Dear MSNBC

We get it. Tim Russert was a great man, a giant among journalists, a wonderful father, a loving son, a writer par excellence. We get it. His death was unexpected and tragic. We get it. We've gotten it since Friday. Enough already!

When I turn to my TV for 24 hour news, I generally go for MSNBC if they aren't running "To Catch a Predator" or "Lockup" episodes (which they play more often than they do actual news) because any network willing to give both Tucker Carlson and Dan Abrams their own shows (although Tucker's finally died for apparent lack of viewer interest) deserves my attention at least once in a while. And I did rather like Tim Russert, even if I did recognize his weaknesses. I mean, he's no Chris Matthews. Matthews remains a complete moron. Russert had his moments, true, but as a rule he didn't shoot his mouth off without running it through his internal word-check first.

But it's been over 2 days since Russert's untimely passing. And I'm still stuck on CNN Headline News. Because MSNBC is so devoted to mourning Tim Russert I'm amazed they've been showing the half hourly headlines. And Faux News still makes me want to chuck up everything I've eaten in the past 48 hours. CNN Headline News isn't exactly in depth or even relevant but at least I can find out more or less what's going on other than Tim Russert dying two and some days ago.

And I just looked at the Windows Live Messenger window and discovered that every headline appearing at the bottom is about Russert. I want to grab my one WLM friend and ask her a question but I'm working up the guts to see yet ANOTHER Russert headline...

I am supposed to be at Amy's this afternoon for crafting and fun but as my current project other than some knitting involves wood stain that stinks up the entire neighborhood, I don't know what I'll bring along to do. This wood stain is soooo stinky...how stinky is it? Well, I'll tell you. I did the staining outside. I left it outside to dry. I left it outside a few hours past that. I brought it in at midnight. This morning, I woke up smelling the wood stain. The project was left in my kitchen. I had my bedroom door shut. I'm impressed. Not pleased, but impressed. Hopefully it won't rain for a few more days because it needs several more coats of stain. (I'd leave it out overnight except dew would be a problem.)