘Darlin’, my heart goes for you.’ And make sure you’re wearing gloves!“
How proud would you be if your little girl stood up to all of Trump’s crap and booted him off the ballot? Here’s Shenna Bellows and her dad Dexter. They’re from Maine. Keep an eye out for her, Dad — it may get ugly.
Sweet smiles to close on. Good night, folks. See you tomorrow.
The Wellington Files 