2.14.2008

Holy Shit

After Chris received a text message from a friend, we have been searching the news sites and watching the news shows to learn about what happened at Northern Illinois University. They don't have that much information as of now, but I'm exceedingly glad to hear that the shooting did not take place in Reavis and that all of the people I care about are not injured. Hopefully all of the wounded will be taken care of and the casualties will end with the gunman. Hopefully NIU will pull together and everyone in campus will heal as much as they can as quickly as they can. Hopefully we will learn the gunman's motives so that there might be some sense of closure or at least a step toward meaning in this senseless ordeal. Hopefully this is the last school shooting for quite some time, dare I say ever?

2.06.2008

Wordplay


I've constructed a crossword puzzle! It's not very good. Here are the clues:

Across
1. Baking or Fountain
5. ____fall, comedy staple
9. Calamari
14. Dance from the Pontos region
15. Makeover
16. Tosses out
17. Bassist Query for 35 Across
18. Leave out
19. "M*A*S*H" Iowan's nickname
20. "____ Hill," song by 35 Across
23. Home of Ben Gurion International Airport
24. Give off
25. "____ Driver," song by 35 Across
28. Prefix meaning halfway
29. Neighbor of the black kettle
32. Not sat or laid
33. Rival of MSN
34. "Leather and ____," Stevie Nicks and Don Henley duet
35. Band from 48 Across
39. Chocolate and caramel candy
40. Singular European mountain range?
41. Artist's support?
42. Comm. by hand
43. French Mrs.
44. "Do You Want to Know a ____?" song by The Beatles
46. Capital of Ukraine
47. Flightless bird
48. "Rose City," home to 35 Across
55. Turn on your heel, maybe
56. Place to suckle
57. Horse with an injured leg
58. Inspector Javert's grave
59. "O Roma o ____!" a cynic's take on Garibaldi's motto
60. Hamlet's lament for Yorick
61. Forest of "As You Like It"
62. Several hearty loaves?
63. It refracts light

Down
1. "____ for Myla Goldberg," song by 35 Across
2. Actor Sharif
3. Android from "Star Trek: The Next Generation"
4. The most successful Baldwin brother
5. Rooting for an inmate?
6. Created again
7. Mine entrance
8. "Married ____," film featuring 4 Down
9. Vile
10. 2 pints
11. Food safety watchdog
12. Fancy typography, Abbr.
13. Org. to find your test-tube sister
21. Omit a sound
22. Naturalist Zola
25. A mode of persuasion
26. Train isn't running in Chicago at Christmas?
27. "____ that voodoo that you do so well!" Hedley Lamarr order
29. Isn't fashionable anymore
30. Apu and Manjula's clan on "The Simpsons"?
31. Instructing an émigré from the USSR?
32. Icelandic straw
33. Electric guitar necessity
34. "Billy ____," song by 35 Across
36. Transportation for a legionnaire?
37. Onetime venue for Colin Meloy
38. Happen again
43. Glove alternative, favored by kittens
44. Dose with morphine
45. Overacts
46. Danish dollar
48. Hyde Street ____, near 20 Across, sung about by 35 Across
49. Author of "Metamorphoses"
50. Mexican footballer Castillo
51. Israeli airline
52. Strong wind
53. Nation on the Arabian Peninsula
54. Untouchable Treasury Department star
55. "The More You Know…," e.g.