All about me

Boy, President Obama has the thinnest skin of anybody in politics today:

From Men's Health, 15 tips that will make you "healthier, slimmer, stronger and happier," including my favorite (because it validates what I already do):

1. Eat Bacon and Eggs for Breakfast

Not quite three hours back, and I already feel a fit of nitpicky pique coming on. The Terre Haue Tribune Star had a story about water quality --

Town residents hope to get to the bottom of well-water concerns affecting that northside neighborhood at a public forum Thursday evening.

Gail Phillips, president of the Terre Town Community Association, said the meeting will be hosted inside the Terre Town Elementary School at 6:30 p.m., and the public is encouraged to attend.

Hey, good to be back.

I'm taking some time off. Back at the blogging a week from Monday, on the 16th.

Allow me to be a pedantic nitpicker here. According to a news release from Indiana University, "Despite school referenda failures on Tuesday, Indiana now a referenda state." Boy, that grates on my ears. From the personal blog of Lord Norton, professor at Hull University and member of the House of Lords:

"Independent" should not be used as a synonym for "moderate.":

Just six years ago, only 30 percent of Americans identified as independents. Today, that number is 37 percent.

And while growing so fast (and 7 percent in six years is fast), they are also diversifying very quickly, with strongly divergent views between different groups of independents.

Aww, man; now inflation is hitting me where I live:

That morning cup of coffee is going to cost you more.

Coffee prices are at a 34-year high — $3 a pound.

Yet coffee drinkers plan on grinding out the extra cash because they need that cup of Joe, CBS 2's Pamela Jones reports.

Me, too, I'm afraid. And I buy Dunkin' Donuts coffee, which is pricier than most anyway.

When I lived in Michigan City, one of my favorite places to visit was Mt. Baldy, the magnificent giant sand dune at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Starting soon, there will be less opportunity for such visits. Lakeshore officials plan to restrict -- restrict, not eliminate -- access to the dune:

Guess I can stop feeling guilty about being a grouch when I first wake up, with an even lousier mood when having to cope with chirpy, cheerful "morning person" pests:

Does misery really love company?

An intriguing new study suggests that may be the case.