To vote for this guy. He’s a left-winger, but he’s taking care of his business!

Speaking of buying things, NPR featured an interview link forthcoming with the current creative force behind Babar the Elephant, Laurent De Brunhoff. You remember the cute elephant from your childhood who lost his mother to hunters and found his way to civilization and then became king and founded Celesteville ?

He’s got a new book out that I will have to order immediately. Apparently in a fashion similar to Gare d’Orsay, Babar decides to turn a train station that has fallen into disuse (because elephants are Republican and they’d rather eat smog than commute communally) to an art museum. The paintings in the museum will look very familar. Along with the book, you can purchase themed notecards and a spiral-bound blank journal to feed your need for Babar artwork.

Becky has placed a moratorium on new purchases because (like most of our peers) we have too much credit debt and we needed to purchase a new sofa, loveseat, chair and ottoman. Storehouse gave us a good deal and good financing, but furniture is SO expensive. Thanks to our (man it took forever) refinancing we are skipping a couple of house payments and will have it all paid off just after it arrives. Becky will do her best to continue curbing my spending impulses and she will find a friend and foe at this website from Abilene’s NBC affiliate that tests as-seen-on-TV products.

From the NY Times:

“Earlier in the day, Mr. Schwarzenegger made an appearance at the California State Fair and Exposition near Sacramento, where he also lauded the accomplishments of California’s workers, but insisted he would not accept money from their unions. “I will never take money from the special interests, from Indian gaming, from unions or anything like that,” he said.

Mr. Schwarzenegger has reneged on early campaign promises not to accept campaign contributions from anyone. State disclosures show he has collected more than $1 million from companies and individuals with business before the state. “I get donations from businesses and individuals absolutely, because they’re powerful interests who control things,” he said today.

He declined to explain the difference between special interests and powerful interests.”

Some guy named Bryan Thompson didn’t like an article he read in Salon.

“By the time that most of us reach our late twenties, we have stopped trying to impress others with our choice of books, music, and films. Mr. Bissell, on the other hand, spends half of the article trying to convince the reader of his intelligence based upon his library, and the other half trying to convince the reader of his independence based upon his CD and DVD collections. Both efforts fail miserably.”