Mprovising

Do we really have to say it?

2007-11-20T12:57:32Z

Yesterday, Michael Vick surrendered himself to custody, prior to his sentencing, and with a minimum sentence, time off for good behavior, and time served, Michael might be in a halfway house by next August. Bank rolling a dog fighting operation is indefensible. Culling wounded and weaker dogs with a group of your friends is heinous. Still, even as the dehumanized caricature spends his next ten months in jail, hopefully in solitary confinement, dogs will continue to be neglected by breeders, irresponsible owners, and dog track operators.

Last week, Barry Bonds was indicted for perjury (among other charges), for his alleged involvement a performance enhancing drug ring. The indictment, which has been simmering for years, may prevent Barry from playing baseball professionally ever again.

A few weeks ago Marion Jones surrendered her Olympic medals and tearfully admitted her complicity in a doping scandal. I'm not the most competitive person, with an occasional Scrabble game notwithstanding, but people who thrive on the need to win have, in general, always seemed to give off the same vibe as cocaine addicts. For Marion and Barry, if Barry is convicted, I think the business of winning hads more to do with their decisions than say softball guy stretching a double into an inside the park home run on Friday night after a couple of beers.

Here's my problem, though. Each of these high-profile cases illuminate serious problems within our culture, but there are so many more vile criminals who never pay for their crimes. Dick Armitage never stood for trial, and Scooter's sentence was commuted for his involvement and subsequent perjury in the leaking of Valerie Plame's identity. Hell, people have probably been tortured, or worse, over the last six years at the behest of the current administration, and they may never be made to answer for their crimes.

I wish Americans who love their dogs would love their own Constitution nearly as much. Also, I'm sure glad Mark McGwire and Floyd Landis never used performance enhancing drugs. Now, who wants to hit the dog track with me?

Here we are now, manipulate us!

2007-11-16T12:58:59Z

With a nod to TRMS, I'd like to share a great piece of propaganda. I'm not quite sure why the "Animaniac" runs twice, other than to reinforce the viewer's indoctrination.

Still, the Democratic Party could use much more framing of this ilk. Who knows, with constant pressure and few more people speaking up, even the Democratic leaders might begin to understand and follow their own political party's principles.

In honor of the senior Senator from Illinois

2007-11-15T14:06:58Z

A little early morning Devolution, and yes, I'm aware of the misogynistic tones of the of the passive woman being whipped by the adolescent male in the video. Still, what's up with the cowboys and the cross-eyed lady?

Whip it good!

2007-11-14T18:50:19Z

With my son feeling a little under the weather, I'm home at one in the afternoon on a Wednesday watching C-SPAN. What else would I be doing?

Senator Dick Durbin, the Majority Whip, is tearing into Saxby Chamblis' arse.

When I tuned into the U.S. Senate feed, Slacks-bie was moaning about the fate of the Farm Bill, with a recess looming. He spoke at length about the importance of the Farm Bill (even his grandstanding fell short of weighing the full measure of the Farm Bill), and then he criticized Democrats for refusing to get the bill out of committee.

A few minutes later, Senator Durbin spoke from the floor of the Senate and listed more than a half-dozen bi-partisan or outright Republican amendments to the Farm Bill that Senator Chamblis had refused to bring before the Agriculture committee, leaving Senator Harkin with the distinct impression that Senator Chamblis didn't wish to have a filibuster-proof Farm Bill before the full Senate.

Agriculture is a key element of the economy of my state, and so many of those rural voters overwhelmingly support the Republican party in spite of their best interest. I wonder whether their blind devotion will waver with the spinrg plantings being delayed by political maneuvering. Probably not at all, which is a shame.

Both of my Senators upheld the President's veto of the S-CHIP legislation a few weeks ago, and Saxby has more than four million in his war chest already for next year's elections. The cost for the war in Iraq may have already cost us more than trillion-and-a-half dollars, but the President, who so many of the same rural voters of this state still support, vetoed the Health and Education Bill, claiming that it was rife with pork.

Avoiding solutions, delaying important decisions, and running up the profits of military contractors like Haliburton and Blackwater, this is why Saxby has raised more than eight times the amount of the next closest Democrat for the '08 election, WTF?

On bended knee

2007-11-14T13:36:43Z

My governor held a prayer vigil yesterday, and even though I work only a few miles away, I didn't join a group protesting against the empty gesture. I'd like to think that not raising my voice to jeer has more to do with meetings and deadlines, but its probably a combination of apathy and a respect for the first amendment. I have strong doubts that a delusional and corrupted sense of piety will bring an end to the drought, but how Sonny chooses to spend his lunch hour is his own business, for the most part.

What I have done is written notes to my State Representative and State Senator in the General Assembly asking that certain exemptions from outdoor watering bans be reexamined and removed.

To be honest, I'm more concerned with a proposed sweeping tax reform that seems terribly regressive.

Two notes

2007-11-08T13:15:53Z

I'm not saying they're necessarily connected in any way other than the involvement of death and "animals," but for me, the treatment of each seems to say something about the rest of us.

Fup the cat seems much admired through her obituary (I may never have such kind words in my own obit), and the Taxidermy Tour also somehow glorifies the passing of creatures, though in a more pornographic manner. I try to avoid seeing mutually exclusive ideas expressed in similar ways; bifurcation dulls my sense of subtlety. Still, there's an almost undeniable line drawn between the two notes and our own connections to the sweet hereafter.

What's the color of your parachute?

2007-10-31T11:57:16Z

As early as last Friday I heard that the CEO of Merrill Lynch was resigning because the bank had lost more than the gross domestic product of many third world countries in the sub-prime mortgage debacle. Until yesterday, I hadn't heard an actual figure for his "retirement" package. I haven't been asked to leave a lot of jobs in my life, but even when I left under good terms, I've never taken more than $160 million in stock options with me.

You see the disastrous failure of sub-prime mortgage industry has had a personal impact on friends and family who have seen banks and brokers shut down whole businesses. The risk for larger banks has been spread out as they sold the mortgages to financial institutions outside of the United States, but the full impact may have not yet been felt.

Once I saw a bumper sticker that read, "Rugby players eat their dead". I wish the boards of multinational banks could say the same.

Self-righteous indignation

2007-10-30T02:38:38Z

Senator Barack Obama continues to catch heat for a series of campaign events that included someone with alarming personal views about their own sexual orientation. The great thing about America is the freedom we have to express ourselves. Certainly, we do not exercise the freedom often enough, and we take it for granted that everyone must either think just as we do or have some severe learning disability, penchant for cruelty, or just plain simple ignorance. I truly believe that the spirit of the first amendment should never be forgotten in our rush to define ourselves, answer our critics, or express our views.

Some of the people who slapped on the bumper stickers and began wearing the t-shirts months ago for Obama's campaign are upset. Some of the people currently contributing to Obama's campaign are upset. My personal beliefs on the subject are simply my own, and no matter how fervently I hold on to them, they may never shift another person to my way of thinking. It doesn't invalidate them. They are my personal beliefs.

I live with the alienation from my atheism every single day. In a lot of ways, it makes me more tolerant, which is probably a kind of masochistic failing on my part. I deal with the world around me in all sorts of quirky ways, and I go on about my brief life with as much happiness as I can find.

I didn't like my preferred candidate going on a gospel tour to raise money for the campaign I support, but I'm pretty sure Barack doesn't think the world is only a few thousand years old like Governor Huckabee. I don't think the office of faith based initiatives is going to last under an Obama presidency, and I don't think I'll see the world in the same light as every single member of his cabinet, should he be so fortunate. Still, I believe in the audacity of hope beyond my own indignation.

Defending the indefensible; the truth about a dirty lacuna

2007-10-26T13:07:11Z

Nope, this isn't a story about the Alamo.

The Secretary of State of the United States appeared before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to discuss reigning in Blackwater this week. Five years into the occupation of Iraq, the Secretary of State has suddenly been made privy to a lacuna in our legislation that literally sets Blackwater above the law, regardless of the behavior of its representatives in Iraq.

Despite the seriousness of the subject, I was laughing hysterically at Rachel Maddow's take on the Secretary of State's dirty lacuna. If you've never tuned into the Rachel Maddow Show, do yourself a favor and stream the first seven minutes of the show from October 25, 2007. Yesterday's show is only going to be available for free for the rest of the day, but it is hilarious.

Faux News

2007-10-25T11:57:22Z

Stupid is as stupid does, I guess.

Yesterday I heard the shrub and the white house criticize Cuba for human rights abuses. Are you kidding me? The pot is calling out the kettle, on human rights abuses? Some folks have no shame, but you almost can't count on the press to call out the obvious anymore.

The fourth estate has a serious responsibility in this country, but their silent complicity helped lead us into the current quagmire in Iraq. Well their silence and our complacency. Honestly though, what about the Valerie Plame fiasco? I have to ask myself sometimes, why would anyone take these guys seriously?

Maybe next time

2007-10-25T02:11:03Z

On the way home, I made a quick dash into the Farmers' Market. I needed a handful of potatoes, some fresh herbs, a bundle of collard greens, and few pieces of fish for dinner. Earlier today, I had clicked on the "Dining" link along the bottom of the New York Times site and watched someone called "The Minimalist" throw together mashed potatoes and monkfish. The dish seemed simpler than waiting for homemade soup to be served off the stove, and I'd seen monkfish prepared a couple times on The Food Network. How tough could it be?

I grabbed a basket, found just about everything I needed, and took a number at the fishmonger's counter. You can find almost anything that swims in those cases, and while I was waiting to be served, I strolled around to see what was on ice. My curiosity was rewarded with some amazing sights, and my walk ended in front the recognizable monkfish fillets. There was a brief description of the flavorful flesh, along with several tips for preparation. I was going to be out of the market in no time at all, and I had a bounce in my step.

Then, something below the description caught my eye. For some reason, a picture of the monkfish was displayed under the fillets, and it was a deal breaker.

I wandered over to the butcher's counter, grabbed a steak, and wondered what might have been.

Looking for help

2007-10-24T14:38:32Z

It takes an awful lot of arm twisting to turn me away from my swine cravings. Ribs, loins, roasts, let's face it pig is delicious.

Monday I grabbed lunch at a local barbecue joint who had a really good brisket, but their ribs were a little disappointing. Well, to be honest, as disappointing as juicy pork with a smoked bacon flavor dripping in spicy barbecue sauce can be; people are fickle when it comes to ribs. When I smoke ribs at home, I prefer a slightly warmer smoke, leaving the membrane on the back of the ribs, and mopping plenty of apple cider vinegar, dry ground yellow mustard, and brown sugar on the meat. Anything different, and it's like sitting behind the wheel of your car with the steering column too low or the driver's seat too close to the dashboard.

Back to the pig though, I've tried to kick it entirely in the past, and it worked for a while. There's something about the aroma wafting from a wood fired smoker that always brings me back to pig with a cold beer and an appetite.

This morning I heard about Tom Tancredo demanding that ICE agents crash a news conference held by Senator Durbin, where illegal immigrants will be speaking. I almost wish that it was a campaign stunt as Representative Tancredo vies for his party's nomination, but his position is pretty clear on the subject. It makes me wonder why he can't turn that same focus on businesses who rely on the illegal immigrants as a crucial component to their workforce.

I realize ICE is cracking down on Illegal workers, but isn't it more responsible to persuade businesses to curtail the practice of hiring undocumented workers, Mr. Tancredo? Of course, conservatives have spent decades dismantling labor unions in America, and I think that that those short-sighted decisions are playing into the need for undocumented workers in certain industries.

Earlier this month, The New York Times published an article discussing the difficulties a slaughterhouse in North Carolina was having with employee turnover. The article didn't come right out and say it, but it seemed pretty clear that the slaughterhouse attempted to quell a burgeoning labor movement by threatening illegal workers with arrest and deportation by ICE, which is made even more despicable with this tasty quote:

Last November, the company notified 640 employees that their identity information did not match government records. In January, federal agents arrested 21 workers at the plant, and in August, helped by information the company provided, agents arrested 28 more, many at home.
Mr. Pittman said cooperating with immigration officials “serves our goal of 100 percent compliance 100 percent of the time.” But for many families, the cooperation has come at a price.

I don't think I buy Smithfield products, but how can I be sure that swine on my smoker or on my breakfast plate didn't find their demise at the Smithfield slaughterhouse?

Income inequality

2007-10-23T11:45:53Z

I mentioned the shrub's "skills gap" comments a week ago with some disdain, but it might have been made more clear by providing more information based on the report.

It's like setting up a blind date between a eunuch and a melancholy mother superior

2007-10-23T08:46:01Z

Recently, I've been trying to facilitate an introduction between an acquaintance and a new friend. The acquaintance I met through a local activists' group, and the new friend, I met (wow, now that I think about it, they're not such a new friend) online.

The acquaintance fought in the Spanish Civil War, and even after all of the setbacks he's seen the left suffer during his lifetime, he still passes out Marxist leaning fish-wrappers to folks he hardly knows in Atlanta, Georgia. We're all living to connections to the past, but listening to him speak is a treat; simply having met one another has been special for me.

My not-so-new friend's sympathies lean to the left, and from decades of research, her framework for the period seems strong and vivid. She has been reading The Liberator (1918-24) in the Manuscripts and Rare Books Library of a local university, and listening to her describe the turmoil surrounding the lives of people whose names I barely recognize is moving.

From the mutual interest they share, it seems clear to me that they should meet one another, but the acquaintance isn't the easiest person to reach. Once the activists' group we shared demonstrated a complete inability to pull off even the semblance of a somewhat organized meeting, I found excuses to be in other places. Now, since my acquaintance doesn't seem comfortable returning my emails, it seems I'll have to subject myself to hours of rambling just to help get these two knuckleheads together.

More than just another reason!

2007-10-22T14:00:44Z

All of my self-absorbed blog entries aside, I consider myself to be pretty empathetic, but every once in a while, domestic news seems to strike particularly close to home. Last Friday, a Massachusetts Superior Court Judge ordered an online ticket broker to release the personal information of more than ten thousand individuals who have used the service to buy or sell New England Patriots tickets.

First, I must say that I dislike many New England Patriots' fans. The last two times the Patriots played my home team, their 'fans' have been rife with bandwagon wannabes who fell in the love with the Patriots somewhere between their second or third Super Bowl championship in less than four years; Johnny-come-lately fans are simply too transparent to enjoy their company.

Second, I must also admit that I've praised the Patriots' business model dozens of times over the last three or four years. The owners used private money to finance the construction of their new stadium. The owners don't just have final say about the players and coaches on the field, they can pick and choose Vendors, negotiate contracts, and enjoy a lot more autonomy than my home team's owners. The Patriots share of the proceeds for everything from tickets and parking to drinks and food is greater than my team's. It's a smarter investment than threatening a municipality with the eventual movement of a team, if they don't match a share of the cost of a new stadium or arena.

Third, I must confess that I've had season tickets to my local NFL franchise for years, and until this spring, I've behaved more like one of those crazy guys you see in sitcoms and movies than I should have, holding draft parties, attending training camps, and turning every single tailgate into a Bacchanalian feast. Even in the bleakest of seasons, I managed to enjoy myself with sincere enthusiasm.

Yet, all of the joy I've taken from watching the NFL is nothing compared to my fierce devotion to the Constitution. The Constitution is more than the embodiment of the reification of America. The Constitution illuminates so many of the ideals I hold dear, and it's a living document. Sure, I'll never understand prohibition or why the fourteenth amendment means so much to corporations, but on whole, the Constitution deserves to be celebrated for its elegance.

A state law in Massachusetts prevents, which prevents anything more than a modest increase in the asking price for tickets that are being resold, was used by the Patriots' owners as the basis for their suit against StubHub. My season ticket holder agreement, for instance, forbids scalping per se, but the team provides a link to StubHub directly from their website. Over the years, I've seen folks dragged off to the pokey for simply holding a pair up for sell outside the dome before a game, but it's a city rule, not an NFL rule.

So why does the ruling have me up in arms? It's a slimy electronic violation of the fourth amendment. I'm uneasy about someone being able to find more information about me with a couple of well-aimed internet searches than my closest friends know, and the rise of companies like Choice Point is simply disappointing. A couple years ago, the NFL asked that teams search everyone entering an arena for a game, and some fans from Tampa Bay filed suit, alleging the searches were unlawful. I need to look into to how the case is moving along, and we all need to be more wary of any entity asking a judge to release our personal information for just about any reason.

Redemption

2007-10-21T17:39:06Z

There are plenty of great reasons to own your place, but one of the biggest drags has got to be repairing things that break. I'm not completely averse to calling in the calvary for the really big jobs like installing a new heating and air conditioning system or replacing the hot water heater, but most of the time, I end up playing the roles of project manager, unskilled tradesman, and gopher as soon as something breaks.

Last week, we had a quote for a job from a plumber for more than a thousand dollars in repairs. A few years ago, I might've gotten a couple more quotes and stroked a check, but what's the point in having all those strange tools that seem to collect over time, unless you take advantage of the opportunity to use them once in a while? Besides, if someone is going to charge you a thousand bucks to fix something, there probably aren't many things you can do to make the situation worse.

So, I grabbed an armful of tools and tackled the problem, which involved my crawling into dark and dusty corners of the house that aren't seen very often. I set up a couple lights, took a closer look, and went to work.

First, let me say that once plumbing goes awry it's filthy business to put straight. A section of piping had to be removed, which put plenty of those specialty tools into action. I will not attempt to describe the smell, but as the first drops of fetid water began seeping out the opening I was creating, I'm glad I didn't have my cell phone and the plumber's telephone number at hand. It was touch and go for a few seconds, as I began the realize what the next few moments of intimacy between the house and the owner were going to entail, but I persevered.

Before it was all over, I was covered in some of the same stuff Andy Dufresne must have crawled through to get out of Shawshank Prison, and I felt something of the liberation and relief wonderfully depicted by Frank Darabont.

I'm washing my balls as I write

2007-10-20T04:24:00Z

Since I'm probably the only person I know who posts to Live journal and owns a set of golf clubs, I feel compelled to weigh in on the side of golf. With some determination, training, and a little luck, almost anyone can start a mower, fill an ice tray, or flip a pancake, but none of those things compare with the feeling of crushing a small dimpled ball off the tee. I'm not saying that catching the pancake at just the right moment isn't great, but if you miss it, you just slip it into the middle of the stack. Releasing all of the potential energy from a backswing with some semblance of control . . . it's a thing of beauty, and those last forever, if Keats was correct.

Let's say you're not a Tiger Woods wannabe, with twenty-first century drivers in your bag that would put most airplanes to shame; you still have to contend with dog-legs, water hazards, and bunkers that dare you to misjudge the distance . . .the wind . . . the club . . . or your own swing.

For now, my favorite course is just about any executive with plenty of par three holes. It's not the because I can thread a ball down a narrow fairway with any accuracy. Seeing the green in front of me without any creeks, sand traps, or rotating windmills allows me to relax at the tee, forget about overswinging, and drive through the ball with authority. It's tremendously gratifying, made even sweeter by my inexplicable tendency to hook just about every thing I hit. What can I say, I'm a dead pull hitter.

The wino selling used balls at the third tee of the course I play is continually treated to an underwhelming display of my use of thirty-year-old golf clubs. My irons are blades from an age long before engineers began broadening the sweet spot by playing around with unusual metallic alloys. I replaced the grips, but shafts are original; the seven iron has a wicked curve, where the previous owner must have pulled a Judge Smails at some point. I paid $25 for the set to some guy who who seemed to be planning for retirement by unloading all kinds of stuff on Craigslist, and immediately upon leaving the Kentucky Fried Chicken parking lot, I couldn't shake the feeling that I had somehow just been cheated into paying more than the clubs were actually worth. If I played more often, it might be ironic that my clubs are still better than my game.

I'm wandering from the point, I guess. Most of you are more concerned with the waste of natural resources and non-point source pollution from fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides than my Rosencrantz-and-Guildenstern-Are-Dead-esque predictability of putting the ball on the left side of the fairway off the tee.

I can't defend the decision to use water to keep lawns green in the midst of a drought. Even the economic argument some public officials offer regarding the cost associated with re-sodding fields for schools withers under the harsh light of our drought. Still, if you've read The Botany of Desire, you might expect a question like, "Any of you enjoy french fries?" How do you feel about Russet potatoes in general? Where do you stand on the irrigation debacles in Washington or Oregon? Do you still eat blue berries, green beans, or apples?

The dominant agricultural model at work in America for decades has been to keep crops pretty and raise the yield with almost no thought to the environmental consequences. Draining and polluting ground water, genetically modifying plants; and feeding livestock previously butchered livestock pieces is pretty nasty, but I eat more than my share of the harvest.

Still the obscene excesses of watering golf courses in a drought seems like playing the violin as the city burns down around you, but excess is everywhere in America. Just this morning, I read that Allen "chair-throwing, bowling alley brawler, hit 'em when they're down AND you have numbers on your side" Iverson is suing the builder of his two million dollar 15,000 square foot home at the Country Club of the South for six million dollars in damages. That's obscene, and if Mr. Iverson's attorneys are reading this note, please understand that it was never my intention to impugn the character, motives, or behavior of The Answer.

Besides failing your parents . . .

2007-10-18T12:14:48Z

What did contraception ever do to you for you to find so abhorrent?

Yesterday, I heard that Governor Perry, of Texas, has anointed Rudy with his full endorsement. Even though they have significant differences among the issues, the Governor overlooks those differences in the knowledge that Rudy is the front runner. I stopped trying to understand conservatives in America a long time ago, but something has to be said for a group of people pragmatic enough to back a seemingly sure winner, regardless of their political differences, but idealistic enough to continually impose their fractured views on the rest of us.

So you don't like the Caveman Show?

2007-10-17T20:04:38Z

Listening to the radio this morning, walking by the water cooler, and firing up the "Internets" just a few minutes ago, I've overheard people complaining about some Caveman Show that didn't quite entertain them last night. America, you've asked, no, more accurately you've begged for the Caveman Show for years. I mean what in the hell was ALF, My Favorite Martian, or the show with two cousins living together (with one of them constantly surprised by American cultural mores). America, you love the one trick pony sit-com. You celebrate the banal by rewarding predictable writing, static characters, and laugh tracks with loyal viewership, high ratings, and millions of dollars in ad revenue.

So, please stop complaining when some twenty-something television executive has a misfire by offering you something you usually devour!

Skills gap?

2007-10-15T12:51:25Z

When asked about a report released earlier this year, which revealed the greatest disparity in earnings among Americans since the Roaring Twenties, the shrub remarked that it was primarily because of a skills gap, and it left me wondering what specific skills people like Paris Hilton, Nicole Ritchie, and George W. Bush actually possess?

I know enough brilliant people to realize that you certainly don't have to be bright to be wealthy, but implying that wealthy people are somehow smarter and more well trained than the rest of us for success is just another notch in the shrub's belt of utter nonsense.

Al Sahab and Joe Jackson?

2007-09-21T12:29:32Z

Yesterday, I heard that the Al Qaeda audio visual club, Al Sahab, had released a recording of an angry terrorists at odds with Pervez Musharraf. My first thought was, "Get in line, and bring a book or something, because you're going to be waiting for a while." One of the most absurd things I saw last month was a demonstration of attorneys marching in regulation dark suits and dark ties in protest against Musharraf through the dusty streets of a neighborhood around Islamabad, and last week, exiles began returning to Pakistan. The exiles were promptly turned away, but at least they showed up and openly challenged Musharraf.

Anyway, my next thought was something less serious. Since Al Qaeda has its own audio visual club, why would they turn to dastardly acts in the first place? Wouldn't something like this be a much better use of their time?

Los Cautro Fantasticos?

2007-09-21T11:35:58Z

News travels slowly around these parts; I didn't realize any of this had happened until yesterday.

So the locals who got near the crash site reported seeing a glowing green color and clouds of strange vapors. Then, within hours, many of them became ill, which scientists across the rest of the world claim is impossible.

Someone may need to get Moulder and Sculley on the next plane to Lima, before an entire village of superheroes gets out of hand.

Death wears a silver bell

2007-07-26T23:41:25Z

I'm a News Hour guy. If you ever have a chance to talk to me at length, you'll probably hear me mention something that I stumbled onto from the PBS nightly news show. Some friends who happened to be visiting last year noticed my a News Hour coffee cup in the kitchen. When I hummed the first few notes of the theme, they were astonished to hear my toddler respond with the final few notes; geek pride is a strange feeling describe. Even though I'm a News Hour guy, I sometimes throw the receiver over to the CBS evening news to see what Katie's doing . . . more from curiosity than anything else. Yes, network news had a fork in it long before Katie got rid of her desk, but she's a cultural curiosity for me.

Tonight, as I tuned in just in time to check out Katie's attire and catch the schmasltzy final story, I was surprised to learn that the Grim Reaper no longer rides a pale horse or weilds a scythe. In fact, death now wears a small silver bell. I don't know about the rest of you, but if that cat ever came near my room, I wouldn't be the only one pushing up daiseys come morning. I've seen Bubba Ho Tep!

Jaywalking

2007-05-22T17:47:12Z

You know, as I begin writing this entry, it occurs to me that I'm not familiar with the origins of the phrase jaywalking. I'll have to look it up.

For now, I want to try to sort through my feelings about homeless folks. As I drive through town each morning on my way to work, I see lots of people, mostly men, being asked to leave the shelters they were lucky enough to find space in the evening before. When I was younger, I was quick to blame Ronald Reagan supporters for turning out/away people who needed government assistance with mental health care from hospitals into the the streets to fend for themselves. Whether or not it's an unfair oversimplification, I'm pretty sure it has some merit.

Personally, ever since I was hit up for loot near the same ATM, by the same guy, with two completely different stories, I've been reluctant or unwilling to do much for Mr. Wendal. I'm much less forgiving of drug abuse than ever before, having seen its impact on my own family, and after holding two jobs for while, traveling for months at a time for a previous gig, and still not sitting on a seven figure retirement, I don't cough up any spare change for turgid stories. Of course, all that being said, I can't deny that some folks could use a little help.

This morning, a tattered street person barreled into six lanes of morning traffic against the light with his head down. Tires screeched, brake lights flashed, and cars came to an unexpected and sudden stop. As horns began blaring, the the man paused for a moment to raise his middle finger in retort. Fortunately he kept walking across the remaining six lanes with his finger held high.

Two things occurred to me. First, where in the hell does a vagrant have to be before 7:00 a.m. in such a hurry, which isn't the question to be asking, and second, should I slow down and honk too? The invisible people, out on the margins, are continually ignored; hell, books have already been written on the subject. If someone has it in their mind to make you notice them, they'll find a way . . . just look at a marketplace tabloid. Since I'm not in high school anymore, honking at hobos who have their dander up probably wouldn't be that satisfying anyway; stop saying sour grapes . . . you wouldn't have honked either . . . I hope.

Yet another sign of the times . . . puppy pictures

2007-05-22T13:49:46Z

In days gone by, I could usually expect to find a link or two in my daily emails to some site with, shall we say, a questionable reputation or dubious raison d’etre. Lately, there have been a plethora of puppies and friends’ children in my inbox. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with clean living and wholesome email attachments, but if you can’t remember the last time someone sent along a “Must See” porn clip, it’s probably not about a dry spell; it’s growing up, I think.

Running into the imperceptible mutability of life isn’t remarkable, but it always seems to surprise me. It’s not like I’m the epitome of self-awareness. It’s more like running into someone you used to know at a local barbershop; someone you’d never have expected to see, when they either don’t recognize you or pretend not to recognize you.