Bob Sfougarakis Tetragonopantelonis

That, apparently, is what the Greeks call Spongebob.

So, I'm thinking every other week makes more sense for posting to this blog. I'm starting to figure this out. I have to find the balance between (1) wanting to write about ideas and politics and all things interesting, (2) not having a lot of time to write, and (3) not having much of an audience (thanks, Erik and Cliff for visiting).

It's sad but true that I've been working a lot, with little free time. I really want to find a job and lifestyle that allows for some relaxation, reading, drinking, hanging, and that sort of stuff. But I'm still giving this job some "settling in" time, allowing myself to work a bit harder now until I learn how to do it more efficiently. Barbara works a lot, too, but should be much better off next semester. If things don't ease up, we still have Plan B: move up to the mountains and raise goats.

We had a little Halloween here. Handed out candy to the kids. Barbara was Little Red Riding Hood and I was, um, a woman. I had a hard time answering the question 'who are you?' because I was really just a dude done up in his wife's dress and makeup. Easy costume (except, that is, for the torture of rubbing a charcoal pencil in my eye -- how the hell do the ladies do it?), and fun to get in touch with my feminine side (shoulda seen me dance). Here are a couple of photos of that (along with a couple from the CU football game yesterday, when some Navy jets did a flyover for Veteran's Day).

I'd love to see the kids in their Halloween getups. Please post some photos (Chris and Erik)!

On an unrelated note, I read a nice article the other day that helped clear up some of the misinformation that's flying around with respect to tax policy. Statistics, as they say, are damned lies, and taxes and spending numbers can be spun into any argument. So to help out, here are five hard facts that should set the tone for a healthy debate:

• As a group, the rich pay a greater share of taxes than in the past.
• The affluent are paying more of the taxes because they're making so much more money.
• Corporate taxes have dropped significantly in recent decades.
• The nation's total tax bill hasn't changed much over the years.
• The budget deficit is worse than either party says it is.

The full article, explaining these statements, is worth the read; you can see it here.

On a related note, the New York Times has recently abandoned its subscription-only columnist section. They're all free now. I would highly recommend checking out Paul Krugman's articles -- great liberal fodder. This one, from last week, is particularly nice: Fearing Fear Itself.

You know, a great way to keep up on what Krugman (or others) write -- without having to check the NY Times (or whatever) website -- is to use an RSS reader (Google's reader is best). You can also use it to see updates to all the blogs you keep up with (well, at least Cliff's and mine, right?, or maybe a funny cartoon). It's very easy to do. Just set up the RSS Reader (check out reader.google.com), then when you visit a blog you'll see the RSS symbol near the webpage's address (it's the orange square with a white dot and two arcs in it -- see it up there?). Click that symbol and you can have the blog/column appear in Google Reader only when it updates, along with all your other subscriptions. If you use the iGoogle homepage, you can see them right there too. Very convenient.

Ok, I've written too much. We'll be home in two weeks!