You can go anywhere in the mails

Does this story remind anyone else of Waldo Jeffers in the Velvet Underground song, "The Gift"?

...and everyone hates the French

Stereotypes the world over, nicely mapped for your pleasure. (Via Ask Metafilter)

Now I lay me down to sleep

Great slideshow of kids' bedrooms across the world. Some have so much, others, so little.

RIP, Mr. Bender

I've always been fascinated by Frank Bender and the work he did, dating back of course to his sculpture that helped them catch John List. RIP, Mr. Bender. Thanks for using your talents for good.

Their Pet Goat

Whatever happened to the kids who were with George Bush on 9/11?

"Drugs."

Bret Easton Ellis on Charlie Sheen.

This story just gets sadder for their kids

Tabloid claims John Edwards will kill himself rather than serve jail time.

Duh

Best comment on Jezebel's story about Elizabeth Edwards not mentioning cheating husband John in her will: "I'm more surprised that it's Thursday."

Resting in peace

Random factoid, because I am obsessed with the late Elizabeth Edwards. Her grave is near that of the first husband of Margaret Mitchell, who wrote "Gone With the Wind." This husband supposedly inspired the character of Rhett Butler in the book.

Of course Edwards was buried next to her teenage son, Wade, and apparently she and John had a 10-foot-tall angel monument built near his grave. Now it will watch over them both.

Time after time

What? They can't find the TIME CAPSULE? That bottle of New Coke isn't getting any younger!

Quiet strength

Aw, Cate Edwards, you sound wonderful, a real credit to your mom. We're rooting for you, but it doesn't sound like you need any help -- you're doing quite fine on your own.

I'd love to read her eulogy to her mom, but can't seem to find anything but one or two quotes online.

Wikileaks condensed

All the good stuff that was Wikileaked, in three and a half minutes.

RIP, Elizabeth Edwards

RIP, Elizabeth Edwards. Your life was in ways wonderful and rich, and you struggled back from the loss of your son, but what John Edwards did to you, while you were fighting cancer and raising two young children, is almost unforgivable.

A friend of mine always said Elizabeth Edwards was not as good-looking as John, but that was said before she saw photos like this, where John looks like a 1970s slease and she looks like one of Charlie's Angels. Looks shouldn't matter of course, but I always found her pretty.

Pass the monkey please

Love this lead in this NY Times obit. But I mean really, who didn't eat monkey and wear a loincloth at age 17?

Still a survivor

I still admire Elizabeth Edwards. There have been plenty of bad stories out about her, but every time I hear her speak I sense a grace that I don't think can be faked.

I have her book, "Resilience," for Kindle on iPhone. Now she has written a new chapter for the paperback edition. I wonder if there's any way to get just that chapter now?

War is hell

Heart-pounding story of rescue under fire in the New York Times. Now this is good journalism.

Moon rock update

I posted about moon rocks kind of out of the blue last week, but now one of the many missing moon rocks has been found in West Virginia.

Auuugh!

Auuugh! The London Olympic mascots are giving me nightmares! But here are some terrifically funny comments about them.

Apparently their names are Wenlock and Mandeville, but I prefer the article's suggestions, which include Warlock and Mandible and Warlord and Matlock.

Hold on to your heart

Damn, there were a lot of articles that tugged at my heart this morning and made me want to hug Kelly extra tight.

Alicia Parlette, who kept a wonderfully engaging journal about her struggle with cancer in the San Francisco Chronicle, has died at just 28. Here's more at her personal page.

I thought her journal was masterful and wished she'd write a book; when she stopped writing in the Chronicle, I worried that she'd gotten worse and would occasionally Google her. I know others did the same. Her mother had died of cancer just three years before Alicia was diagnosed, which made it all the sadder. So young, so young. She was the same age as my friend Ann when Ann died of a pulmonary embolism in 1995.

Mom makes film about daughter's fatal struggle with bulimia.

Dad writes about his two young children accidentally being burned with boiling water.

The 10 dumbest Tiger Woods stories

The 10 dumbest Tiger Woods stories.

The best one is when Us Magazine breathlessly reports that Tiger's wife was seen not wearing her sunglasses and her eyes were puffy. STOP. THE. PRESSES!