Tyler's Turn Blog

Today I had a woman come in the store with a shopping list — not an uncommon occurrence. She put on her glasses and said, "Do you know if that flower shop over on Yankie street . . . oh, I can't remember it's name . . . anyway, do you think they have any [squinting at the list] Yerba Mansa leaves?"

I said, "I really wouldn't have any idea. However, I do know that we sell Yerba Mate here. That's a South American tea."

Unfortunately, Yerba Mate wasn't what she was looking for, and we still don't know if the flower shop sells yerba mansa leaves. Oh well, I guess I can't answer everyone's questions.

It's hard for me to get worked up over the Alito confirmation hearings. The way I figure it, one of my senators is going to vote for him and the other will vote against. In the end, because the Republicans hold the majority, Alito will be confirmed, and nothing I say or do will make his confirmation any more or less likely.

That said, I did listen to as much of the hearings as I could (or as much as I could stand). And Alito seems to me to be about as good as we can hope for in a Supreme Court justice. He's careful and thoughtful, and appears to rule based on the facts of the case and the applicable law. He generally takes the most conservative stance in his interpretations, meaning he doesn't try to invent new ideas or follow popular legal trends. He simply interprets the law, as judges are sworn to do.

Although, many have tried to paint Alito as an activist judge, there's nothing I've heard that's convinced me he decides cases based on his personal opinions, emotions, or ideologies. He's no Scalia. And he's no Ginsberg. And that's a good thing as far as I'm concerned.

The other night, my spouse Rob and I were watching The Last Time I Saw Paris starring a young Elizabeth Taylor. In the middle of the film, Rob said, "I can't believe how much she looks like Michael Jackson."

I think he's stumbled onto something. All this time, I thought Michael Jackson was trying to look like Diana Ross, but Liz Taylor is one of his mentors. If Michael wanted to look like a woman, wouldn't it be Liz who's practically his adopted mother, instead of Diana who's only an acquaintance?

Take a look at some old pictures of Liz Taylor, and decide for yourself. She really does look a lot like Michael Jackson. Or, more precisely, Michael looks a lot like her -- same eyebrows, same cheekbones, and same nose (well, same nose, before he had one too many surgeries).