Been a while

I forgot I had this. I haven't posted anything since July 2011. Not that anybody reads it, but I should still keep it up.

I'm stuck on thinking that I will probably not see my daughters turn 60. I will be 96 when my oldest hits that milestone. I'll be 105 when the youngest gets there. I guess I have a chance, but it's a slim chance.

I'm glad Obama was re-elected. I hosted a few Obama volunteers and loaned my truck, my 19-year-old damn near pristine truck to the campaign. She has a few dimples and the rear fender is hanging a little low, but it's worth it because Obama got back in office. I can't imagine Romney visiting a storm site, or a mass shooting site, or deciding how to support Syrian rebels, or Malian rebels. It makes me shudder.

My father

It's been a very long time since I last wrote.

My father died on March 19. I was with him. So were my mom, brothers, sisters, brother-in-law, sisters-in-law, and my youngest daughter. It still seems surreal. It's not a fading memory, but vivid with details. The softness of his skin, his movements, his labored breaths, his whisper-thin voice. I think about those last minutes all the time. I think about him when I run, when I shower, when I ride the bus to work. He was very old, as in, maybe only a million people in the country were older than him, so he went out in Rockwellian fashion: surrounded by family with his wife of 61 years at his side. I guess that's how I want to go out. But I also think that a long walk in the woods wouldn't be bad.

I miss you, Daddy.

Tired

I was talking with some other liberals and we're just really tired of having to argue of silly bullshit. The spaghetti lies are what get me the most. Some conservatives just make up shit and see what sticks. That's wrong. It's shows a lack of respect for the process. Most liberals are too damn sensitive to really swing back, and when they do, the conservatives are there. Al Franken, who's been a pretty straight up senator in my view, has called out a few people, but he hasn't made up crazy stuff, like, say, Jim DeMint. Although DeMint has a much cooler last name because it has two uppercase letters in it. But DeMint just makes up stuff and is plain mean. But, at the end of the day, he does have a cool last name.

Still In My Head

I wish it weren't so hard to forget her.

I Cloud Nine When I Want To

My oldest kid is done with 3rd grade. Wow! I remember those summer days when I was up about 8am, poured some cereal and was gone from 8:30am until it got dark, which seemed to be around 10pm even in late August. Swatting mosquitoes, hanging on the corner of Packard and Cadillac with my best friend in the whole world (with whom I've only spoken once in about the last fifteen years.), and riding my red Schwinn with the glittery red banana seat all over Akron. Every day lasted a year. I wonder how my daughter's gonna view these days when she's in her teens and 20s and 30s and 40s (Those summer days...)

I remember the girls who came to visit their grandparents or cousins for a week in June (Hi, hi, hi, hi there.)

I always made sure I wore my very coolest pants and shirt on the last day of school, and my afro was the biggest it could be. (Out of school, yeah.)

There was always one of those traveling amusement park near-death-traps in the parking lot of Clarkins (County fair in the country sun.)

And every thing was cool. Ooh yeah!

So I'm watching her grow really tall. She still acts a little young, but her best friend is going to middle school next year, so maybe she'll pull my daughter a little closer to being a tweenager or they'll stop seeing each other everyday, like what happened when my older friend went to junior high. (Bye, bye, bye, bye there.)

Hot fun in the summer time!

Ayn Says....

I've been reading "Atlas Shrugged." My thoughts 200 pages into is that Ayn Rand put her characters in a vacuum. She seemed to not understand that everything is subjective and that nothing is objective. Not even the color blue.

So, according to her theory, as I understand it, anyone who wants to obtain as much as he wants should use whatever method he wants, without worry of consequence. Well, then what about the person who doesn't want much? Doesn't that person have the right, nay, the responsibility, to work just hard enough to stay employed and support an austere lifestyle? The person who wants five children by four men should have them. And if it's to her benefit that the population at large pay for the rearing of those children, including their food and shelter, then more power to her. Isn't that Ayn Rand's theory at its essence? Just like Digital Underground said, "Do Whatcha Like".

Ubu: September 1989-March 5, 2010

My wife had her cat put to sleep Thursday. The creature was peeing everywhere. We had it holed up in a small room in the basement with food, water and the litter box (it wasn't dorm room small, so she didn't shit where she ate.) After six months of watching her limp from arthritic hips, a month of solitary confinement and a week of anti-biotics for a let's-see-if-it's-a urinary tract infection, my wife decided it was time.

I was ready to get rid of Ubu about 10 years ago when I first met her. She didn't cover her poop and she tipped over glasses, especially full wine glasses. She constantly picked fights with my cat. She constantly tried to sleep on my infant daughter's chest. She was a total pain in the ass. About one month ago she ran away and I hoped she met a quick food-chain death at the hands of a neighborhood fox. I looked in a few shelters for my wife's sake, and was surprised by my happy reaction when I saw a cat that at first glance looked like Ubu. I got a call after four days from a neighbor who found her cold and hungry. I was bummed when I walked down the street to retrieve her.

Just as I was stunned by my joy at thinking I found her in a shelter, I was stunned by how sad I was when I cleaned out her litter box and mopped up the hairball stains on Friday. I'm still sad. And I think I'll be sad for a while. I say this because I still miss my cat, Tosh. I put her down January 5, 2008. The fifth of the month must be a good day for a cat to die in my household.

I'm reminded of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" where Pirsig explores the change in life's pattern after the death of his son. I assume it will take some time to get used to this new pattern.

Good bye, Ubu. My daughter and wife really loved you. And I miss you.

Ubu

Tomorrow might be the last day for my wife's cat, Ubu. She's 20 and has had a bad case of arthritis for about nine months and has been peeing on something about once a week for about the same time. I never cared for the cat much, but my wife and daughter do, so I'll miss her because of them. I'll know tomorrow if my wife goes through with it.

Stewart on O'Reilly

I was only able to watch a little of Bill O'Reilly's interview, if it can be called that, of Jon Stewart. I question the term "interview" as appropriate because O'Reilly is not a journalist. He's an opinionist. He's the guy who wants to be heard over having a conversation. O'Reilly isn't looking for answers or understanding, he wants ratings. And I can dig that. But O'Reilly should just say it. He called out Glenn Beck as a non-journalist, why does he think he's a notch above Beck? Oh, I know. Because Beck is younger and crazier and just as Dr. Laura said Stewart distanced himself from President Obama, O'Reilly distanced himself from Beck and the money-making fear machine that he is.

I'd love to see the president do a back and forth with the Republicans every month. Throw in the Democrats, too. Now that the country has a president who knows what his role is - as described by the Constitution - it's becoming painfully obvious that most of them don't know it's Congress's jobs to write the law. That's why those mofos are running around like the Keystone Cops. Actually, it's just the Dems running around. The Republicans and that asshole Lieberman just shout "No!" So while the Fox heads- and even CNN's - talk about Mr. Obama's tone or his tie, Stewart, unfortunately, will be probably be the one actually discussing whether his comments were accurate. I think it's unfortunate because Stewart is on COMEDY Central and O'Reilly, Beck, Hannity or on Fox NEWS.

Health Care Is Not A Right

And neither is clean water, or clean air, or free education or paved roads. Health care is not a right. It's a responsibility.

A majority of 41

WTF? If Congress can't pass healthcare, actually, if Reid and Pelosi can't pass health care with solid majorities in both chambers then I'm switching to Independent. I'm shocked that the liberals in Massachusetts are so lazy to not go out and vote in throngs, but their torpidity notwithstanding, the Dems in both chambers should be more motivated than ever to do what needs to be done. Were there 59 Republicans when we invaded Iraq? Did we have 59 Republicans when the Patriot Act passed? Were there 59 Republicans when all those tax breaks for the wealthy were dished out like government cheese?

Why the hell are Dems scrambling when they have 19 more...oh, Lieberman and the asshole from Nebraska. That's right.

Dog Pile

Here in Colorado, Governor Ritter said that he won't seek a second term. I could smell the yag from every hardcore Republican in the state. They put all their eggs in one basket, even forcing out that young whippersnapper from the Western Slope, to have McGinnis beat up on Ritter. Too bad, suckas! Ritter's raising a long middle finger and saying "I got nothin' to lose, bitches!" And all the state leggies that are term limited are saying "We got nothin' to lose, bitches!" Just like the line in that new Mel Gibson movie. Hopefully they'll find some moxy and actually pass some legislation that will do long term good. Maybe rolling back tax breaks and toughening up that environmental legislation so the Western Slope...hey, wait a minute...anyway, so the Western Slope doesn't turn into a toxic wasteland like northern New Jersey. I've smelled the air over there. Natural gas is (fairly) clean to burn (with a furnace) but it makes one hell of a mess to pull out of the ground. I've seen cleaner extraction processes on Bang Bros.

Now the field is so wide open the hardcores have no idea what to do. McGinnis looked good against a governor who got swept up with the rest of the country into an economic nightmare, but some of these potential candidates are sweeeeeeeet! Hick has a goofy-clean reputation; Romanoff has a great smile and people loved him, loved him, loved him in the state house of reps, Carroll is young and has so much energy he makes Ritter seem asleep; and Salazar is homey because he wears a cowboy hat. His family's been around for 400 years. That's lineage. Dems have more choices as I have unfinished house projects. It'll be interesting to see how long they go at it and how quickly McGinnis is forgotten and starts doing crazy shit to get noticed. Just like McCain had....wait a minute. McGinnis, McCain? I'm sensing a pattern.

Forgot to Mention

The last babyboomer is now 45 years old.

Last of the line

I just got snipped. All yesterday I started raising ethical questions with myself about making a conscious decision to permanently end my lineage. I've used jimmy hats and dated women who were on bc, but this is more final. That's what bothers me. It's one thing to temporarily cut off the opportunity to make a baby, but this isn't reversable. It is, but it has a low successrate.

The other side of the coin is I don't want to take make any more babies. If one is placed on my doorstep, I'm fine with that. But I don't want to be an active participant. I don't know if I'll be as patient as I need to be to raise any kids after this next one. And I don't want to subject a kid to a less-than-adequate dad. But, a lot of good people come from shitty situations.

At least I met my deductible.

Who the Hell is Ross Douthat?

Obviously, he hasn't been around long enough to amass a body of work that is worthy of a regular op-ed columnist position at the New York Times. What has he done besides worked hard, published a book and graduated from Harvard? He doesn't even have a law degree! Do I think he would be in the position he is today were it not for his parents' names and influences? The answer is a brief and resounding NO!

Instead of offering congratulations to a man who was chosen as recipient of an elusive prize, he, instead, pour vitriol from his piehole over the accomplishments, past and future, achieved and contemplated, that President Obama owns.

I can hardly wait until the news breaks about Mr. Douthat's serious character flaws. Wait, make that his humanity.

I forgot

David Gregory has won me over. I miss Tim Russert, but Gregory sticks to the general point rather than calling out his guests over a specific word.

Graham

I don't believe what I'm hearing. Sen. Lindsey Graham said something positive about Obama and something less-than-sycophantic about Bush II.

And all the guests this morning on Meet the Press said they'd support the elimination of "don't ask don't tell." Am I freakin' dreaming? My dad served in WW II and years ago he told me in his slow Southern cadence, "I served with homosexuals in the war. There's nothing wrong with that. They were good soldiers." Dig it. Anybody who's willing to pick up a gun and lay down his life for this country has my respect.

Dang, I haven't posted anything in a while...

Oh, it's because I put in new windows and insulated the bedrooms am trying to prepare for a presentation that I don't know much about this Friday and I work full time. Yeah, that's why.

Slick Vick

I don't know, I feel like anybody who served his time in the pokie deserves to get a second shot at anything. Politics, acting, construction, engineering, whatever. Yeah, even sex offenders. But sentence them appropriately. I don't have a problem giving rapists (not necessarily statutory) life in prison. But never let them out if sentenced to life. Life should mean life.

Sooooo, I don't have a problem with Vick playing football again. He did his time. I don't think he should be allowed to own a pet, but we have to let people make a living. Either that or send every parolee to somewhere in remote Alaska and let them fend for themselves.

Sarah Smile

I know a few people who seem to have the same disposition as Sarah Palin. I don't know her, but I've seen her type. The type who criticize more than construct. The type who dismiss others' opinions as spiteful while spitting their own vitriol. The kind who wave off observations with a "you don't understand and you never will."

Of course people don't understand if Sarah doesn't explain. I think Eminem used the same line about observations of his music. "Those who get it get it and those who don't don't." Well effin' explain it to me. I speak English.

Anyway, I'm interested to see how bright her star shines after she's out of the spotlight for a few months. I'm hoping it dulls quickly and somebody with something to contribute steps up and fills the void that is being created by some of the older conservative leaders.

Good luck, Sarah. I hope you've learned something