The latest: While I freely admit to helping myself to pikake from a fence next to the sidewalk, and avocados hanging waay over the property line, this is something new. I was on my way to work when I saw a guy on a bicycle. Nothing unusual, but he was headed in my direction when he suddenly wheeled around and headed into a driveway. His accessory was a fruit picker. Why should I be surprised? I hear folks drive around, see a tree full of fruit, and fill up burlap sacks. Prepared for gleaning!

Hadn't seen this before: it was morning, and a young man and an older woman were sitting (in beach chairs) at one corner of the intersection down from where I live. They had what looked like tablets on their laps. I asked what they were doing, and they told me they were counting cars. Um, the dangerous intersections are Keeaumoku and Wilder and Piikoi and Beretania, folks!

We will come home from an evening walk, round the corner to our driveway, and - do you know the word "uji"? If you don't, it means yucky, icky, EWWW - this uji person will be picking up leaves from the middle of the street.

Why uji? Appearance: shorts and tank top not covering enough, greasy ponytail, facial hair. Demeanor: stands at the railing in front of his door, observing the comings and goings of those in MY building. Seen with his fake-flower covered bicycle PERPENDICULAR on the sidewalk.

OK, call me paranoid, but I think this person is purposely doing stuff like this to get attention. Even the husband thinks he's in the street picking up leaves to try to get hit by a car so he can sue. There is more, but it's best if I tell you myself. Uji!

I'll finish with two things from the animal world: first, on our usual evening walk, we saw a flyer for a missing dog. This is sad, but these people went one step further: when I came home from work one day, I heard a voicemail message about the same dog. How did we know? The dog's name was on the flyer and the message!

Finally: I had never seen this, but the husband has. The groundskeeper at Roosevelt HS was running his riding mower over the front lawn. Close behind, an egret followed, gleaning newly uncovered insects. Yum!

In the New York Times Art & Design section, Michael Kimmelman writes about Vergangenheitsbewältigung.

What is it? A German word for coming to terms with the past.

Americans have not even come to terms with the food we eat coming from living things with legs, eyes, brains! What is food elsewhere in the world, we treat as pets.

Arthur Szyk was born in Poland, and lived for a short time in America. He was a Jewish caricaturist and was a fine draftsman and illustrator who skewered his favorite subjects, the Nazis.

I would love to have seen this: "a cartoon for The American Mercury, he depicted a trio of half-naked black African tribesmen, toting shields and spears and fleeing a Luftwaffe squadron. The caption said: “Run for your lives! — The savages are coming!” Which is to say that while he was ahead of his day in championing civil rights, he was also a man of his times."

But, as Kimmelman says, when times change, so do opinion, scrutiny and understanding: "In 1949 he drew two men watching a third walk away: “He is under investigation,” the caption says. “His blood is red, and his heart is left of the center. ... To think of it, we are all in trouble....” Two years later, after the House Un-American Activities Committee began a wrongheaded investigation into his possible Communist ties, he died at 57 — having just produced the most beautifully illuminated version of the Declaration of Independence, a testament to his patriotism."

Read the story here.

Sometimes, when the politics of your country appear incomprehensible, furriners can shed some light (or something) on them. A Brit considers the GOP running mate.  Note that while the majority of commenters appear to be from the US of A, members of the EU and beyond chime in, too.

Unfortunately, the article writer resorts to the "sexy librarian" description (btw, this label was applied to Katie Couric when comparing her various looks - as was "soccer mom") which is guaranteed to rile (to put it mildly) the Manicured Librarian!

Pigeonholes! Stereotypes!! Puh-leeze!

Tell the truth! She's a gun-totin' mama!!!

Another librarian shared a website she employs to buy used books: pennybooks.com You pay a penny for the book and 3.99 for the shipping.

Before and since the semester began at UH, a steady stream of smallish, usually 7x9-inch packages have been showing up in the mail, addressed to the son.

They are coming from half.com, Amazon and even ebooks.com (print on demand). The son tells me these are as much as half what used books in the campus bookstore cost.

This won't work for me. I need NEW books. I admit I like the feel and smell of NEW, of being the first to turn the pages, dogear them if I want, even crack the spine! (I did order one print on demand book, as that was the only way I could get it.)

It doesn't work for me to borrow books from public libraries, as I usually read 2 or 3 at a time, so need more than a month to finish them. Also, when I decide to BUY a book, it's something I think my family and friends would want to read, so I know the book bucks are well spent: at least 5 or 6 people will be reading them - here and on the mainland.

I do miss having access to the academic library and being able to borrow a book for 14 or 20 weeks! sigh