Musings from the dark end of the bar

Newt & The Laugh Track

2012-01-26T01:50:00.008-05:00

This is a political post

Photo from the Washington Post

Newt Gingrich, and oddly the View's Elizabeth Hasselbeck, were upset that the moderator of the first Florida debate asked the crowd to please hold their applause. This created in Ms. Hasselbeck's view a "very boring debate", and caused some pundits to say that Newt floundered. What it says to me is that the Republican nomination process has become the political version of "Last Comic Standing".

The dearth of crowd reaction and Newt's reaction to it is an actual phenomenon, stemming from the development modern television sitcoms. You see the average television situation comedy (sitcom) comes with a laugh track. This feature provides an auditory cue for your humor instincts. It laughs on cue, funny joke or not and actually induces you laugh, or at least make you think there is enough mirth to keep the show on the air. It's a fairly big deal in television production, because when a show that's supposed to be a comedy gets made without one, the whole vibe is different. It's the difference between Two and Half Men and 30 Rock.

Because apparently, it turns out, Newt's thing is schtick.

The Republican nomination process has forced all the candidates to choose the same cover story, the same talking points if you will, to be as close to the fantasy candidate mouthpiece the extreme end of the party wants just to get their votes. The moderate Republicans, now a dirty idea in general, will go along with whatever in any case, so no one is pandering to them. As such, there is now really just one candidate, the rest is all camera angles. So to set themselves apart, each has to differentiate himself on another level to woo votes. Perry was the good-ole boy. Cain was the outsider. I'm not sure what role Bachman was shooting for. Santorum is the ideological purist. Paul is the loose cannon. Romney is the inevitable. And as it turns out Gingrich is the performer.

Gingrich has discovered how to play to the crowd. There is no conviction, no this is who I am and this is what I think is best, it's all "you didn't think that was good, wait, let me do this," and whatever else makes you like me, almost like a dancing child. It started with his famous "if you quote what I said then you're misquoting me" when he misjudged that the party didn't really want a leader, they just wanted someone to stand out front and quote the talking points. A pretty face if you will. And the standing ovation he got the other night for his snappy answer to the ex-wife question just reinforced this line of thought.

On stage, if there is no feedback to let him he's rung the bell again, apparently Newt can't make himself standout, as evidenced by his first Florida debate showing. The silent crowd gives him only the same points everyone else has. He needs lights, fog machine, he needs magic. And if you could throw in a minority moderator who will ask him about his sex life, the man can throw out zingers all night. Thank you, Thank you, try the veal, I'll be here until the convention.

I'm curious to hear how he plans to dictate the terms of the Presidential Debates if he wins the nomination.

It's sad that for all the points being made that we need a strong leader in these difficult times, what we're getting from raucous debates is the promotion of an well dressed version of Larry the Cable Guy.

(my apologies to Larry the Cable Guy)

Bar Chatter

2012-01-24T14:16:00.005-05:00

Bar Chatter #24
Sometimes it just ain't enough to make a post, but it's still needs to go out....it's just bar chatter.

How not to endear yourself to your new professor, especially when you've signed up late for the course without consulting them:

"Well, I heard there was no reading."

Since the class is project based I guess that's technically true, but if you say it like not reading is a benefit, you're probably doing it wrong.

Red Tails - a film rationale

2012-01-18T21:14:00.006-05:00

Ramblings Post #179
I love a good movie. Well, let's quantify that because I love some pretty dumb ones too. I love movies that suck me into the story, or make me wish I was the star. Or even better make me forget for a few minutes the world around me. And is funny. But not stupid. Okay, I don't know what I like until I see it. And then some films still have to grow on me. I'm not even sure why I wrote this now.

For the last two decades, in a Hollywood heavyweight has been struggling to bring a story to the big screen starring Black heroes of World War II. Now, frustrated to the point of action beyond all movie making logic, he has gone out on a limb and put up his own money (a big filmmaker no-no) to get made a fairly large budgeted big screen adaptation of the story of the Tuskegee Airmen. And by doing so, he has accidentally put the idea of black film-making at risk because if a film by someone like him, an icon of nearly three decades of cinema, can't turn a profit here then the bulk of black films will be relegated to whatever Tyler Perry or the rapper of the minute wants to give us and bargain basement labor of love indie films. And nobody wants just that as the whole of black cinema.

Yet black women are talking about boycotting it.

Are kidding me? Did the "if this doesn't work nothing else even gets a chance" discussion even get acknowledgement?

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm not a big George Lucas fan. But his explanation of the whole system and why Hollywood is reluctant to make movies starring black characters shouldn't be dismissed because we don't like it. After all, he as well as anyone would know. To many studios he's money in the bank, so he should have had it easy. Instead, it took in twenty years and he's still going it alone on this one.

And black women are talking about boycotting it.

The two primary reasons I've seen today are "why support this and not an indie black film (Pariah)" or the "the movie doesn't have a black female love interest" so it must be writing black women out of history.

Pariah, for those of you who don't know, is a small indie film about a young black girl coming to grips with own sexuality in the face of her friends and family. I've only seen the trailer, but it looks sensitive and poignant, a lovely exploration of a young girl finding who she is in a world that might not accept her. But in Atlanta, it's playing at ONE location. People who like this film should rejoice in George Lucas's film. Why? Because if Lucas is successful, then movies like Pariah might be able to find a wider audience.

The other argument is one a bit more visceral. In the film, one of the black actors has a Italian girl friend (in Italy), so along with no major white hero, there is also no black female love interest. This I realize touches a nerve. However, the answer is the same for the first argument. If this film is successful, then those films that follow can include more and broader roles black actresses.

We've fallen into the instant gratification concept to hard here, in that instead of getting this victory we've become intent on "righting a wrong". Does Pariah deserve a wider audience? Yes. Will boycotting Red Tails get it one? No. Do black actresses need more roles in Hollywood? Yes. Will boycotting Red Tails and causing the first major black film in years to fail make that any easier? No. So why boycott?

No, that's a real question.

Because I don't get it. Black cinema will survive no matter how Red Tails does, but this idealistic martyr concept won't advance any black filmmakers agenda, only hinder the opportunity for what is to come. And opportunity is the heart of the matter, for without that we are nothing. And for the record, I'm probably going to buy a ticket to Red Tails and then not go see it, just support the idea that black people can be heroes on their own.

Black people can be heroes? Well, that's just a "horrible" message to send anyone.

Barkeep. Something smooth.

MLK

2012-01-16T23:50:00.003-05:00

Many years ago, Dr. King had to sit down and tell his child that she couldn't go someplace because she was black. Then he went and did something about it.

Now, over forty years later I can sit down and have a meal just about anyplace I can afford. And think the food is okay. And like the decor. I can be picky. Or I can go to the park. Or a museum. Or downtown. Or the golf course. Or anywhere....

You might not think it means much, until you think about what it mean if you couldn't.

Thank you Dr. King.

Thank you so very much.

Down the Rabbit Hole

2012-01-13T23:19:00.006-05:00

Ramblings Post #178
I just realized I didn't post my annual rant about the amount of time between when the law school exams are completed, and when the law school grades are posted. Because a great deal of law school tests are essays, it's completely understandable that a little more time is needed for proper evaluation. What's odd is that for some reason grades come out the day AFTER late registration ends, which means you're on faith each and every time. What's even more odd, I just noticed that last part.

This semester started off with a round robin of "starting the last semester of law school" from all my law school FB friends. I was surprised by the number of them, but not surprised by the level of confidence. Law school seems to breed confidence, even in those whom its not normally displayed.

This is a front.

Having confirmed with the registrar (again) that my version is their version, which means provided all my grades are passing from last semester, and all my grades are passing from this semester, it looks like I will graduate in May. I say this provisionally, which as I understand from the registrar with whom I used air quotes every time I said graduate, based upon my expectations of grades.

Thinking like a lawyer already. Will I graduate this spring? It depends.

Lawyers are by in large cautious people. We're taught to be. For example, I started classes this week and of the four classes I'm taking at least two professors led the first day orientation five minute cold start with the reminder that if we make a mistake, we could get sued for malpractice. And maybe lose your law license. This is a repeat from 85% of the classes I've taken since I started, where if they didn't open with it, it certainly came up shortly thereafter. In a sense it keeps you looking for the "alligator in the swamp" so to speak.

I don't anticipate any issues. Okay I do anticipate an issue or two, but that is the nature of the game. We shall see as they say.

Barkeep. Water. In a tall glass. I need to keep my nerves.

One last weekend

2012-01-09T10:10:00.006-05:00

Ramblings Post #177
The condemned man gets a last meal. Even if the governor gives a reprieve, there is one last bag of Cheetos and diet RC cola if requested. So here we are, on the verge of starting the last step towards this educational journey I started oh so long ago. So no matter what happens, and maybe I'm paranoid but I'm always waiting for the issue to arise, I need to go and have a good time now because until this is all said and done...it ain't all said and done.

The NFL season is over....but I went to a playoff party anyway.

A partner of mine, a big Falcons fan, was having a playoff party and since the semester didn't start until the following Monday, I stopped by the "package" store and laid out my "going ta meeting clothes". A little before kickoff, brunch eaten, I headed south. He and I had hung out many a time, always with a great cup of spirits in hand, and as a premier Falcon fan I expected a pretty good little shindig.

It got off to a rocky start before I even got there, when that sound my car was making that I had been trying to figure out the source of for a week or so turned out to be the power steering pump dying. Heck of thing to find out on 285. But since there was closer than going back, I trundled onwards.

The party was a nice little group, maybe twenty five or so people, game jerseys aflutter, familiar faces at every turn. It was nice to see some folks I hadn't seen in a while but whom I used to run into two or three times a week. It was hugs and smiles and joy....

Full Regalia. The man is a true fan.

....until we actually started watching the game. The host was in full regalia, and even changed outfits two or three times to try and change the Dirty Bird's luck to no avail.

I'm not sure how it will be in the future, although I had glimpse with my cousin at that other game party, but at this "throwback" function the stereo came on during commercials and liquor was a series of bottles on the kitchen counter. The men watched the game and cursed, the women stood around and talked about everything but football. And well aware of the wrestling match waiting for me in the car I went with a judicious mix of bottled water and juice with B12, which is why my recollection is so clear.

And as the game got out of reach for the home team, the crowd's interest waned further. The card table came out and dominoes started, following by spades with the game as white noise filler. There was only one Steeler fan in attendance, so by the time the second game rolled around, the idea was simply to hang out for minute. Realizing I had things to do, and a steering wheel to wrestle, I called it a day and headed home about midway through the second quarter of the late game.

I got home, cleaned up a bit, but didn't turn the late game on until the closing minutes of the fourth quarter when the Steelers had a chance to complete their comeback.

Let me say this: Tebow is living proof that it is better to be lucky than to be good.

He has bad mechanics and is so far from the typical NFL quarterback it's scary. What's even scarier is that because he has lucked up ...and I mean that, lucked up... and managed a string of victories and a playoff win, there will more of this style coming. Which means that more option and running quarterbacks might get a shot in the NFL. And it also means that a QB's career will probably have two to three years shaved off a career that's already only averages four to five years long. The hits take a toll, as your average running back can attest.

But all that was to get ready for the next big thing. Back to the books.

Barkeep. Well, you know how it goes. The usual.

Bar Chatter

2012-01-03T15:42:00.003-05:00

Bar Chatter #23
Sometimes it just ain't enough to make a post, but it's still needs to go out....it's just bar chatter.

So, I guess football season's over.

Yes. It is. This is not up for discussion. I take heart that last year they were abysmal and this year they had a shot at winning the division. When life gives you lemons, you make lemon juice...because for lemonade life has to also supply sugar and water.

What I learned 2011

2012-01-01T20:15:00.002-05:00

Well the first thing I learned is that I mis-named last years list. This is what I learned in 2011.

This year for the third or fourth time in a row, I stayed in on NYE. This year just didn't feel right, again. Maybe it's the waiting on grades, maybe it's the getting my budget right, maybe it's the number of jurisdictions between my house and the nearest party. But next year, I'm gonna hit one of those big parties, where they advertise that tickets are ONLY sixty bucks or so, and although they swear the party lasts until 6am you know that around 12:30 the joint is going to start emptying out....

Okay, seriously, as I've shared before, I'm not really big on resolutions. It's like a TO-DO list that lasts seven days or so. We make a personal promise, we hold out for week, we stop lying to ourselves, we move on. Maybe a month. So what I do is I take a few moments to reflect on what I've learned from this year.

NOTE: the idea for this piece is blatantly stolen from Esquire magazine. I like to believe that I'm just practicing for when they do actually call me for an interview. (It will happen!)

Too much time is as bad as too little time.

A leap of faith is sometimes all you need to get you need to get you out of your rut.

The power of inertia is unfathomable.

Take love where you can get it, because the real stuff is hard to come by.

Sometimes getting it done is better than getting it perfect.

Everyone needs a hobby. Collecting matchbooks, dancing, something.

Steady paychecks change your mindset.

Routines come from circumstances. Change your circumstances, change your routine.

The distance between done and almost done is forever. Squared. Times two.

Chocolate needs to be stopped.

You're in trouble when the journey becomes the goal. You need actual goals. Plural.

The unknown is just scary. The known can be terrifying.

Sometimes a hug can fix a lot.

Everyone has their own story, and it proceeds no matter what your plans are.

A Good Read

2011-12-30T23:51:00.005-05:00

Ramblings Post #176
I am a reader. But I think I've said that. I read to make me a better writer. I read things I don't always find interesting, or things that I think maybe boring, if only to find out why so I don't replicate them. Which is how I ended up reading those Blaine McCraken novels by Jon Land (And no, I am not linking to those). Let's just say you need to read what you're not going to write, so you know not to write it. That, and I have a lot of free time since I'm off from school.

I love a good read. I started reading when I was young, with the typical for the time Hardy Boys and other fare. I lived in a fairly small town, and there was a time when my mother would let me and my older brother walk...across a major highway, the railroad tracks, a housing project and cut by the stream...to the county library. Unsupervised. This might have been when I was in the first grade, but I'm not sure. It was a while ago.

But I read everything. Historical novels, biographys, fiction, science fiction, fantasy, romance, westerns...most things written on paper. It has to be horrible for me not to read it, but if I get too far into it I'll finish it just because. But once I find something good, it pains me that I can't read all of it or that there isn't enough of it to satisfy me. In need something like Terry Prachett's Discworld series, now at thirty or more books or Battlefield Earth, which clocks in at a thousand plus pages. If the writer is good enough, and the story long enough you grow to like the characters and see them grow and mature which makes for a better read.

Lately, I've taken to reading webcomics. If you look around, what you get are basically graphic novels of a sort, comic books really, minus a lot of the reaching for the masses editing, while still giving enough of a story to read. And because they're webcomics...a lot of them go on for years, so as long as you're willing to hit next for a few while...okay, days...they get to be interesting.

The ones I'm going to list here are science fiction mostly, but the genre covers all areas, including Mary Worth style drama to High School Angst. I don't really read those, but I understand they are out there.

It might have been Monday when I started reading Schlock Mercenary, a series that once the art picked up has actually turned into something pretty good...and has enough width and breadth to amount something fairly intricately plotted. It started in 2001 and has run fairly regularly, with more than 3,000 strips since inception. It's a got a huge cast and continually oddly expanding storyline that just reads like one of those thick novels that has to list all the characters in the front so you can keep track.

Another I've been working my way through is Quantum Vibe, which posts five days a week. I only started a year or two again, and the art isn't as sharp as it could be, but then the author is on a tight schedule. I'm still trying to figure out where the story is going, but so far it's been readable. Mostly.

A new find of mine is Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant, a swashbuckling epic. The heroine is... "a master of forty seven different sword fighting techniques, and has fought Sikh warriors, Conquistadores, a small pride of lions and a very large Mongolian man with a large sword, a small brain and a bad temper. " It's been an good read, with great art so far. I'm looking forward to the end.

Another one that only started in the last year is Spacetrawler, a story of seven people abducted by aliens to save an enslaved race...and that story just keeps taking odd turns. The characters are memorable, and extremely flawed however, which makes for great writing. It only publishes twice a week, so I'm getting a little anxious.

I also check in from time to time on one called Endtown, another where the hero is a cross dresser called Skin Horse (don't ask), and the positively existential Sinfest.

May all time favorite however is Girl Genius, the creation of Phil Foligo one of my favorite authors. The book, which I've discussed on here follows the adventures of the title character as she reclaims her family throne. The interesting part is that the story, which posts three times a week, has been at this for years and only recently has gotten to what I guess is the meat of the story.

Two things about the stories that I like is that the characters don't fall into the normal characters that show up in every other story. They tend to move outside normal archetypes. Because the internet is such an inexpensive way to produce the stories outside the norm are possible. And the other thing I like is that the authors tend to embrace the new media of the internet properly. The sites generally don't charge for access. That's right, they give away the product for FREE. But Girl Genius and Schlock sell books of the collected comics...ala Doonesbury.. which actually sell well. I imagine most of the others will eventually if they don't already.

Their leveraging the product to build an audience for the merchandising. It's like when they sell books on Amazon for .99 cents. It's to build an audience.

Most of these I'll wait week to check out so I have a couple of days worth of work to read. And they usually post on a pretty good schedule. My latest interest is Drive, where the author was nice enough to tell you he had another project and the schedule was going to be off. It's a certain closeness to the product. The new medium makes that possible.

Barkeep, a bowl of Rice Krispies. I got some reading to do. Leave the box.

Off the Top Rope....Touchdown!

2011-12-29T21:27:00.004-05:00

Ramblings Post #175
The sports festival that is the New Year is about to go into overdrive. Between the bowl games, the NFL, the NBA and my Playstation, it's gonna be a weekend to remember. Well, not really. Because the "match-up of the century" is going to happen every year from now until they run out of adjectives. And next year, I'll have the new iteration of whatever is supposed to be the hot sport. Maybe FIFA. Isn't sports grand?

This week the NFL, apparently desperate for ratings, has stolen a page out of the book of the people Jim Crockett Productions and staging a Loser leave town match...er, game for the NFC East title. If the refs get "accidentally" get knocked out at some point, don't be surprised. Happens all the time in wrestling.

Sunday night, in the last regular season game of the year, the Cowboys and the Giants will square off in New York for the NFC East crown, and the loser has to wait until next year to prove they didn't give up on the game. And since neither team can mount a running game at this point - Dallas due to injuries and New York because they just can't - it promises to a battle of quarterbacks. Much to the delight of the schedulers, this will be a off the top rope type affair, a high scoring shoot-out....

...unless the Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan does his job and actually stops somebody.

Ryan is the son of Buddy Ryan, the Buddy is the man who invented modern football defense for all intents and purposes. So Rob comes from good stock. He also is running a defense that in three games this season have given up leads in the fourth quarter of more than one score. He is currently...overrated. A lot of people look down upon Romo, wondering why the media and the football experts heap so much praise upon a man whose team comes up short so often. But Romo doesn't play defense, so he's not dialing up the risky blitzes in the fourth quarter...nor is he a play caller like Manning, so he's not the one deciding to keep tossing it when the team is up two scores. But then the 'Boys can't cobble together a running game for nothing these days.

Note: The key to great offense is a GREAT offensive line.

If the Cowboys lose, most likely it will not be the fault of the offense. Most likely. I'm not saying Romo is perfect, but he's doing more than a few things right. If we're gonna assign blame, how about we assign it's where it's due.

I wonder if I'll make it all the way through this game. Cowboys games tend to make me...um...testy. I get upset, loudly upset, at stupidity. Or at least what I deem stupidity. If there was ever a time I've screamed at a television set, it was during a Cowboys game. In the past few years I have had to turn them off lest I strike something. And since this game is a for a ticket to the big dance...a seat they weren't even supposed to have? Blood pressure medicine and a large whiskey sedative.

Barkeep...start setting them up now. Bottles, not glasses.

The Looney Toons

2011-12-28T23:19:00.007-05:00

Ramblings Post #174
Since the break, I'm watching a lot of TV. Well that and playing the bejeesus out of my game system. In fact, I have to remind myself to leave the house for an hour a day at this point. I mean, it's cold outside, and my house is warm, the food is close, the bathroom clean, and there is a movie coming one I haven't seen yet. There are no women here...major drawback. But I really don't like the cold.

I am not a big fan of cartoon remakes or reboots, or whatever you call them. The vast majority of them wash away the beloved memories leaving only the original hard shill sell we all conveniently suppressed. Now, I realize that you can do that with some cartoons, say the comic book based that have already been revamped a hundred times already. But some things should just be left alone.

At some point they rebooted Scooby Doo when I wasn't paying attention. Well, re-rebooted, because I'm certain the Harlem Globetrotters or Don Knotts weren't in the original 60's version. But they made the monsters real, snatching out the mystery element. It's a damn shame what they did to that dog. The revamped Tom and Jerry look cheap, I'm not sure what director thought starting over with Droopy was worth the investment, and the new Transformers (okay, I only saw the commercial) made me cringe. The commercial for the Thundercats looked like they might have put some thought into that one...so I'll let that one pass. For now.

But the things they have done to my Looney Tunes. I like the original looney tunes. I once posted Rabbit Season and Duck Season signs in my office. If they ever sell the box collection of June Bugs, the 24 hour Bugs Bunny marathon, I'm buying. The classic 40's and 50's stuff is classic, its like before writers got a taste of something cynical. They first tried a restart in the in the late 60's, but the images were shoddy. But those look like gold compared to some of the latest revamps...including the "babies" version they tried or the one where they turned them into something out of Tron.

So it was with much trepidation that I tried this new thing, on Cartoon Network now. The Looney Toons show.

It's actually....good. I guess it helps that the first set of Looney Toons weren't actually intended for kids. Just because they were cartoons people have forgotten they were originally filler for adult films. The new show isn't aimed at kids, unless kids are really interested in Bugs taking dancing lessons, Speedy Gonzales opening a pizza parlor or Daffy trying to run a corporation. It's semi sophisticated humor, more on a Seinfeld-esque bent than anything else. I found it watchable, which was a first for me and reboots.

Well, Duck Dodgers in the 24th and half Century wasn't all bad, but then I only caught like four or five episodes.

I can actually recommend this bit of foolishness. It's as though they actually let the writers write, instead of the usual Scriptomatic 5000 output that has driven the masses to reality television. And the less I say about reality television the better. Seriously.

Barkeep. Let me get a Carrot Martini.

The Holiday Weekend

2011-12-27T20:40:00.007-05:00

Ramblings Post #173
Sleigh bells ring, are you listening, something something, hear them ringing, we're riding tonight, I don't think this is right, walking in a winter wonderland. We mess around a build a snowman, then pretend that he is Parson Brown, he ask are you married, we'll say "no man, but you can do the job if you're in town," something something, dum de do, something something, hum hum hum, something night, walking in a winter wonderland.

I hadn't been home to see the folks in ages. Seriously, ages. We speak on the phone weekly, but for some reason that three hour trip has been harder and harder to square these past few years. Maybe because I'm a little scared that all the stuff I left won't be there when I get back. Scared maybe too strong a term, maybe "actively concerned." But after I didn't head down for Thanksgiving due to my enhanced educational situation, I felt compelled to head down for Christmas.

The Trip.

I live in a bubble, that is Atlanta. What I mean is that when social tension rears its head, it's a sudden reminder of things that happen so rarely I'd casually forgotten the caustic nature of their reality. No, it's not that I forget I'm black, in the south, it's that it's either usually not an issue or I've already taken the steps to minimize it. So when two guys started yelling at each other over a gas pump when I stopped for fuel it took me by surprise.

I'd pulled up, swiped my card and was gassing up. The lady at the next pump smiled at me and then I heard somebody yell loudly. Two pumps over a black guy was yelling at a middle aged white guy in a jeep. My trouble radar didn't go off, so I just watched silently. The black guy was fueling up, the jeep pulled off and I thought it was over. Then the black guy, middle aged black guy, yelled something and the jeep owner stuck his head out of the window and yelled back. At this point, the lady at the next pump dashed over to the black guy to calm him down. Seriously. Random black woman intervenes to keep random black man from doing something stupid.

The driver of the jeep pulls out of the station and goes across the street, so the whole thing diffused itself in a long fifteen seconds. I took note of the other odd couple in front of the station watching the whole exchange. The elderly white farmer in overalls and the young black man with dreads who after the jeep had pulled off looked at each other and shrugged.

I guess you never know. But then I probably should.

The Grand Folks.

I'm lucky enough that two of my grandparents have made it into their 90's. My mother's parents died when I was too young to feel the full effect, but I remember my mother's father as a kindly old gent who smoked a mean cigar and was always happy to comp us the bubble gum at his store.

My living grandparents are a lively bunch for old people, although my grandmother has been trying to guilt me into marriage and great-grandson for almost 20 years. She has other great grandchildren, many other great grandchildren, but the question of me always seems to come up. I like to believe every one of the grandkids still "holding" get this treatment, but I don't think so. My grandfather is planning on buying a golf cart so he cand drive around his property since he can't get around like he used to...when he was 80.

You hate to think that one day they won't be around. But then I think I've been blessed in this area more than I realized.

Christmas Day

Quiet. Family. A smattering of gifts but mostly just relaxing.

Hit Sporty up. Sent out a few Holiday texts.

Then driving back to Atlanta, because it's nice to have the stuff you left in your house still be inside your house when you get back. Driving back in the rain. Listening to the Christmas music...and the odd old school hip hop mix on some station out of Augusta.

The Day After Christmas

I had planned on relaxing and consuming enough water to clean my system out after the huge meals I'd eaten over the weekend. Well, that was the plan when I went to sleep Sunday night. Didn't work out.

Had a hearty All-Star at the Waffle House with my brother as I delivered his gifts to him. My brother is in a long term relationship, which has established its own Christmas rituals, so he didn't make the trip. I probably need to do the same myself soon. But that meal put me in back in the bed until dark...so like 4pm or so. Then trouble called. Or rather, my psuedo cousin did.

We rode over to a house party of a one of his buddies to watch the Falcons-Saints game. Not my usual fare, but I guess it will be soon, with small kids running about while the adults watched football and noshed. I have a problem drinking in front of kids, so I had a lot of soda and ate a lot of wings. And I've found that if the Cowboys aren't playing when something goes wrong or a coach does something stupid I can keep watching instead of cursing through the next three plays and turning off the TV before I start throwing things. So I watched and gave color analysis to the surprisingly underage crowd before calling it a night right after the whistle blew.

So It was a good Holiday weekend.

Kinda.

Barkeep, some of that Pale Moon beer or whatever it was they were drinking last night that I couldn't.

How do you know it's Christmas

2011-12-23T13:17:00.001-05:00

Ramblings Post # 172
The Holidays are upon us. Well, they've been upon us for a minute, but since I just turned my paper in on Monday they didn't start for me until I dropped the paper off at my professor's house. And now, I have three weeks until school starts again. And the only indication it's Christmas around my house is that Santa now dominates the commercials. I'm a guy. Give me a break.

I'm old. Well, comparatively speaking, not really, but still I can remember when I used to think the age I am now was old. I remember before the internet. And I miss certain parts of my youth....like the trees that lined the road to my Grandmother's house, or that space under my bed. But I'm older, and I have a whole house now, so a space under my bed? Oh, I do still miss it.

In any case, Christmas is different when you're a child. I once theorized that Christmas stopped really being Christmas as a child when my outgoing gifts exceeding my incoming gifts. Which may or may not have happened yet. I fairly certain there was a period when it did, only I'm not sure. But then once you've crossed the threshold, there really isn't going back. Now, because I live alone, and have for over a decade, Christmas just ain't Christmas until I hear or see certain things. I appalled at how commercial this list is just looking at it.

1. The Grinch who Stole Christmas. I have to see it at least once. I used to own it on, wait, how old am I? I had it on video tape!

2. Silent Night by the Temptations. If you've never heard it, where have you been?

3. The Peanuts Christmas Special. I've seen it a thirty times and still am not sure if that's the actual name. But I do remember that poor little Christmas tree.

4. The Rap Trio - Christmas in Hollis, Christmas Rappin, and What you gonna get Crimmus. I seriously have no idea why, but these songs put me in a Christmas mood. They're not really traditional Christmas music I admit, but I am product of my experiences.

5. I see that lady at the mall doing free wrapping. Yes, really.

6. I start seeing advertisements for A Christmas Story's 24 hour marathon.

I'm not sure why I need those things. And considering how little Christmas shopping I did this year...I am currently an unemployed student, jeez...I had to make a special trip to see that lady at the mall.

One day I hope my mental triggers will be, I dunno, a child of mine reminding me that they've been extra good this year. Or a wife reminding me she's been extra naughty this year. In either case, let's just say that things are what they are...for now.

Barkeep. Some of that Eggnog Alize.

Then, something new pops up...

2011-12-13T18:47:00.000-05:00

Ramblings Post #171
Everything is everything. And then you get the little bit extra that has existed outside of the whole and formed of nothing. And then you realize that everything really is just a lot, not everything.

All I've had to eat today is watermelon chunks and Pillsbury chocolate chip cookies. I'm in the home stretch, Finals are done Wednesday at 11:59, and I got one more to do and then a quick look over my paper to see if I want to call it the final draft.

My schedule was thrown off today, because my RP is a proud papa. And because the kid is a few weeks early and they weren't at home, I had to drive an hour north to see him. We stood in the hallway discussing the vagueness of life (football, witnessing birth, property values, getting old, kids nicknames) before they let us visitors in. He's a cute kid, all swaddled in everything warm, and I was jealous because his days are pretty much eating and sleeping. No finals for him. It was quiet and cozy.

Ah.

Then I drove back and have been trying to reconcile these thoughts in my head so that I can put them on paper and send them in and be done with this final! Every time I think I got it figured out, a new thought comes to mind and I'm back into my notes trying to see if that works better. Scurry little brain cell, scurry! I only have the one, but he does good work.

Barkeep, I need a... barkeep? Barkeep? Hello? Oh, yeah, right....forgot.

Oh wither mine Cowboys...

2011-12-12T01:27:00.005-05:00

Ramblings Post #170
You're making a sandwich right? You got the roast beef cooked to tender suppleness, a little wet but not too damp, the lettuce in crisp, the tomato is firm, the bread with a just a hint of sesame seed. You've taken the time to anoint it with a touch of oil and vinegar, a fine sheen of mustard and just a that thin glaze of mayo. Chips on the side, not that Lays but the good kettle cooked kind, and glass of iced tea. You sit down, take the first bite and you realize just then, on the verge of a taste bud explosion of sublime pleasure that the mayo is bad and not only do you have a bad taste in your mouth...you've ruined the sandwich. That feeling? That's snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

From the Desk of Jerry Jones
Cowboy Stadium

Commissioner
National Football League

Re: Game Length

I would like to open next year's competition committee with a suggestion that the game length be shortened to 55 minutes, down from 60 minutes in the interest of ....er, player safety I guess.

Seriously, I think we can make this work.

Thanks,
JJ

Bar Chatter

2011-12-08T01:10:00.004-05:00

Bar Chatter #22
Sometimes it just ain't enough to make a post, but it's still needs to go out....it's just bar chatter.

I had four things I had to get done during this exam period. One down. I've slept the four hours on the couch I just managed to get up from - and the two hours last night - since Tuesday at 8am. I've eaten one meal in that time. I've come to appreciate the distinct difference between "almost done" and done. I've still got a long way to go and the only reason I'm not feeling horrible about my progress is that on my trip to library today that pretty much wasted my whole day I ran into a classmate that said they're in the same boat in their classes.

And now, looking at the small bottle five hour energy drink ...well, crack by another name ...by my monitor, I think I'm gonna have to step it up a notch.

Finals are...

2011-12-06T09:19:00.007-05:00

Ramblings Post #169
It's funny, I never thought about getting this far or writing this much when I started this. This was a shot in the dark of sorts, something to do, someplace to talk and not worry about the look on the person's face when I said it. Now it's not that and still I continue. Strange, isn't it?

This is the way I'm supposed to be thinking.

Finals are sitting in a room on a hard kitchen chair for hours because Office Depot didn't actually have the one with lumbar support they said was on sale, staring at the increasingly small type on the same two screens all day long slogging through material that makes your head hurt, your fingers cramp and makes you feel a little less happy its all not crystallizing as it should.

Finals are quiet, an eerie quiet, because music or the television you sometimes play so the house doesn't feel so empty would be distractions from what you need to do and so all you hear are the click of the keys as you type, the faint thrum of electricity, the passing cars on the narrow road outside, the squirrels leaping from tree branch to your roof and the your own heartbeat when you stop to gather your thoughts.

Finals are eating something you know you shouldn't because making something you know you should be eating doesn't satisfy that growling at the back of your soul for a friendly face, a warm laugh or the gentle touch of warm body for too long, and food is all you have at this very moment because getting all this done is the priority so you eat and don't dwell on it

Finals are wondering why you're doing what you're doing, not in the micro sense of that word or that comma or that phrasing in the paper that is taking entirely too long to conceive, but in the macro sense of what does it all mean and you find you're asking yourself the question: "where will you be when you get where you're going?"...and you realize you're not sure anymore.

Finals in law school are a lonely time.

All the deadlines come at once, and instead of working you find your mind lost in the machinations of minutiae. As you get closer to the destination for the all the toil and sweat you've put in, you begin to wonder if you're really strong enough to hold someone's life, someone's livelihood, someone's dream in your hands where they're doing more than hoping for a good outcome. You start to question basic truths and look back upon the path you've been traveling and wonder if you should have chosen the other path, the simpler path.

Then you realize you've got more days of this ahead.

Finals are you serving yourself because you've even sent the metaphorical barkeep home for the duration.

The boy was goot....real real goot...

2011-11-30T00:28:00.004-05:00

Patrice O'Neal..

This is starting to get a little maudlin with all these "I see you just passed on tributes, let me say a few words" type posts...

But Patrice O'Neal was sneaky funny. He deserves a few words. He was character just standing there, funny in a not telling jokes kinda way but funny just talking around kinda way. One could imagine if he was a friend of yours he'd have been the fun guy, the guy who just cracked on people because the room had gotten too quiet. But he'd also be the guy you call at 3am if you were broken down on the side of the road and were too broke to call a tow truck. He just seemed like that kinda guy.

He popped up all over, an appearance here, an appearance there, but never really seemed to get his big shot. Not even a Robin Harris style shot. Watching his standup you wonder what they were waiting for, because he had the potential to be scary funny. I liked him and remember watching something a little longer than I meant to because he was on.

Worse, I only found out today that he was younger than me. Which is like...what?

He wasn't legendary. But he should have been.

Things I meant to comment on

2011-11-28T22:19:00.001-05:00

Ramblings Post #168
Sometimes you get busy. It happens. You don't see it coming, but you turn around and you've been up for 36 hours and haven't eaten since that chicken wing and egg roll special when you watched the games two days ago. It happens. All you can do is stop, take a deep breath, and keep it moving.

That's not me, that's Snoopy from Peanuts. But you knew that.

I've checked, and other than groceries, the library or to turn in my paper & bar application, I don't actually have to leave the house for the month of December. Really. I don't have the 9 to 5, and people really aren't hiring this time of year except for holiday temp work. But then again, I might make a snazzy black elf. You never know.

I been hard at this paper, finally figured out a scheme that works so I had to start over...again. Fifth time. But on the upside it's not really starting over this time, but more a re-arranging stuff I already wrote only this time with nearly every single sentence footnoted and properly sourced.

Yes, that was written properly. EVERY. SINGLE. SENTENCE.

Okay, I don't have to source the titles, or the part where I explain what the paper is about, but everything else. Yeah. Even the basic common sense stuff. All of it. I keep looking at the example he told us we should use as a guide and I'm trying to figure out if the author slept at all.

But because I have to stop every so often to let my brain clear...it actually helps with the writing...I'll pop on and make sure the US hasn't been invaded by tribbles or something. And I realize I need to comment on a few things.

Occupy Wall Street

I've noticed that a lot of the folks who disparge the movement have no idea what the issue is. It is classic misdirection on the part of the media who either can't get a decent soundbite or catchphrase so that the whole thing is dumbed down enough OR really just want those smelly people to go away. The OWS people want if I remember correctly 1) They want accountability for the banks that took their money and 2) they want to end corporate control of government. That's pretty much it. They don't want government handouts, or anybody's stuff, what they want is the government to do its job. The idea that they have no message, when the pictures of people holding signs with their message litter the internet is pretty funny.

But then when there are new signs everyday, I guess it gets kinda confusing. I guess reading isn't fundamental.

Republican candidates for President. (except Herman Cain)

Come'on son.

The various campaigns linger on because a) there are so many of them nobody can gain any traction and b) their mistakes only last in the public eye until the next guy's pratfall. So like a week or two.

I'm not sure if they realize that the debates are being recorded - well, I'm fairly certain Hermain Cain does now - but I wonder if they realize what they means. Because some of the less palatable things said to garner the attention of the dyed in the wool GOP supporters will be used again in the general election. And since a great deal of the country tends to support the OWS protesters, telling them go take a bath and get a job may just get it's own 15 second spot.

Wait, does this mean there ARE jobs?

Republican candidates for President (who are Herman Cain)

Really? Again? Geez, even I'm starting to believe some of them can't be true simply because an educated person, of which I'm certain Cain is one, had to know all this would come out at some point if it were true. I mean he just had to. And if the one claiming the affair has pictures? I think Jon Stewart will simply explode.

The true stroke of madness was the statement about the matter that is his camp put out which included the phrasing : No individual, whether a private citizen, a candidate for public office or a public official, should be questioned about his or her private sexual life. The public's right to know and the media's right to report has boundaries and most certainly those boundaries end outside of one's bedroom door. Since when did this rule come into effect? Somebody call Weiner! Somebody call Clinton! Somebody call Gary Hart!

And people want to call Obama an amateur.

Law School

Well, here we are. Again. Finals time. And working in the two finals I have with paper that I have increasingly become obsessed over....well, not quite obsessed, but really interested in doing well, has suddenly become an issue. You know how it goes, you want to do well, but then you suddenly want to do spectacular. Then suddenly you want to do better than awesomely spectacular. Then you want even better than that.

I'm sill at wanting to do it well. I'm little scared spectacular is around the corner. I need to email my prof. Get some guidance.

My Folk

Well, let's see.
My text conversations with Sporty leave me feeling warm inside.
Slim has left the country temporarily. Teaching overseas, she is not "on the lam".
Schmoopy is still on the bodybuilder fitness model deal, which means no brunches. Boooo.
Spanky is starting to actually worry me, because I think she really doesn't understand we're getting old. If she busts out in a Nicki Minaj wig next time I see her, I may have to break out the tranquilizer gun.

Due to my schedule for finals, that's about it. It's only because I slipped by Spanky's for Thanksgiving did I even see her.

Oh yeah, spent Thanksgiving in the ATL. My brother somehow ended up in Hawaii, don't ask, so I rolled through Spanky's and then my Aunt. So I had Thanksgiving dinner twice. I had to leave my Aunt's early, because for some reason they don't watch football at her house. So even though I got there late, when everyone else started for the door I got up and joined them.

Thanksgiving with family. That's how it's supposed to be.

New Year's Eve

If I can't get a hotel room and sleep there, then I probably ain't going. I'm getting to old and too wise to wandering the streets of Atlanta during such "festive" occasions. Find a spot, hunker down.

I guess that's it for this update. I got to finish this paper, or least get a lot farther through it, then start prepping for the finals in earnest. Promises to be fun.

Barkeep. I'm gonna need a thick vanilla milkshake. Trust me, it's brain food.

How about 'dem Cowboys?

2011-11-19T13:29:00.001-05:00

Ramblings Post #167
This year has been an odd one for the field of sport. There might not be a basketball season, the Colts haven't won a game, the undefeated keep getting defeated in college football, and Tiger has lost his mojo. But then that's why you play the game...or in the case of the NBA, you don't...because sport is last of the Western world's arenas of survival of the fittest. I say the Western world, because in many parts of the world, the plain old world is the survival of the fittest. Put that in perspective.

Tony Romo, just don't do nothing stupid. Okay?

I've noticed that I don't really post a whole lot about sports. That's interesting considering that I love sports and have and will watch football, basketball, will suffer through a baseball game, can stomach swimming and diving, attended track meets, can sit still while them cars take left turns if I'm really bored, enjoy rugby, Australian rules football, golf, formula one, cricket, curling, skiing, skating, soccer, gymnastics, horse racing, boxing and if I'm really really desperate and of a broad opinion, will even pay attention wrestling...if I can't find the remote. And even so I consider myself just a casual follower of most sport.

This year my team, the Dallas Cowboys, appear to be able to play at the top end of the spectrum...for about three quarters. At best about fifty five minutes. Unless the opposing teams quarterback is Rex Grossman.

Yet despite this, in the next three weeks the Cowboys could be leading the division. Their next three games are against potential walkovers, but then the erratic way they have been playing I'm not getting my hopes up. By contrast the Giants are playing the powerhouse schedule - and should Philly decide to man up and go at them, they could be losers in their next three. And since the rest of the division is made up of teams playing under their potential..unless your quarterback is Rex Grossman... the 'Boys could be sitting pretty in a matter weeks.

Oh joy.

But then over the next three weeks I'm probably only going to get to see the Thanksgiving game, as I have a paper and two finals to get ready for. And one of the professors was nice enough to give us the entire two weeks of finals to work on his. Did I say nice enough? I mean diabolical. I wonder how many re-writes I'll do before I send him the finished product. Whatevers.

How about them Cowboys?

Barkeep, I'll need a tall Texas beer, in a tall Texas glass.

A Very Mis-informed Christmas

2011-11-10T01:09:00.001-05:00

This is a political post

Oh Christmas Tree....

A "friend"....okay, a guy I went to college with who I reconnected with on FB, posts a link. He's upset and hot. But then, I'm fairly confident he's got a end of the Obama Administration countdown app on his iphone so, there's that. It seems the USDA has decided to place a 15 cent tax on Christmas trees to fund the Christmas Tree promotion board. The article, at the conservative site I read it on, blames it on Obama ( because obviously the President has nothing better to do) and uses this as more proof the administration is "out of control" and attacking "real" American values.

I thought at first...really? But then you read down further and see it's only 15 cents per tree, not 15 percent...so the article's supposition is this increase will be swept under the rug by the mainstream media. Then I look at it a little closer, and something doesn't look right. There is no link to the actual law or regulation so I put the cite in Google and the only place it pops up, are in articles that mention this "new tax".

So I look at cite again - 7 CFR 1214. But that cite isn't for the Federal Register, that's the cite for Code of Federal Regulations. Okay, a little skeptical now, but I figured maybe the government has had a rule change, so lets look at the original rule. Only 7 CFR 1214 deals with Kiwi fruit...not Christmas Trees. So now I'm a little confused.

So I check the Federal Register at www.gpo.gov. There, you can look up things by all kinds of ways, so I check the cite again, and nothing. No hits. So I look up the word "tree", and turns out the actual cite is 76 FR 69094. So wait, this true? Could the conservatives be right? So why not cite it properly so people could find it, since it is actually here. Hmmm.

So I start reading. The Christmas Tree Promotion Board is made up of 12 members - 11 producers and one importer. So, now I'm even more confused...this is an industry board, made up of members of the private sector. Next it goes through all the legal authority and justifications, processes, explaining notice and comment, etc, then to the history.

Now, the original article had started out with how outraged we should all be at this insult to Christmas, and how the Christmas tree industry doesn't need any help. I wonder if the person that wrote that actually read the background section, because the people they think it will injure - i.e., the Christmas Tree industry - are the proponents of the plan. The Christmas Tree producers are the ones who asked for this!

It turns out sales in the "live" Christmas Tree industry have been on the decline for thirty years while "artificial" Christmas trees sales are on the rise. The "live" section of the industry is asking the government to enforce a tax on them, so they can organize to improve their sales.

Voluntary taxation? Unthinkable.

Then I got to page 9 of the lovely PDF that happens with the correct cite, and there I found some odd language. Just so you know, the process of making a rule involves notice - the government notifying people they're going to change the rule in say, the Federal Register - and a period of comment - where people can tell the government their views and suggest changes and even ask questions. Page 9 is where they finally got to answering the objections, and someone already questioned the constitutionality of the "tax". There the government answered with a succinct " However, the assessment provided for in this type of program is not a tax nor does it yield revenue for the Federal government. These producer and importers funds raised by producers and importers are for the benefit of producers and importers."

So it's not a tax. By definition. Says so right there in the document.

Nor does this unfairly promote the live tree industry. It also doesn't violate the establishment clause. They even take a moment to remind Texas they're one of the 50 states.

So what was the point? Why the outrage? Why the screaming?

Then I realize where this originally came from, and then who it's targeted at. It's just to rile up people who already don't like the President. But then when you don't like someone, everything they do is offensive.

Today I read that the tax has been "scrapped" due to outcry. Outcry from who? The only people affected would have been the producers...who wanted the "tax" in the first place. Of course the judicious use of the word tax out in front of all the comments probably didn't help.

When did actual reading and gathering your own facts become unfashionable?

I Got Nothing But Love For You, Baby...

2011-11-09T11:46:00.001-05:00

I really liked Heavy D. He was officially one of the legends in the rap game, having moved from the mic and the stage to the board room, with occasional - successful - forays into acting. He had started back when rap was fun and bright, before everything was how hard you are, or how gangsta you could be. Back when you could switch between suits and jams, be bright and colorful or dark, depending on how you wanted to play it, not just what the audience was expecting. He performed back when you actually had to have a stage show, not just a gathering of your friends and hangers-on wandering around the stage screaming. Back before there was a "gangsta formula" for rap success.

He was conscious before conscious was cool, and had songs about subjects in terms that aren't heard today in modern rap.

My favorite song of his was "Nuttin but Love", where he showed a deftness of lyrical skill not heard much anymore. I still use that phrase from time to time. And I thought he was the business along with Omar Epps in the badly timed and thus horribly underrated "Big Trouble" (2002) where he played FBI agent Pat Greer out to stop a nuclear bomb during one crazy night in Miami. He doesn't show up until about halfway through, but he and Omar make the movie.

The Overweight lover. That was how he had billed himself, from "money earning Mt. Vernon". True he had slimmed down a little, we all have, but he was still Heavy.

Heavy in thought. Heavy in soul. Heavy in style.

And the world is a little less bright.

Smoking. Joe. Frazier.

2011-11-08T23:42:00.000-05:00

The night Joe took down Ali

To be a true champion, you need a nemesis, and opposite number...a villain. They have to rise the stature of the champion, be his equal, match him, at times defeat him, to make the eventual triumph of the champion all the more sweet. In a true test one has to grudgingly respect them for their mettle, if not the skill in which he's faced his foe. And because the world is as it is, it is possible that this villain might even transform in the collective conscious into the hero, given time or the proper mindset.

Such was Joe Frazier.

In the annals of sport, the greats always have the one who tests them, and as Magic & Bird and McEnroe & Bjorg have been linked forever, so too have Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali. Champions both who waged pugilistic battles unimaginable today. Unfortunately, the circumstances worked out that Frazier gained the heavyweight championship belt in a less than auspicious way : after then Champion Ali was stripped of the title for his objection to serving in Vietnam.

Joe supported Ali's religious objection to Active duty, even going so far as seeking out a license to for Ali so the man could get back in the ring and giving his competitor money. Joe actually cared about his foe. True, Joe's motives weren't completely pure - he needed to beat Ali to give legitimacy to his title. To be the man, you have to beat the man. But Joe was a good person first, a sportsman second.

Yet, after his suspension ended, Ali turned on Joe. They were the original "beef", with the taunts getting personal, and at times racial. They turned into boxing's Batman v. the Joker, with less articulate Joe cast in the role of villain to Ali's mouthy superhero. Their battles became epic feats of manhood, boxing artistry and personal fortitude. But Batman needs the Joker. Without him, Batman just a guy in a funny suit, with a snazzy car and a really bad case of insomnia. And equally Ali needed Frazier. The only way Ali could be great is if Frazier was as well. And so they have equal billing in the pantheon of sport.

Together, they were the main event. One could only imagine the spectacle that the "Thrilla in Manila" would be with today's media machines. This was a fight that put a war on hold.

As much as we admire Ali, to get to the idea of Ali we need Joe Frazier.

He was a simple guy, born of poor circumstances who ascended to greatness, only to find himself cast in a role less than desirable for someone of his talents. He was champion, one of the best boxers ever, who history sadly remembers as a foil.

And for that history is lacking.

Down to the Nitty Gritty

2011-10-23T23:35:00.000-04:00

Ramblings Post #166
When you start a journey, you dream about how great it will be when you get to the end. The problem is, if the journey takes too long, the journey becomes the the purpose in and of itself, instead of the destination. With the journey you have purpose, you have direction. When you get to the destination, all that's left to do is it hit the buffet or find out if the activity fee is included. Wait, wrong journey. What you really have to do is figure out the new destination. So, I might need a new destination soon. Or a buffet ticket. Either or.

If all goes well, and all the stars line up, less than 12 months from now I will have a doctorate degree...it's called a Juris Doctor, so technically yes, ... and I will have taken the bar exam and be days away from receiving notification of triumph or ....lining up to do it all over again. Now is when I need that trade mark trait that used to irk Sporty to raise it's head...and get a little too into my work.

I enjoy work. The structure, the purpose, the doing something. Given purpose A, it makes me realize how precious time is and then I can figure out a way to carve out a few minutes for purpose B, and purpose C and so on. Given too much time, like I have now, I have a tendency to either procrastinate or tinker to much with the finished project, such that I occasionally end up taking it apart and starting over for no reason other than...what if I did some other way?

Right now, while I don't have acres of free time, I also don't have a day job taking up 8 or so hours, and three of my five classes this semester don't have finals I have to start prepping for. My former squeezing it all in is getting a little indulgent. I'm a little frightened I'm going to rewrite myself into oblivion.

This is normally the Nitty Gritty. With a month or so until finals, you hit the books hard, beef up the outlines, and I don't even contemplate going out. Which really isn't a big change, since I just realized I've practically stopped going out anyway - except on special occasions - in the past few years. Once I realized that an hour out never was an hour, and when I did get back in a reasonable time, I wouldn't be of the proper mindset. Better to just focus until it was done. The actual imposition of the Nitty Gritty is just a formality.

I do have a paper to finish, and a group project but with the proper preperation and timing, they should be doable. I think I'll feel better once I start to get nervous. Getting nervous makes me prepare more, which usually means better outcomes. We'll see.

Right now. Barkeep. A vanilla milkshake. Ooooh, put some Oreos in it too.

Fill out form G-2012-Gotcha!

2011-10-13T23:55:00.003-04:00

Ramblings Post #165
A few years ago, when I moved to Atlanta, I was great success. On paper. I've found that on paper, a person can appear to be someone that they're not. Or maybe that's a mischaracterization, but the image that can be projected by what exists on paper can shape the viewpoint of reality. But what if what is on the paper doesn't quite correlate to reality? And for the record, even though the bank might have believed it, I could NOT afford 20K for that couch. But I will.

Well, as full time law student, I'm supposed to be taking advantage of more opportunity to meet and connect with my fellow students, as well as avenues in which to get my new legal career ignited. To that end, last week I filled out the application for an externship - basically working at a place in a just less than legal capacity during school hours for credit - in effort to get some degree of legal experience before I wander out into the world.

I did not even get the interview.

But then, I'm at a place where my competing law students can list a summer they spent working as an intern at a firm like Impressive, Prestigious and Clout, LLC, or at least watched the lawyers work at Scrappy, Small and Tenacious. Right now, my resume isn't going to get me many looks, because all my previous experience is non-legal. Standing in front of someone I can demonstrate a fairly decent grasp of the law but currently on paper I am a lightweight. The bulk of my current non school related legal experience comes from conversations with Police officers trying to explain that "No, we did not realize the music was that loud".

So the resume thing is probably not gonna work for me right away.

I'm singing up for a seminar in a week or so to speak with an expert on "career transitioning" which is what I'm doing going back to school so late in life. That, and I'm going to get my resume redone professionally, not just cobble something together from the legal resume samples on the internet. I'd planned on having it done by a pro a few years back, but got derailed keeping house and "replacing stuff", but this revamping is become more imperative with each passing day. My path to the Career Services Office is about to get even more well worn.

And then finally : The bar fitness application.

It is in eight sections, had to be downloaded in parts, and will be as my brother described the most invasive examination of my life I will ever experience. Your average law student is a decade or so younger than I am, and if you're living the optimal experience, almost two decades, so the examination of their lives usually involves the seven or eight years they've living since they reached the age of the majority. A simple kept your nose clean keep it moving sort of thing. My application and subsequent and probably necessary attachments...I'm figuring the package I'm going to give them might qualify as a short novel. They're going to want everything I've ever done legally, financially, possibly morally, and they expect me to remember and report it all. To say I'm certain there are going to be things I will have forgotten is a basic. Which credit cards I had in college due a free T-shirt? Um. I had an account with who? Er. I'm wanted in Bolivia? I'm not even allowed in Bolivia. The rep claims she doesn't expect perfect recall, but I'm almost certain that I'm going to be a special case. I can feel it in my bones.

This is where I see if it's all worth it. Oddly, some of the women in my class (older chicks) are suddenly talking about things you can do WITHOUT passing the bar, making me wonder if there are other folks with bones in their closets. You know what they say - It's always the quiet ones.

Barkeep. They haven't asked about my drinking yet. But just in case, I'll have Sprite, with a splash of rum.

Yet another game I have no business playing...

2011-10-10T23:55:00.004-04:00

Ramblings Post #164
You can't make your focus singular. Even when I was working out strong...it happened...even then I had those little things that let you take your mind off how much your feet hurt, or how much your arms ached, or if that popping sound was your spine suddenly saying "no mas"! Now that I'm honing my mind, or something like that, I need little ways to let me mind relax, but not so much that sink into the couch and fall asleep with the TV watching me. I need something I can pause or turn off at whim, so I can get back to business. Instead....

Because if I concentrate solely on tax law and the mental gymnastics needed to tame the various codes and regulations, and other stuff you should just know, my mind would turn to grey tapioca. Cheap grey tapioca. And because I'm on a budget. Well, I was always on a budget, now I'm on a tighter budget. My goal was to find something inexpensive as an occasional mental diversion, because given too much free time, I'd be mentally contemplating answers for questions my first year law professors asked. No seriously, I have done that.

Well, I did find something just like that. Free in fact. And now I have to figure out a way to stop.

It's a compter game called Dwarf Fortress. It's free to download, free to play, a product of one of those online labors of love that most users tinker with to while away a few hours and the builder uses as part of their resume to show somebody who writes paychecks they know what they're doing. I looked around online, and read in the NY Times that the creator of Dwarf Fortress has refused to sell the rights and gets by on donations from dedicated game players. Doing just this he only makes around $50,000 a year. But then he lives in a two bedroom apartment and enjoys a geek's paradise - waking at dark, living on chips and Mountain Dew and coding his masterwork until he decides he's done, then going back to sleep. Not a bad gig if that's what you like. And what's he's created....

I'm playing it, and it's scarily intricate.

It took me a while to make a fortress last longer than building a basic setup. I'd usually get killed early due to something - run out of water (or buckets) and everyone die of thirst, run out of food, we'd get attacked and every one gets slaughtered or they'd just go insane one by one due to something I failed to address. In any case, as my little settlers...er, dwarves, would start to check out, I would quit, like apparently most people who start. Until a wee bit frustrated, and and tired of going over whatever case I was reading, I went online for a few tips and to check out what the game was all about.

Sometimes, you're better off not knowing what is possible.

Online there is a whole community. A dedicated, hardcore, talking in terms of which I have no understanding while looking at the same thing I'm looking at type community. I am mystified. But then, a write up in the NY Times should have been a clue that something big was going on. Some of the fortress constructions are unbelievable. I get at best a few minutes a day trying to layout something that looks reasonable, you know, get my little dwarves arranged with a little atheistic appeal. But I look at some of the layouts, the designs, the constructions and it's obvious some of these guys spend months...real MONTHS... building structures that look like something out of Lord of the Rings. No, wait, they put the stuff Tolkein and the movie magic makers invented to shame.

My newly found and realized ego says you too must build a construct of great and ridiculous stature. My reasonableness says this ain't the time to pretend like you're not in law school. I read through some of the notes, and look at the depth of the message boards, and wonder if some of these people have sun sunlight lately. But then again, I haven't been getting out much myself, so I probably need to check myself.

So this is me? I do need to get out. Just as soon as build this meeting hall....

Barkeep. Something to get me out of the house. In a large glass.

Maybe something new...

2011-10-09T00:00:00.001-04:00

Ramblings Post #163
Things can't stay the same. The sun rises and sets, the wind blows, and the Cowboys continue to pin their hopes on the erratic Tony Romo. But most other things change, and as they do we must rise and meet them or be left in the dust of tomorrow.

I am apparently getting new neighbors. I say this because there have workmen, in teams, going over the house across the street from mine. I may not have ever mentioned it, but my house is kinda secluded, with only a single house sort of catty-corner to mine on my end of the block. Which partially accounts for the lovely target my home makes to the local miscreant. When I bought it, the separation was supposed to be a selling point when the area started it's transformation. One man's trash....

That house has been empty since that morning I wandered out to street full of police, people in handcuffs, and screaming babies. As I related here, I decided it was easier to be late that Friday. They were a, um, lively group and I'm sure they found other lodgings that made things...well, whatever. At least there was always somebody there and after I did a favor or two, the matriarch was willing to keep an eye on my place. I didn't even mind the late night traffic.

Okay, I tolerated the late night traffic, considering they were willing to ask people in my yard why they were there.

And because of the new work being done, I'm certain someone will be renting soon. It's sat vacant, with windows covered for months now. I know the hands are over there, working hard putting down new carpet, fixing windows, painting and all that, because I was awoken at 2am because they were making so much noise I thought they were on my front porch. Standing in my sleep pants peering out my window, ready to dial up the cops on my cell phone holding a makeshift weapon was not fun. But it does mean whoever is renting it is serious, because I can't figure out any other reason they pull the normal contractor shuffle and get work done like ninjas.

Does it mean that life is changing for your friendly neighborhood middle-aged fellow? Who knows, but it's just another cog in the wheel.

Here's hoping they don't have a restless dog.

Goodbye Mr. Jobs

2011-10-06T02:03:00.000-04:00

Steve Jobs 1955-2011

Steve Jobs death was one of those events that rouses people. He had in life's terms, pulled something out of a hat so many times before we were halfway certain that although his condition was serious, he'd get past this as well. So when Sporty hit me with with news, the idea of death catching up to a man who literally had the world by it's tail was a bit of a shock.

But let me be clear: I've never really been a Steve Jobs fan.

Now don't get me wrong, he was smart guy, and true driving force behind a company that designed some really snazzy products. I played some of my first sophisticated computer games on a Mac. And history should properly record that his company really perfected the windows graphical user interface and Microsoft really did copy it, so he and not Gates is the father of modern domestic computing. We should also note that he was a man who lost his kingdom, then
came and took back, something few titans past or present can attest to, taking a side trip to reinvent animation by re-fashioning Pixar Animation Studios along the way.

But I didn't really like his business model. Primarily because I didn't think of it first.

The idea of building the gate to the new media with the iPod, then charging everyone to get through that gate and keeping the tech in house was in a word - genius. And once he got a hold of you, to get out was nigh impossible. Because buying into item A meant to get the full effect you needed item B. And in some cases item little B. Or B squared. And then the domino effect got you and before long you end up like my old co-worker with an Apple logo tattoo'ed on his forearm.

He had a way of just making it all work. A true showman, as well as mogul among moguls.

Full disclosure: I don't own an iPod, iPad, or really any Apple product. And yet, I too will miss his eye for the future.

Barkeep. One for Mr. Jobs. The good stuff.

Everybody wants a piece of the pie

2011-10-03T01:24:00.001-04:00

Ramblings Post #162
It seems that nobody with any power wants to take a loss. On anything. A lot of things in this country would be better, if as I found out in in law class on corporations, greed hadn't been actually legally codified. It's a baffling mental concept, one that actually isn't new, just brought with more focus as of late. But like survivors on a life raft, chances of survival increase if you share what you have instead of hoarding. On unless the idea of everyman for himself catches on. Then we're all in trouble.

I'm being gaffled. By my mortgage servicing company. Let me explain.

I haven't written a check in ages. Because everybody takes Visa, and nearly everybody allows you to pay online. Once a month I pull out a slip of paper, write down my stock bills and pay them in order. At the end of the month I pay the mortgage. In less than 48 hours every month, every bill is paid and whatever is left I'm free to spend on gas, groceries, or the occasional drink as I see fit. Simple easy, and up until last month only the power company would tack on a three dollar fee for online processing, because a third party handled it and folks wanted to get their slice.

Then a month or so ago, my mortgage service provider changed. I had formerly been handled by Bank of America, who for reasons unbeknownst to me, moved my mortgage to a subsidiary servicing firm. Nothing changed except who I had to go online to pay. Or so I thought, until the first payment was due.

I log on, pull up the old account information, hit the button twice because all the info is already in, then pause.

There is a $12.00 service fee to pay online.

Because I bought my house in the days of creative financing, when the phrase "You can always refinance!" was popular, so I have first and second. So in reality, it's a $24.00 service fee to pay. Online.

To process Visa costs about $0.01. To electronically move money from your account might cost $0.50. What in the hell is the other $23.00 for, exactly? Then I heard that Bank of America, the owner of this company, wants to charge you $5.00 a month for access to your own money. This would be on top of the checking account fee they already charge. So suddenly I'm not surprised.

Now, I'm good customer. I've never been late with a payment. So what gives?

That will be the subject of my call to them, because after all, for $24.00 a month from the thousands of accounts that got transferred, they're not open on weekends.

Barkeep. I need something get my nerves back to right.

I got a target on my back

2011-10-02T23:00:00.000-04:00

Ramblings Post #161
The funny thing about learning from your mistakes is you actually have to make the mistake first to figure out what you did wrong. Which is cool when it's something you can fix, or problem you can leave behind after a reasonable amount of time. But if the problem is huge, and your middle aged, and the economy is bad, and you are sick and tired of being sick and tired. Well, let's just say some mistakes create larger learning opportunities than others.

My new alarm system, post my last alarm system's horrible failure, has revealed to me a disturbing truth. My new alarm has an exterior motion sensor, placed in an area where the only way to trigger it is to stand precisely where one would stand if one were say...examining the window into which one would break if one was so inclined. Not looking at the window, examining the window. Like from less than five feet.

It's gone off four times in the last four weeks.

I realized sometime ago that the individuals who broke into my house sometime ago were probably the guys who broke in years ago, and just kept coming back time after time, knowing I would replace stuff, mad they didn't get the TV. What I didn't realize is how often your casual criminal wanders past and says "Hey, nobody's home, let's check it out!" The little bit of seclusion that would have made my house a touch more desirable after the neighborhood changed is working against me in this case. It's more than a little unnerving. And it only spurs on my need to finish up this law school trip, and find a gig that will let me slip up out of this piece.

I know that things are rough all over, but damn.

I'll be visiting the local constabulary to let them know of this change to my alarm routine, so that they don't start marking me down for excessive alarms.

They say that hindsight is twenty twenty, and I guess their right. I should have chosen one of the other many spots available, including a house that if I drove by today I wouldn't be able to look at because I still remember my boy looking at me as we finished walking around it saying, "you need to buy this house" and me standing there trying to come up with a reason not to. I'm stupid that way sometimes. I know they say don't dwell on the past and things you can't change, but we still need to learn from our mistakes.

Bacon & Egg Scrambler with Goat’s Cheese, Spinach, Puff Pastry and Béchamel Sauce

By the way, this would have been a post about my Sunday afternoon, but this last alarm when off I was on the terrace at Canoe celebrating Shade's birthday. She's a girl in transition, having just gone through med school in Georgia, then more med school at Harvard, then more med school at Howard, and is now doing a fellowship in Philly. One of her girls asked her why she keeps coming back, as we've had her birthday brunch there at least six or seven times, and she told them that with life always in transition you need to keep some traditions to keep you grounded. That was what I was going to write about before all this happened.

So as they chat I'm standing in the garden, talking to the dispatch trying to figure out if the cops pulled up in time. Yes, really.

Then the Cowboys, er, let me correct myself, then Romo choked again. It is rough being a Cowboy fan.

I just need to get on with the getting on. And finish my Tax homework. And find some food.

Barkeep. I need in this order: Glass, Ice, Bourbon, coke.

Five Minutes Watching: Unstoppable

2011-09-23T00:48:00.000-04:00

In the interest of full disclosure, this wasn't really five minutes of watching this. I've now probably caught bits and pieces of this at least ten times over the past few weeks and each time I'm compelled to watch a little more than I planned. It's a very interesting movie, where for the bulk of it the main characters are in a very small space, doing something amazing. Acting.

If you don't know, the story fairly simple - a series of fairly basic accidents cause a freight train to leave the station with no driver. Two company employees then stop said train. That's pretty much it. There are number of things that make this interesting, my main one is that the two heroes are just two guys who were doing their jobs and then decided to do something they really didn't have to do...because it was the right thing to do. Nobody turned out to be a former Ninja Navy SEAL, nobody got shot, and the characters back stories were fairly mundane. Technically, it could have been anyone going to work and then when things went off the rails, stepping up and doing something.

Other than some obvious movie angles when they tried to work in the fake news footage, or the cell phone usage, and that the runaway train didn't seem to be going really fast in a number of shots, it was fairly straightforward. Everyone had a halfway reason for doing the stuff they did with few exceptions. Management was driven by costs. The Yard Master felt squeezed. The guys in the field were throwing something at the wall and see if it stuck. I read a couple of reviews after I watched it and the people critical of the film hated how they Hollywooded it up. But then there had to be some tension, I mean, come on. Otherwise it just could have been a documentary voiced by Morgan Freeman.

Even more surprising, Chris Pine can act. After seeing him the mess that was the Star Trek reboot...or re-imagining... or re-whatever lets them sleep at night....I was about to write him off as another pretty boy actor who more or less fell into a sweet gig. But in this he actually looks and sounds like a guy whose life has taken an odd turn, but is otherwise just trying to make it to the next payday. And Denzel manages to find his way out of previous acting stupor and puts a nice little spin on Engineer Frank Barnes, giving him all the emotions of guy in a situation he didn't plan on, but trying to make it work.

In the end, its a pretty watchable flick. Not perfect, but pretty damn watchable. See it from the very beginning if you do, because there is a nuance that I didn't get the full effect of through two viewings until I saw the first five minutes.

Water, water everywhere...except here.

2011-09-20T00:46:00.003-04:00

Ramblings Post #160
At one point I was a certified....well, I had a red cross certification for something involving swimming. I had a tendency when I first started to dry my face every time it got wet, but I got over that. I have danced in the rain because it's fun. And at a party, I'm the idiot who always manages to crawl into the hot tub. And I can stay in a shower for an hour and have fallen asleep in the bath. So I think I have a fairly good relationship with water. I think. Maybe. Still scared of drowning.

If it ain't one thing, it's another.

First, the school is tripping, acting like the private loan I applied for and was approved for - at a rate lower than a federal student loan - they will end up having to pay back. They have budget for me, and since nobody has any actual numbers, I've been a battle of the forms with them for the past two weeks. That warm and fuzzy feeling that the University actually cares about lil' ole me is fading. Fast. But since I'm in the home stretch on this degree, and oddly, I have NO intention of returning to the old job....something will break in my favor.

But that's a story for a another time.

As part of my form "gatheration" activity to see if I could make the school understand I'm middle aged and have been managing my own money for years, I discovered I'm not paying my water bill. And by not paying my water bill I mean the city hasn't sent me one since July. Well, June, because I paid it in July. I only realized it a week or so ago, so that was on my to do list of things to figure out.

Today I figured it out when the city turned off my water.

A call to customer service, thirty minutes on hold, and two call backs from a supervisor and I get some interesting news. It turns out that sometime this Spring, somebody somewhere re-coded my account to show that the previous owner still owned this address. And they sent him the bill. And he told them to turn the service off. In May. It just took them five months to do it. Nothing I did. Nothing I was responsible for.

But tonight I have no water.

The supervisor was nice enough to tell me that the service would be restored on tomorrow, but that I'd owe for the months I missed. And because I really wanted my water, I decided not to argue the point... at this time. At one point in college I lived in a house with no working water. Or power. It's not even fun. And right this second, I'm not talking to Spanky, so that conversation where I ask to stop by and take a shower would be awkward. And since I'm actually paying attention and trying to get an education this time around, being withheld the privilege of "inside plumbing" for a prolonged period of time is a major distraction. Major distraction. I thought it was an inconvenience not having a washing machine, but that was nothing.

As it is, I'm hoping I'm not too gamey at post time (time to go to class) tomorrow. And I think I'll postpone my visit to the career center until Wednesday. Just sayin.

If I could move today...

2011-09-06T13:18:00.004-04:00

Ramblings Post #159
Sometimes you don't want to get familiar. There are places where you're happy when they recognize you, because it means something good. Your favorite bar makes sure you get good service, your favorite restaurant means you food is always piping hot, your favorite book store where without asking they've got a couple of the hot sellers under the counter because they knew you'd stop by. And then there are mine.

The first set of officers just left. The second set have been delayed.

The thieves who periodically break into my house finally got the big screen after two years of trying. It was bolted to a six foot steel stand with four of the inch and half long screws. It was glorious. It is now gone. In its place is a pile of debris, because my alarm company took so long the crooks had time to literally take the damn thing apart. It took me twenty minutes to set it up, I wonder how long it took them to take it down. I am not happy.

They took my third PS3...with the Tiger Woods Collector's edition that's no longer available. Or the three quarters of a season that I had played. I am not happy.

They did leave the PC, which was wisely in a an old beige case, disguising it's high powered contents, but the flat screen monitor is gone. Again. I am not happy.

They took the change cup I keep in my bedroom. I am not happy.

There is probably more missing, but since I can't clean up until officers from Robbery get here, I'm stuck. So I'm sitting here. Frustrated. Just so, so very frustrated. I got other stuff to do, and I just did not need this. My plans,with the quitting the job-going to school-getting through this all I can tell you did not call for a major catastrophe like this. But then whose does?

Oh, if I could move. Today. I would have a truck out by tonight if I could. Back to the side of town where I lived for eight years without a single attempt. When the police officers say that your address rings a bell when they hear it on the radio, and when they pull up they ask "so what did they get this time?", let's just say it gets old fast.

The only way this will stop if I'm not here. And then I think they'll swing by for the copper. I am so, and I mean so, done right now.

Barkeep. Whatever you got.

Will I be happy as a lawyer?

2011-09-01T23:50:00.006-04:00

Ramblings Post #158
Transitions are odd. Given a choice I'm a night person, unless I have to work at night, then I'm a morning person. I don't really drink coffee, unless it was free and I was at the office. Now that I don't have an office, I'm thinking of getting a coffee maker. I need focus and self discipline, and I shouldn't have expected them to just suddenly pop into existence. Or should I have? It's only been a week. It's a transition. At least that's what I keep telling myself.

Would I be happy as a lawyer?

Sporty asked me the other day, a question I really hadn’t thought about. That question is the the title of this post - will I be happy being a lawyer?

I make no bones that applied to Law School on a whim, and then actually made the move to go only because it looked like Sporty had moved on and I needed something to occupy my time and my mind. It’s not the first time I’ve started something for less than completely pure reasons and later developed an interest. But that concept made me think about something else that I don’t usually consider about myself.

I’m a fairly intense person.

To look at me, to observe me, to know me you probably wouldn’t believe me when I say that. I’ve cultivated a strenuously casual demeanor, something I’ve been working on to mitigate my “dark side” since I realized I have a tendency to go overboard when I get involved... in pretty much anything. I liked reading as a child, so I read everything under the sun. Westerns, Romance, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, How-to, Horror, Novels, etc. I played organized football, and was that wild eyed screaming lunatic always a little too into the game that my coach would have referred to as - agile, mobile and hostile. I’ve had employers where I was willing to put in nineteen hours days if the job called for it, and with my last employer I nearly worked myself into the grave. Those things I do, I do with a passion. As I’ve said before, I think of my approach to things as being like that of a freight train, slow to start, but a force to be reckoned with once moving.

It’s been three years. So I’ve kinda gotten into this law thing.

That and there are so many things you can do with a law degree, so many types of lawyer you can be. Or even if you don’t take the bar, as I discussed with a classmate, there are things you can do with just a Juris Doctor. It is an advanced degree. The field is wide open for career opportunities. I'll have more tools.

But happy?

The things that make me happy can’t be earned. I can’t really work towards them, or build up a bank to use later. They aren't something I can hone, or develop, or anything I can buy. The things that make me happy have to be given to me.

Love. Friendship. Compassion.

It’s an odd concept. I don’t want to call myself gifted, but those things that can be mastered I have tendency to eventually get a grasp of. I have persistent quality and a great degree of patience, so it comes. Eventually. Most times. It is the intangibles that interest me, that drive me, that make me. And in those situations what I'm counting on mostly is luck of the draw. Damn shame.

So, will getting to the end of this make me happy? Oh, I'll be an effective lawyer, of that I'm certain. Like any other skill, given a little time I will start to get a handle on the nuances and shades that make a good counselor, and mature into legal hardwood.

Happy? Barkeep...how about a small whiskey, and just bruise it a touch with some Sprite. Happy?

New Found Freed...hey, hey, hey, not so fast there.

2011-08-29T08:17:00.003-04:00

Ramblings Post #157
First weekend post chicken plucking, I think. I say that because I got no exit interview, no packet, no nothing and still have my badge. I'm not sure what happened, only I know I'm not going, it's on to the next thing. Maybe I'm just on vacation and don't know it. Hmmmm. What can they do? Fire me?

This weekend its been party-party-party and drink-drink-drink. For somebody. I mean I know it's happening because I'm seeing the adverts and hearing about people heading out and the like, but your guy is home studying for the most part. I did dip out on Friday night - for the first time in absolute ages - to Spanky's birthday drop in at Six Feet Under. But I didn't get there until eight and was headed home at eleven. I thought she'd gotten a private room or something, but she preferred the excitement of the bar, so our little party of fifteen or twenty mixed in among what I assume is their normal Friday night crowd. SFU seems like a cool place, only the evening came to an abrupt end when Spanky's "guy" showed up and her priorities changed. Abruptly.

But it was her birthday, she can do what she wanna.

Saturday was studying. I actually woke up and read for class. And then I realized I don't have work on Monday, or any other day, so I can read then, and promptly started looking for stuff to do around the house. I could have gone down to One Music Fest, which Spanky was making day four or five of her Birthday week celebration, but by all reports, the sun had shown up and had taken off its shirt. Temperatures were in the mid-90's in the part of Piedmont Park with no shade. So that was a no go. Then I remembered my Tax HOMEWORK is due Monday by 9am, so I realized I did have some weekend school work to do and started doing that, because it normally takes a while. A long while.

By Saturday evening, upset and frustrated at my inability to decipher Federal Tax Code, after six or so hours off and on, I headed over to my RP's house. Earlier this year I finally let him know that I was over the "Mega Party" Concept we'd been keeping alive for the past few years, and he admitted he was kind of tired of it as well. So this was a small gathering of maybe 10 or 15 folks. We played cards, dominoes, ate, drank and whiled away an evening. It was nice, but again was home before midnight.

Sunday, I woke up and started on my tax problem again, piecing it together, line by line. After this semester, I'm going to ask the dean to re-write the descriptions for the tax class. I could have sworn the phrase "discuss tax theory" was in the listing when I signed up, not "we will try to make you a tax attorney." Especially since currently I have no desire whatsoever to be a tax attorney. Zero. This promises to be my challenge class, if I can make it through this I'm going to see if there is Underwater Basket weaving has a legal angle. After much whittling, and five more hours, I finally got the problem down to something I was comfortable turning in and dutifully emailed it.

This is gonna be a long semester.

Barkeep. Let me get a tea.

Tne New Groove

2011-08-25T00:34:00.003-04:00

Ramblings Post #156
You got to have a plan. Even if you don't stick to it, you have to have a plan. It is the metaphorical picking a direction and heading out instead of just wandering to wherever fate and the winds take you. Even if it's just a few parts sketched out, as long as it contains the basics -where you are, where you going, and the realization it's some distance - you're good. It needs to be flexible, becomes things change, but resolute to a great degree, because it's far too easy to give up...and just pretend you made every effort. You got to have a plan. And a towel.

What I envisioned for this next part is straight out of the movies. The rising at 6am, heading to the gym then home for breakfast. Dashing to campus to spend my days flitting between the library, various student organizations and the career center. Body sleek, mind honed to a razor's edge, rested and prepared for classes for which I've read the material enough to recite it from memory.

Then again, considering the demands of my SECOND tax class (yeah, I know, brilliant idea) that reciting from memory part might not be that far fetched.

What's really going to happen will be a lot less pretty. I've already found out the parking situation on campus borders on surrealistic tragic comedy, so one idea may already be dead. Funny, now that I write that, I suddenly remember my undergrad Alma Mater having similar issues, with parking problems that NASA and Watson would have been hard pressed to find solutions for. Here its an urban campus, with school structures next door to office buildings, and no verdant lawn of green to act as a hedge against the vast swathes of uneducated masses...or something like that. This promises to be fun.

I'll be in and out, I see that now. Or there will be days I go and stay from 8am - if I can sneak a park close - and don't leave until 9pm when my last class is over. Or I'll break down and ride Marta, which for your information on the urban side ISN'T imbued with the nice secure parking structure that exist up north. I'll be packing lunch and dinner and looking for the quiet spot in the library. The ladies in the career center will either come to love me or begin to hurriedly jump up to lock the door when I turn the corner. It's going to be a mix of ardent study followed by periods where I have to force myself to read, carefully structured reading and research along with periods where I'm winging it because I was doing something I shouldn't have been doing.

It's going to be very real.

What I don't want is become the hermit student. It's all too easy to read the cases, do the write ups and stay home, avoiding the traffic and worse on campus. I resigned so I can do this...so now, let's do this.

I think I need a hug.

Barkeep. A jagermister and the five hour energy.

Five Minutes Watching: The A-Team

2011-08-24T01:48:00.004-04:00

I don't watch a lot of movies, because I don't have time. But at the end of day of work, then class, then reading for the next class, and writing down what I wrote so I can remember it all, I'll turn on one of them pay channels I have for just such an emergency and catch five minutes of something.

Utilizing my new found freedom, and as a present for doing my homework, and because it was on, I watched the A-Team movie the other night, starring Liam Neeson as the venerable Hannibal Smith. Er, was George Clooney not available? Maybe even Bruce Willis in a bad wig? Because the guys who played Face, Murdock and B.A were on point, but Liam Neeson just looked out of place. Like he was trying too hard. Like he wasn't playing Hannibal, but doing an impersonation of George Peppard as Hannibal. There were times he even looked like Al Bundy playing action hero. And this selection alone lowered the whole thing to parody.

That and the final showdown, but more on that later.

Now, to be clear, the writing for the film version of the A-Team actually wasn't horrible. Considering how bad Hollywood has done some other ideas, a great deal of it actually made "action movie sense", in that it worked as long as it stays in its own little universe.
The trying to "fly the tank" bit was good, and the some of the set pieces were nice, although the obvious (and I mean really obvious) use of CGI kind of snatched away some of the thunder.

But there were one too many coincidences. One too many shots of Liam Neeson looking like he ate something bad. And the use of the new Hollywood hot villain - the rogue agent. Hasn't this character been the antagonist of ALL three Mission Impossible and the Jason Bourne movies, as well as every other spy movie for the past five years? Maybe we could have like a villain type villain going forward. At least James Bond tries to shoot somebody NOT on the same payroll. I will admit it was a nice bit of writing to work the rouge agent trope into the origin story trope, but I'm really kind of tired of that fighting against an insider concept.

That concept, and the way they did the final showdown. First, it was Face's plan and not Hannibal's which was the first problem. Then in the middle of it you have that obviously CGI mess that makes no, and I mean NO sense. I realize there was the ability to print your own money at stake - although how long you could get away with NEW small faced hundreds is anyone's guess, but all the running through the streets shooting at people? The explosions at the end (they blew up a ship!) should garnered some interest, from some kind of law enforcement. Even if they had a stand down order from rogue agent. Somebody should have noticed. Somebody. Anybody?

So that's what happens....

2011-08-23T21:55:00.007-04:00

Ramblings Post #155
There is only one thing constant: change. Rarely if ever are the we same person who awoke this morning as the person we take to bed that night. Life, sometimes in sudden swoops and sometimes incrementally, has a way of changing us, of making us other people. It's why sometimes people who haven't seen us in a while don't really know us anymore. We're changing. All the time. Scary, isn't it.

I been gone for a minute, but I feel the need to yell into the darkness.

I have pressed the shiny red button. It's ova.

I am no longer a chicken plucker. It's been a long strange trip but now it's onto the next phase. That spring of 2003 the job was supposed to be a way station to the next big thing, but after a while I just got used to it. It became routine and I let myself get mired in the client's issues, which in many cases were amplified by third parties really only interested in themselves. I got used to Sporty being there, having the ability to hang out with friends, to occasionally splurge on something for myself. I wish I could say now that I'm leaving I have to dial it back, but its been dialed back for a while. A lot of what this position initially gave me, I haven't had for a while. So now, in the middle of an economic downturn, I walk out the door? Buying low they call it.

My stomach is unsettled.

For the first time in a almost a decade, I'm not sure how I'm going to get to the next. Before now, there was always a next check, knowing that if I went in and did what I had to do, that money WOULD come. When it reality they could have eased me out the door at any time, for any reason and in hot skippy minute I could be scrambling for something. It's eerie to think I had convinced myself that that place was "my spot" when I never really knew for sure. At least the way I'm leaving, it's on my own terms. Still, "pushing away from the table" is mental struggle.

My stomach is unsettled.

This whole period is bad for my diet, as for the past two weeks while things have been working themselves out - the money, the classes, the job, my life - I've been over indulging like its going out of style: fried chicken, copious amounts of red meat, too much bread, not enough fruit. I've been sugared up and salted down. But I'm too tired of thinking about what comes next to take the time to make something healthy. But I'm going to have to tighten that back up as soon as I can. The sugar and salt are now just fleeting joy in the sun.

My stomach is unsettled.

There was time a long time ago when I lived off temp jobs and hook-ups, and what I'm about to do was the norm. But that was a long time ago, and like a pro athlete trying to regain his step, this is going to take a minute. I want to say that there is no fear...but I'd be lying. They say god watches out for drunks and babies...and I stopped drinking like that years ago. Let's hope I can get a toddler exemption.

My stomach is unsettled.

Someone once described my approach to life as metaphorically comparing me to a glacier. Slow, steady, but always moving forward, almost inevitable. I've thought of it more in term of a freight train. Slow to start, but once its rolling it is incredibly hard to stop. This experience right here, is more like an ejector seat. I was just doing this one thing...then bam! I'm 500 hundred feet up and rising.

My stomach is unsettled.

I'm in it for the full time this last year of law school. Now, I did jimmy it - five classes, three final exams, one paper so it's not completely ridiculous. And since the paper is due before the end of the semester, once I'm done with it I can focus on the exams - and only one of the three already has me nervous. It's more but it's not more, ya' know? But now the shenanigans leading up to taking the bar are about to start. It's gonna be a matter of my focus and my discipline. In the end you just want to get to the next part, but what happens when you actually get there?

I didn't think I would but I'm going to miss that spot. It was the outlet on the other side of law school. All I have now is me...and school.

Barkeep, something cheap. I got to make this little piece of change last...

So what happens if I press this button?

2011-08-03T23:05:00.003-04:00

Ramblings Post #154
I read somewhere that no one is original. That in reality, we are all just the sum total of our experiences, squeezed through the prism of time. We were born raw material, and since then we've been molded by our family, our friends, our choices, luck, circumstances, fate and whether or not we like Miracle Whip. But right now I'm at a cross roads. I'm glad this debt ceiling this is over, even though the agreed upon solution appears to reheated and warmed over greasy dog droppings that no one likes (one of the signs of good compromise), I'm tired of talking about it. This is about me.

Very shortly I have to decide if I'm going to switch to law school full time or continue my part time "shenanigans."

You can see by my slightly biased characterization which way I'm leaning.

If I were your typical 25-26 year old with the world in front of them, bunking on a friend's couch and living off cold pizza for a while wouldn't be nothing but a thing. At this point in my life however, I'm saddled with grown up stuff - a mortgage, a credit card bill, car insurance, me insurance and few other necessities (water, lights, phone). And what happens if I have another break in? I'm getting by now with those because the guy who does my work is one really understanding guy. Really. But one bad Thursday with broken windows, missing stuff and other sundry destruction would be devastating.

The reality of it is that unlike undergrad, my finances are more imposing upon decisions than they used to be. Don't get me wrong, I can dial down or turn off the DirecTV, catch the bus to downtown twice a week to save gas and go back to eating the dreaded Ramen noodles and variations on the potato for a year to get my degree. Part of getting what you want is sacrifice. But funny thing, part of bar fitness will be my credit rating, so I'll have to be able to meet my accumulated bills for the year I'm down under. It would be shame to reach the end goal and denied on the technicality. So I can't just go all out trying to get there.

The benefits of full time vs. part time are boundless however. With full time I get the ability to go actually speak to the professor on a regular basis. Better access to the career center. Opportunities to join a professional club and participate REGULARLY. A chance to go to the mixers that happen while I'm in evening classes and make the connections I'll need later in a practice. A better ability to study and actually get my stuff together that doesn't involve staying up until 2am trying to re-read what I already read the previous weekend trying to refresh myself. You know, all the stuff I was to stupid to do during undergrad. Amazing how those life lessons come back, isn't it. It all hinges however, on my ability to make these payments.

When my parents suggested this years ago, their idea was to borrow to the hilt and go full time. Looking back, having not been in a class room in a decade would have caused that plan to be a disaster. But now, my study habits have improved and I've gotten my mind more in harmony with how this is all working. And as I explained to a class mate, considering the student loans I've already accumulated, I'm kinda "all in" with this thing. Why half step the rest of the journey? Worse, looking at the math of my accumulated hours, if I don't go full time the bar would be kicked back to almost two years away. Which is a long time at my age.

The worst part is everyone wants me to go full time. My folks. My classmates. Sporty. Me. But the reality of the situation is the reality of the situation.

I've got lot of number to figure out. And I went to law school because I'm bad at math, so I might be a minute.

Barkeep. Water. I gotta keep my wits straight, and the my diet won't let me have any sugar.

A Sugar Coated , um... Sandwich with Hot Mustard.

2011-08-01T23:45:00.008-04:00

This a political post

When I first got to college, one of the first classes I took was accounting. Now, I'm not Einstein, but I can add and subtract, and since accounting wasn't supposed to have variables or sine curves, I figured it couldn't be that hard. Had I said that before I went to college, those would qualify as famous last words. Accounting is NOT math.

And the budget process is more akin to a Potions class at Hogwarts than to something you could put down on paper. Tax cuts, revenue increases, deferments, entitlements, and all that come together to form what has to be one of the great messes of history. Its so convoluted that it's possible to imagine that one fanciful night, someone would realize a decimal point was out of place on page three thousand, all the numbers would suddenly fall into place, and all our problems would be solved.

But finally, after much hemming and hawing, we've reached a deal. As a sign of a good compromise, neither side particularly likes this deal. No revenue increase, although the tax rate is the lowest been in anyone living's lifetime, and tax cuts of things that actually drive the economy. And because Obama is in a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation, he's gonna sign it. He's not going to like, he doesn't want to do it, and if he's already conceded he might be a one-termer, he may was well just say it.

What he needed was somebody willing to take the rap, what he got was the stereotypical smoke filled room. The President can only do so much. He was a Constitutional law professor, he knows where the lines are. But these folks are wearing him out. I hate to say it, but we abandoned him halfway through, getting excited about the Tea Party as though they were 21st century Beanie Babies, and now we're paying for it. This "austerity" plan didn't work in Japan in the 1990's, it's not working in Greece today, and now the Conservatives are forcing it down our throats here as though its the brand new electric slide. Forget hoping Obama gets re-elected, considering his competition that's not a great leap, we need to hope he still wants to lead us next time.

Considering how we've treated him, I would understand if he gave up the ghost.

The President needs to learn speak...

2011-07-29T23:48:00.008-04:00

This is a political post.

Well, maybe not speak as such, but as my brother puts it, what Obama needs is a class in how to tell a story. I don't think Morgan Freeman writes his own stuff, but certainly he needs to stop into DC and help the Prez get his cadence right.

The debt ceiling debacle keeps exposing completely broken parts of our already dysfunctional government, and what the President really needs to do is get on television and explain what's really happening. He needs to start with a basic lesson in government, segue into what the debt ceiling really is and what it needs to be raised to do, and why he offered that grand bargain the Republicans didn't accept.

A basic reading of the Constitution will reveal to even the most casual student that spending bills originate in the House of Representatives. The President has not been imbued with an Executive Branch American Express Card and the right to spend all, what's the technical term..."all willy-nilly." The President's job, which we all should have learned in high school civics - at least we would have before we fired all the teachers - is to EXECUTE the budget written by Congress. Boiled down into terms we can all understand, it's Congress gives him some money and a list of how to spend it. Now, he can offer a budget proposal, and many President's have, but Congress writes the budget. Congress decides how much money we spend, and on what.

Which brings us to the debt ceiling. Now, when Congress wrote the budget they were aware that the debt ceiling would be met before the year was out. And now to simply meet that agreed upon budget we need to raise the debt ceiling. We aren't talking about any NEW obligations or plans, this is borrowing to meet that basic budget. And we have known this would need to be addressed since January, and done nothing. And when I say nothing, I mean nothing, as the Republican controlled House has passed fewer than 25 pieces of legislation total. On anything. (for comparison, the Pelosi led Democratic congress passed more than 150 in the same amount of time). It probably doesn't help the Republican argument that their side also insisted on keeping government revenues low by extending the Bush tax cuts, which the President grudgingly agreed to, but that's a whole other issue.

Which brings us to the "Grand Bargain". The theme the conservative talking heads have been hammering home the past two weeks is leadership, as in the President isn't providing any. But what do they mean by leadership? To these penny ante pundits, at least to ones repeatedly invoking it, it is just a "talking point." I really would like to see Anderson Cooper or one of the other TV hosts call them on it one night. To these mindless myna bird-eqse commentators the definition of leadership is like the definition of listening my father used to use when I was a teenager : If I didn't immediately agree with him, then I was listening. To them it used to mean agree with my plan. I say used to, because lately its just something to say to tarnish the president's image.

(Note: You can generally tell when something is a talking point, because more than 4 conservative commentators will use the exact same language).

Leadership? In my book, leadership is doing what needs to be done. Much like the conservatives clamored, we can't go on spending forever. The markets just won't take it. We need to borrow now, but having a saving plan in place for the future. The Democrats know this. So, assuming a LEADERSHIP role and a realistic outlook, the President created "the Grand Bargain". Despite claims that the "liberals" have an agenda, or just don't get it, the President and those pesky liberals are more than willing to cut spending. But, apparently when the President offered the Republicans a deeper cuts figure than they demanded, because the facts and not ideology demanded it, suddenly there was a problem. Wait, what?

Mr. President, had the government defaulted AND we lost the NFL season, this would have been a 1000 times worse. Trust me on that.

Yes, the President and the Democrats are willing to cut expenditures. Drastically. Even more than Bohener's Plan which was supposed to be seriously fiscally responsible. Remember that Grand Bargain? Almost twice what the Republicans wanted. So why did it matter that the Bargain included some revenue increases, when the net gain in cuts still equaled more than the original Republican concept? That same damned myopic ideology. No tax increase and oppose Obama. And people are about to find out, ideology doesn't keep the lights on or put food on the table.

Obama's calculations won't let him pull the 14th amendment option, because the last thing we need is more government stalling behind a failed impeachment. But considering how little has been accomplished, and how little more will be accomplished between now and the next election, the option does look attractive.

Looking ahead, the current stalemate - if it gets to Aug 2. - will force the Treasury, and the President, to make some hard choices. But the Bond holders WILL get paid, and I doubt the soldier's paychecks will be short, but after that it everything is open. Medicare and Medicaid, Social Security and Veterans Benefits all are on moving ground, and will lead to some trying times and possibly a few untimely passings. Government contracts, i.e., the defense industry may not be addressed - possibly leading to unnecessary expensive litigation. One hopes that Congress suddenly finds their paychecks missing as well. Wouldn't that be neat?

And despite the idea that history will blame the President, the right now and immediate future will blame the Congress. Those who thought the President was exaggerating about the consequences have seen $700 billion disappear from the markets in the last few days behind this hesitation. Continually insisting upon an unworkable plan won't help matters. Worse, the Tea Party likes to believe that a heavy cutting forced by a shut down will only eliminate the programs they don't like, but will soon find out the "awful" truth of just how much they to have come to depend on the government - just like everyone else.

And if the new congressmen think this is little bit of horse trading going on now is deplorable, let one week of Social Security and Medicare checks go missing. Then they'll see some real politicians emerge. The establishment has hung around so long for reason, and being an ideologue is merely the latest passing fancy.

We are down the nitty gritty. Let's hope the nitty wins out.

Somebody's got to lose...

2011-07-26T23:13:00.003-04:00

this is a political post.

It's almost comedy to watch Boehner try to explain himself, and watching his starched and stiff response after the practiced delivery of the President made him seem even more uncomfortable. That he was heard by a CBS reporter back stage telling someone "I didn't sign up for going mano-a-mano with the President of the United States" shows that he really didn't expect things to go this far. He probably didn't help things by mis-characterizing the situation right out of the blocks either.

I've watched a lot of Fox News, the conservative's propaganda machine, and one of the things I'll have to admit is that conservatives have gotten very good at not telling the whole truth, which is fundamentally different than lying. It gives them the same results as a complete falsehood, because parts of it can actually be verified. You get the parsed information spread, but without the later situation of being called out. But every now and then, they have to pretend like the truth doesn't even exist as opposed to their selective story telling method.

The President came to us asking for more money.

Spending bills originate in Congress. Which goes back to my earlier statement that right now, the Congress is really only authorizing the Treasury (via the Executive Branch) to borrow money it previously was aware or should have been aware was going to be needed to borrow anyway. To make is sound like Obama showed up with a list of new projects is misleading. Very misleading.

It's almost like the Speaker is counting on the people listening not being informed as to the basic principles of government. And unfortunately, there is a large enough contingent of Americans who actually fall into that category.

The President seems more concerned about his election.

This might have even been true at one point, but it to hold this one true you have to nullify the idea of the efficient market AND the conservatives complete argument about market uncertainty holding back growth. While the markets aren't really that efficient, they aren't stupid either. The credit agencies looking at the mess we're in now have figured out the conservatives will pull this same stunt for political reasons two more times before the next election in an effort to unseat Obama. Each time they're hoping the President will blink, or at least get blamed for any of the resulting fallout. Which is why those agencies have pretty much said that the good ole US of A would get downgraded anyway unless we adopt a long term plan - the opposite of the plan endorsed by the conservatives.

The United States is a business.

Conservatives love this analogy. Money in, money out. And like most other analogies they like, they only want to use the half that works for them. Yes, a business that spends more than it takes in has to cut its expenses. OR...raise it's revenue. Most business actually chose the second, revenue raising option. They only cut expenses if they can't increase the intake. They also like to pretend it's an outrage that the rich pay 60% of the taxes. But since they actually have 80% of the money, it's not really as much an imbalance as its made out to be. Funny how "freedom isn't free" becomes a just lovely slogan when the bill shows up.

But America isn't a business, it's a government. And government operates differently at a molecular level than a business does. Government needs to meet it's bills, but it's not a business by any stretch of the imagination. An even better model would be the family structure. Because we can turn off the cable, but Grandma has to get her medicine. There are some things we just cannot turn off.

Why is he acting like he just got there.

Boehner has been a Congressman since 1991. When he was elected, Obama had just got hired as a Law Professor and was still just a community organizer. Boehner's opening line made him sound like Captain Renault from Casablanca, announcing he's shocked to suddenly finding out there is gambling going on at Rick's cafe right before the waiter hands him his winnings. He's been there 20 years! He's not part of the solution, he's an integral part of the system he's trying to look like he's not part of. You would think he would play up the veteran angle to Obama's young upstart. Instead, on camera he looks like the guy who's sorry he just foreclosed on you. Well not that sorry. And in this economy its not a good look.

Now we get down the nitty gritty. With the deadline looming larger than ever the idea of sticking the ideals that got you into office are making less sense by the hour. I wonder if anyone has realized that the Tea Party members of Congress has basically stopped listening to their constituents, and now owe allegiance to Grover Norquist and conservative blogger Erick Erickson. But then since the conservatives have turned into a the very thing they like to invent conspiracy fantasies so that they can stand against - a radical, authoritarian nationalist political ideology - one has to wonder what it will take the wake them up from their dream.

Well, here we go. This is where we separate the men from the ...rest of them.

So I played this game...

2011-07-21T23:41:00.005-04:00

Ramblings Post #153
I am multifaceted. I can engage in lively and spirited conversation that works the mind with its depth of field. I can hang out and make drinks, and idle with the best of them. I can find a tall glass of juice and some snacks, a good book and be satisfied for hours. And I can queue up a set of pixelated puzzles and ...well, read on.

What did I do on weeknights before law school? I wish I could remember, because right now it's like that two weeks after the football season ends where you try to remember what did instead of watch football. It's awkward because you have three to six hours blocked out mentally, and suddenly you DO have time to pull the weeds out of the garden and regrout the tile. Or I would if I had a garden, or tile to regrout. So, in this interim, instead of starting some huge project between summer and the fall classes and not getting done, I've cranked up the PS3 to high and taken the plunge.

FIRST...I play video games because I've played video games for a long as I can remember. We played Cannons in the lab back in high school, we had our baseball league on hidden drives on the school computers in college, and once I bought my own computer, it became a way to occasionally blur out the less than fair real world. And, since for $60 or so I can get a month or three out of the game play, it comes a very cost effective way to entertain myself and keep my brain functioning.

I bought some games last fall, and rather than try and play during school they've sat on my shelf just gathering dust. So, with no school and the newness of arriving at home at 6pm (a rarity) I went ahead and cracked open one of the dusty ones - Uncharted 2 : Among Thieves.

looks neat don't it?

Now, if you've never played video games, the first thing you need to realize is that most of them are just really fancy pixelated puzzles. You're given a task, say, find the magic jewel, and a playing space and much like a Soduku or you've got figure out how to get it done. A game of Modern Warfare is really nothing more than a maze with explosions and pretty backgrounds. The better games are the ones with multiple ways to figure things out, where you can either show up armed to the teeth or with nothing but a knife and play it your way.

Uncharted 2 is NOT one of those games.

The game I sat down to played through like a action movie script. The camera angles swung around so that things looked impressive and majestic, the cut scenes were long and full of exposition, the graphics were glorious. I was excited. Then, I started playing.... and there are few games I've played as completely singularly focused as Uncharted. Most games have the decency to hide the puzzle just a little. The makers of this weren't even subtle. Far too many times I surmised there was only one way, and one way only, to get through a sequence. Wait, let me rephrase. There was one way, and one way only to get through MOST of the sequences.

I don't know about anyone else, but this was annoying. I've played plenty games where you have to achieve X to get through a sequence, but most games give you some wiggle room. Some. Any. This game won awards. I'm still trying to figure out why. It's one thing to try it something one way, then try it from a different angle, or with different tools, and see what happens. This game boiled down to pressing the buttons fast enough. And until I pressed them at the right time, in the proper sequence, it keep repeating.

But it was semi-fun. And I'd already started. So I went on and kept playing.

Through the Parkour fetish, where every other two minutes involved a dive over a chasm or gap and a finger tip grasp on a ledge. Which every character appeared to be able to pull off with relative ease. And seemed to allow the programmers love for climbing street signs to re-emerge.

Through the maps so completely counter intuitive, that the game handed out hints like candy when you frequently got stuck looking for a way out of the little inescapable virtual play pit they'd conceived of for this part of the "game". Really. I was supposed to realize I was to throw the propane tank and shoot it in mid air to dislodge the car in the river to build the bridge? How was I supposed to even conceive of that when I'd never had any reason to shoot a propane tank before now?

The Ice caves were just stupid. There was absolutely no way that ...wait, I'm going to let that go.

It was the temple. Every search for the treasure game has a intact temple the size of a football stadium that the "ancients" built that still has working parts now, a thousand years later. Yeah. Right. But it's part of the story and I went along with it although it made no sense, until after jumping and spinning and diving all Parkour style over a virtual mile only to have the way blocked. On purpose. Then working my around to the point where, I tripped this switch...and I swear...a jungle gym arrangement rose out of the pixelated mist that had forced my earlier acrobatics. I waited a second then watched my virtual guide (who didn't speak English and had been "dead" ten minutes earlier) immediately swing around like an Olympic gymnast and turned that sorry piece of ...

...I turned the game off.

I can suspend disbelief. But I can't turn it off completely.

Barkeep. I wasted three days on this? If I ever get bored enough to finish....

When Politicans stop being polite, and start...

2011-07-14T22:42:00.011-04:00

This is a political post.

I don't think I've ever played "Chicken".

For those who think that MTV's Jackass invented stupid things, long before cable TV people did stupid things for fun, not to see if they could get a reality show franchise and a movie deal. And one of the stupid games they invented was a game called "Chicken". The idea is fairly simple - I get in a car, You get in a car, we drive at each other at top speed threatening a head on collision, first one to veer off...er...loses? How deciding to live was losing I never quite grasped. And since my understanding of the best way to "win" this game was to show up drunk and toss the steering wheel out the window, and ties usually ended with ambulance rides, I never was really too big on it.

Oddly, that now segues into the current issue with the Federal Debt Limit.

A quick aside. It is NOT, as Rep. Bohner tried to make it the other day, the Obama's Administration's debt limit. The House of Representatives, of which Bohner is in control, creates a budget which the Executive branch is then directed to administer. The raising of the federal debt limit usually happens so that the President can carry out those budget instructions. So it's not like Obama is asking for money to put a swimming pool on the North Lawn, or add spinning rims to the Presidential limo, he's asking Congress for money they already told him to spend! Which is kinda why every other time in the past 100 years the limit has needed to be raised, there really wasn't a question. Congress is in reality only authorizing the the Executive branch to borrow the money to do those things Congress already told it to borrow the money for.

I brought some doughnuts. Let's get to work.

So the other day, when Sen. Mitch McConnell not only took his foot off the gas, he started screaming "Turn you fool" as the grill of the other car racing towards him suddenly became legible, and it piqued my interest. I wanted to wait to talk about it because I was fairly certain he'd be vilified by his party for even suggesting anything other than a political beheading of the "time traveling dictator socialist" President we elected. And sure enough, the idea of just ceding the whole thing to the President was shot down. The Republican establishment have put themselves in a corner, and the only way out is going to cause a lot of pain. To at worst everybody, at best to just themselves. The leadership entered the negotiations with a self imposed no wiggle room they knew would be political gamesmanship, but apparently forgot to tell the newly elected Tea Party members the whole plan. The new guys believed the cover story. Now, if the leadership agrees to anything the President might suggest, they're going to shoot themselves in the foot with their Tea Party base. That or drive the country off a cliff trying to prove they're right.

Which has allowed Batman Obama to pull a little political jujitsu.

Prez: You want 2.4 trillion in cuts, how about 4 trillion?
Repubs: Um...
Prez: But you gotta give me something.
Repubs: But I can't give you anything.
Prez: Okay, I've met you more than halfway, hell technically I'm standing behind you.
Repubs: Er... can we just have the 2 trillion?

How do you blame the man that wanted to give you more than you asked for, for not giving you what you wanted? And worse, the Grand Plan the President has proposed show that he is working hard to make something happen even to his detriment. And if everything goes to hell because of this, as the President has been saying for the past few weeks, the question becomes why didn't you listen?

Worse, a lot of conservatives are trying to sell the story that a government shutdown wouldn't be a bad thing. Minnesota has been shutdown for almost two weeks and the world hasn't exploded. But Minnesota ain't the whole US of A. That Coors is about to pull all its product from the state in a licensing issue it can't clear up because the state is closed is only the tip of the iceberg. Minnesota doesn't cut Social Security checks or pay Veteran's Benefits.

Moody's has already issued a warning about the credit rating, Treasury notes are edging up meaning the US is going to have pay a higher interest rate on the money when they decide to let folks borrow again, and the Republican base...er, the markets, are getting edgy. Meaning the people who actually pay for the Republican campaigns might not be so willing to ante up if the party has started to edge more to towards ideology than the balance sheet.

Then Obama dropped the bombshell. It was a Batman Obama move if I ever saw one.

"This may bring my Presidency down."

A man with nothing to lose is a dangerous man. With that statement, the nuclear option might be back on the table. Damned if they do, damned if they don't. And, if the Republicans want to futz around until the 2012 elections trying to impeach the man who took a metaphorical bullet for the world economy (they don't have the votes) instead using that time working to improve the US economy or create jobs, well, they will end up in no better position. And that might play right into Obama's hands as well. All he's got to do is pull it off.

Giving up the Presidency to save the world economy? He might have earned the Noble Prize after all.

A Standing Eight Count...

2011-07-13T22:12:00.000-04:00

Ramblings Post #152
In Rocky fights the Red Menace or whatever number Rocky that was, in the climatic fight the Philadelphia favorite's plan is a masochistic version of Ali's rope-a-dope. But instead of ducking punches for six rounds as Ali did in real life, film hero Rocky lets the imposing Russian Drago pound his brains to mush for fourteen, then though sheer gumption and fortitude...and because the script said so, won the fight with a knockout. Because if you were paying attention, he was way, way behind on points. Well, I'm heading into the closing rounds, and I have fought my way back into this thing. I wish I could say it was a lucky punch...

How it felt...

My first warning should have been when the professor casually joked that students often write as the last line on the exam, "I ran out of time." That this happens often enough for you to a) notice and b) feel it pertinent enough to remember, it should be an indicator that may be, just may be, your test is too long.

For those who don't know, your typical law exam is usually issue spotting. The professor gives you a fact pattern, i.e., tells a plausible story, and you go through it and pick out the issues. Then explain why they are issues based upon the circumstances, apply the relevant law and occasionally even make a decision of how said law would be interpreted and then explain said decision. Simple? Not really. Spotting issues is hard, and knowing why law A would apply but law B wouldn't under circumstance C is trickier than you think. I mean your Sales law professor isn't interested in your Trademark Law analysis even if the circumstances are in the facts, so its a fine line as to relevance. A fine line with a kink and a curve. For this exam I'd spoken to a number of people who'd taken the class previously and learned it's a long fact pattern. Long.

But I'm a trooper. So, I got my notes in order, with my cases laid out in law school shorthand. I had the actual sections of the relevant code included, then re-written into plain English with the relevant parts of the code referenced for each translation, along with the corresponding pieces of the accompanying Revenue Rulings and Regulations. I had the case book and the Federal code book at my fingertips in case I had forgotten something, printed out the powerpoints, and said a short prayer. Then I downloaded the take home exam. I had three hours.

The instructions were your standard law school exam instructions- make sure you reference, clear sentences, blah, blah, blah. I saved the exam to the desktop then printed it out to read because I'm old and I still like paper.

But then everything got real...intense.

That stuff I just wrote about, issue spotting. Yeah, forget that. This was that times a hundred.

I would have written at the end "I ran out of time" but I ran out of time to even write that. My ten minute warning timer went off, then the five minute timer and I was still frantically typing, throwing anything else I could at the screen. I normally like to upload a take home exam with a few minutes to spare in case anything goes wrong. My internet connection might go, my laptop get wonky, anything can happen. So you make an accommodation, just in case. This time out, I uploaded at 11:34:42. My upload deadline was 11:35:14.

Yeah.

Just when I thought I had a handle on this whole legal life thing, this happens. All I can do it wait and see how that turned out.

Barkeep. I got a brand new least liked law professor.

Where are the actors?

2011-07-11T22:20:00.004-04:00

Ramblings Post #152
I'm supposed to be taking an exam right now. Not like, I should be studying, or prepping or anything like that. I was supposed to have downloaded the thing at 9pm and gotten cracking. But I got home and ate too much. Coincidentally of the wrong thing, not wanting to cook then have to clean up, so i stopped somewhere. And instead of the salad I got the chicken fingers. So instead of typing furiously and having one of two behind me, I got sleepy. So, I'll cue it up on tomorrow and go at it. Tired of looking at the material, I went on and pulled a post out of my half finished folder...polished it up...and don't judge me. I am taking the final tomorrow. Seriously.

A lot of actors today aren't really actors. They stand in front of the camera, recite the lines, and they get paid, yes, but mostly they're just being themselves in roles written specifically for them. Essentially playing themselves over and over again. Different names, different locales, slightly different scripts, but the same. Nice work if you can get it. But there is no ability there, only the same riffs on the same old concepts again and again, recycled because of the buzz of the moment, the laziness and fear of the producers and studios.

Think about it. How many times has Vince Vaughn played Vince Vaughn? Don't get me wrong, I like Vince, with his snarky comments and that deadpan look he gives when the script calls for him to face something exasperating. But where is the depth? Where is the reaching of ability? Where is the Vince as, I dunno, somebody not Vince?

And aren't most of Adam Sandler's movies just about Adam Sandler being, well Adam Sandler? Other than that travesty Little Nicky, which was Sandler doing a bit for a film's length, when has Sandler been somebody other than Sandler on film as of late? The thing he's got coming up where he plays his own twin sister looks like an extended episode of an old 80's sitcom trope.

Chris Rock's last few outings have him getting a little lazy too. Technically, he was barely even a defined character in the last thing I saw him in, the remake of Death at a Funeral, or Head of State or a movie I actually liked - I Think I love my Wife. Its not like he can't act, he was decent in ...wait, how many years ago was New Jack City?

Has Russell Brand ever been anyone on screen other than Russell Brand? And no, Russell Brand with and without mustache is technically not a different character.

There was a time when actors actually had to act to be in movies. They'd take the role given, and mold yourself into the character. If you were really good, people might not recognize you if you stepped out of your established character - see Larry Drake in Darkman v LA Law. Although crazy now, Randy Quaid was an actor, shifting from the crazy cousin in the National Lampoon movies to playing a believable President Lyndon Johnson. Billy Bob Thorton can act. Almost unfairly, Brad Pitt can act if given a chance. Nobody's asked Denzel to act in ages. Bruce Willis used to be able to until he cut all his hair off.

Geoffery Rush, who appeared in The King's Speech and was nominated for an Oscar also plays pirate rogue caricature Captain Barbossa in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Now that, in case you're wondering, is real acting.

A great actor melts into the role. A star does the opposite. An actor isn't worried about his personal presence, which seems to dominate the idea of the making of a film now, but is more concerned with his character's appearance. I think Tony Curtis put it best. His first onscreen role was a bellhop delivering a message - in front of the camera for all of 5 seconds. He said he looked like star, you could just tell. The problem, to hear him say it, was he was supposed to look like bellhop.

Casey Anthony (as required by Internet Rule 47854b)

2011-07-05T22:07:00.002-04:00

Ramblings Post #152
There are certain Rules. You don’t lead somebody on. If get served, then you tip. You don't talk about fight club. You don't ask the stripper for change. You don't press the little red button. The correct answer for "does this make my butt look fat" is always NO. And if it is a hot topic, your blog must comment on it...if only in passing. So, today, we discuss of all things, a trial that happened in Florida.

The only reason I understood there even was a trial was that I would sometimes catch the lurid headlines in the tabloids as I checked out at the grocery store. I’ve been in school, then in summer school, pretty much since 2008 when this all went down. And since I wasn’t getting a check and my focus really wasn’t criminal law, I really wasn’t all that pressed to know all the facts. I got briefs to write, cases to read, code to learn. So today, when I slipped into the nearly empty chicken factory as part of the skeleton crew the idea that we’d stop to hear the verdict hadn’t even crossed my mind. Verdict? For who? What? But lo and behold, the people in my section let me know when it would be read - 2:15, and went up to the big screen in the main break area to watch. The glee in which they trooped up stairs has to bring to mind the idea of Romans heading off to watch the lions at the Coliseum.

Boom. Not Guilty of the first three BIG counts.

You’d thought they let OJ off again.

The people in my office were mortified. I think my facebook almost melted down. Comments from those legal classmates of mine were a clash of pragmatic thinking, citing reasonable doubt, or wondering exactly how the defense pulled it off. Someone else suggested they put Nancy Grace on suicide watch. My other folks decried the justice system, the sense of the jurors, the complete unreasonableness of the verdict, the insanity of it all. You know, I'm getting the idea they thought she might have done it.

I had to read about the whole thing on Wikipedia.

I got nothing.

Wait, is this when she starts the search for the “real killers”? I mean, since OJ is off the case....

Got it in one.

The Republikans Try to Pick a Fight.

2011-06-30T23:51:00.007-04:00

This is political post.

The Republicans have drawn their line in the sand, in the process putting us ALL at risk. And they still might not get what they want.

Over the past few weeks, the Republicans have made what is usually a non-issue, the raising of the federal debt ceiling (FDC), into a potential world threatening conundrum. The FDC has been raised more than 100 times since it was first enacted in 1917, at least five times under the previous administration alone. But now, suddenly, it's a issue that can't be rubber stamped and can't be looked at as anything less than THE most important piece of legislation in America...possibly the world - right now. And since one of the two parties talking has pretty much said they WILL not negotiate, I begin to wonder how long it will before anyone else recognizes the tactics of terrorists in our own leaders.

One man's revolutionary is another man's terrorist. Only history will grade us.

And then the Republican lead negotiator Rep. Cantor walked out of the talks and insisted the President get involved. And this kids, is where it stops being about the economy, or America, or principles, or honor or anything ...other than politics. If this were the hood, the appropriate phrase would "staying in your lane". Because to the Republican elite, this isn't about anything other than hurting Obama. One has to wonder, now that Schmaucher has finally said it out loud, how far will the Republicans go to make a point?

I'm not sure if Cantor wants nothing more than to be able to say he faced down the President or is just too chickenshit to take the lead role. We know Sen.McConnell would love to say he did it. But I do know the Republicans are positioning themselves to be able to say the President lead us into this hole. Especially the Senator, who wants nothing more make Obama a one term President, damn the rest of us. And they can't really do that if the President is "doing what he's constitutionally mandated to do" which is wait for the bill to come to him. Even as I listened today, the conservative machine talking points 4pm email finally got read and suddenly the President needs to "do his job and lead." became the shrill cry. Which means show up at Capitol Hill and let us berate you in public. They're calling him out with everything they have.

A man with a lot on his mind...

But Obama is a former constitutional law professor. And a bright guy. And he's got a bright team. And as he indicated in his speech, he ain't going for it. The only way to get the mud not to stick is to not get in the mud. Which is possibly why Cantor was ducking away. Because if it in late July comes down to principle or people, anyone who chooses principle over financial Armageddon is going to get vilified by the world. And Cantor likes Congress, they have a great gym. And unfortunately, the Republicans have hitched their wagon to group who will vilify them if they they don't chose principle over people. So it's a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. Their only hope is the President backing down.

Then there is the "nuclear option". The ones the Republican's don't want to envision. Under the worst of circumstances, and probably using the same lawyers that said "water-boarding" didn't qualify as torture, the President could potentially order the Treasury to just ignore the debt ceiling. This is based on the theory that since Congress passed the bills, and the President is bound to enforce those bills, that any subsequent limitation by that Congress overruled by the original spending legislation. The Democrats may not have much of a backbone, but they have pulled the trigger in just this same way on the Patient Protection Act (Obamacare). To say they wouldn't again is ludicrous, if it would save the country and the world. The Republicans will be up arms of course, essentially screaming we should have destroyed the world...

But if Obama does has to go that route, talk about energizing his base! Wait. Would that be bad?

Did I just do that?

2011-06-27T21:57:00.005-04:00

Ramblings Post #151
I don't really have anything to put here, but I was informed once that without these little lead-ins, these trailers up to the main event, it just doesn't read the same. Thanks Schmoopy. So now I gotta type something here that loosely ties in with what follows. Although sometimes it doesn't, kinda like this. Or maybe I'm weak from hunger since I restarted my diet to today, which accounts for the decision I made that is chronicled in this installment. There, now it links up. Can stop now?

I've just had an ohnosecond.

My book reading has been reduced from novels, five part trilogies and epic historical or fantasy sagas to magazines as of late. This is because anything I can't read and be done with in 10 minutes not related to school is not really allowed. I'm getting by on furtive reads of the articles in Men's Health, Vanity Fair, National Geographic, GQ and Esquire, with the occasional Atlantic or Mother Jones thrown in. But to indulge, I also pickup copies of Renovation Style and various travel magazines - Conde Nast Traveler, Travel & Leisure, and Budget Travel. Yes, I know, its very sad to call that an indulgence.

But I really want to travel someday. When I was kid I used raid the brochures of the travel agency down the street from Dad's shop, and would study the layouts of cruise ships and resorts, area attractions and the foods I would at when I eventually made it there. Part of it was a my imagination and a fascination with exotic places, part of it a desire to be anywhere else other than the really small town in South Carolina I grew up in. Even now online I look at bike trips, scooter tours, catamarans, hiking, cooking tours, wine tours...that need to just get out and go calls at me.

And yet, I don't travel. This is sad. Very sad. I mean like no where. I live in Atlanta and I can barely get to the south side of Atlanta. I traveled more as itinerant college student.

But someone I know also loves travel. And actually does. And so I was going to get her a monthly subscription to Budget Travel, because they have some great deals in the back. Great deals. And I'd hoped to go with her to one of the many places I've storied about, once I had break. But today, I was looking around and low and behold I found Budget Travel's web site. And their expanded Great Deal section. And because I'm a great guy, knowing she'd be interested, I sent a link to my favorite little....

Ohnosecond.

The term "kid in a candy store" comes to mind. Cat out of the bag. Pandora's box. E-ticket. An unlimited gas card and an open highway.

A sudden thousand "What ifs?" popped into my head even as my finger clicked the mouse. A sudden thousand possibilities that caused a sudden feeling in my gut that made me wonder when I'd gotten on the roller coaster. It's not like I haven't contemplated the possibility before of things not working out as I would hope, it's just I hadn't actually thought about that in a long time. And I got a good imagination. Let's just say I had gotten real comfortable with hope, and maybe I just needed a reminder that hope isn't as solid as the dream its built upon. When you know you're going to get hit, you involuntarily flinch. Self preservation. I flinched.

Conflicted. I want her to go, to see the world, to chase her dreams. But then I want... to go with her? To have her wait for me? To not go until I'm ready? I do, I so do. But then why would I not want her to be all she can be, do all she can do and still say I love....

Here's hoping she sends some great postcards and takes some pretty pictures....

Barkeep...I need the cheap vodka. Cheaper than that.

A Quick Restaurant Review - BLT Steak

2011-06-26T03:04:00.011-04:00

I haven't really gone out to dinner with anyone since...well, you know, but Shade was up in arms about me doing something to celebrate my birthday. For her day she's flown places, hosted dinner parties, etc, and the idea of somebody not actively celebrating was mystifying to her. After a few false starts, and a suggestion from a most surprising source, we ended up at BLT Steak at the W hotel downtown.

It's small, relatively speaking, and it's got one of those paper menus that they print everyday because they're always changing something. And it's pricy, I mean the hamburger was the price of dinner for two at your average mid-market sit down dinner spot. It's what you'd expect from a W hotel, in other words - very nice. All cool muted browns and glossy wood finish tables. The service was especially good, with forks flying and napkins being re-folded when you got up and had to leave the table. If you've never been someplace like that once, you need to go, it's a different kind of service.

BLT Steak - Our table was just to the right...

And, they have an absolutely excellent selection of whiskeys, including something for $65 dollars a shot which I wisely decided really wasn't in my price range. The other broad selection of whiskeys, something I haven't seen since Ray's on the River, was encouraging, and I settled on something with a Buffalo on the bottle, just to be different. Points off because the barkeep didn't know there was a real difference between scotch whiskey and real whiskey, but you can't have everything.

For dinner we both got the Wagyu skirt steak (medium), mine with onion rings and BBQ corn, her's with a Swiss Chard. And because I haven't had any in ages, and although it felt like a betrayal, I ordered the crab cake appetizer. I know it sounds silly, but it does. Of course I still haven't had any Indian since, and I miss it. The steak was charred on the outside just enough, but pink and juicy in the middle. And the pop-over bread, their "upmarket" version of a yeast roll was tasty, until it got cold.

I like this spot, I'll admit now, because even before we got our food the place was interesting. The server turned out to be a man of contrasts. Although he possessed an accent that has to have grown up on dirt road in the backwoods of Alabama or South Carolina, when Shade asked for a wine paring for a Wagyu Skirt steaks, he not only produced a nice vintage, but broke into a very technical explanation of why chose it, and why he liked it's lack of tannin when combining with how the steaks were to be cooked. It turned out he's a sommelier in training, Second level, and we launched into a good five minutes of wine discussion. I mean, you expect your waiter to know the wines, but he really knew the wines. I mean, he also wore his braids in pigtails but then you never really know do you?

Over dinner, Shade explained to me the surprising source of this dinner inspiration after our first mis-step at Cloud iX middle school..er, lounge and bar. I'd gotten their first, expressed my displeasure via phone and wandered around the corner to No Mas Cantina, to wait for her. There I get a text from Scoop with dinner options. I'm a little shocked, because these two aren't even supposed to be speaking. But it turns out at some point in the last five days, they've made amends. In fact while we're eating, Scoop texts us and lets us know we could have had dinner at her house. I stop asking questions, because the whole thing is too surreal for me at that point.

For dessert, for which they thoughtfully inscribed Birthday wishes in chocolate on the rim, I was granted a chocolate peanut butter confection (think high end Reese Pieces) topped with a banana ice cream. Not too shabby. Nothing I would have chosen myself, but it was nice gesture.

Then when the check came, Shade grabbed it and paid it before I could even see how much it was. Well, because I'm curious, I peeked and saw how much it was, and that steak and other what not now qualifies as the second most expensive meal I've eaten. I include that sentiment because I don't want a gentle reader to wander in and look for the value meal. But, I want to go back, and will ...under the right circumstances. Nice place. Very nice place.

Now I wish I invented some kinda rating system.

Things I want for my birthday...

2011-06-24T20:01:00.001-04:00

It's not really a bucket list, because they're things I want, and don't really see as being something I'm going to have to go out of my way to get. They're "wish" in the sense they're coming, but I just wish they'd hurry up! Some are fanciful, some are serious, and some are just...well, read on and see.

10. A Benz.

I'm not a big car guy. Never caught the bug. And I like little cars. If I could fit in a Mini it might have been my next car, but then my new profession has certain "expectations". Nothing says success like an E-class or higher. So I guess I'll make the sacrifice. Oh, woe is me.

9. A lego set.

I love legos. I don't know why. I have a big blue tub of them now, but I want more. MORE! Not the playsets, just the blocks. Okay, a playset or two wouldn't be the end of the world. They are legos.

8. Golf clubs

I started playing that Tiger Woo! 12, with Augusta, and now I'm hooked. I was in the hunt at the Masters on Sunday, two holes later suddenly I'm six back just trying to hold it together. In real life I want to be looking for the generous bounce, making sand saves, steering clear of the second cut and dropping it on them rolling greens. All that. Yeah, I'm going to hate it all at first, but then I'll get better.

7. A man spa day.

I really want a good massage. No, no "happy ending" allusions here, from a "friend" preferably, but barring that a professional. In a real spa where they also do pedicures, possibly even give you an old fashioned shave. All while you sip on a whiskey and watch ESPN on the 40 inch flat screen. Wouldn't a place like that be sweet?

6. This. Okay, not really, but I seriously couldn't think of anywhere else to put this.

5. Sweet Potato Pie

I make a pretty good sweet potato pie. That said, I use a *sigh* store bought crust. The homemade crust I probably could make would be pretty good, but I'd need to by a rolling pin and ....hmmm. I just might do that.

4. A photo shoot

I own three digital cameras. Almost no pictures of me. I don't even take pictures. But what I want are the kind of pictures of me that look like the ones in magazines, ones with gravity, with substance. You know, posed, with light bouncing off my rugged features. I'm not gonna look this good forever (well, I will, but not this specific type of good looking), and people need to remember this. Plus, when I do finish one of them books, I'm gonna need a decent publicity shot. And and the rate I'm going by then I'll be old.

3. Censored.

I eventually intend to be somebody, and things on the internet have a tendency of hanging around. So just imagine something a guy would want that he might now want to mention in mixed company. Think real real hard. Now add gravy. And now you know why I'm not even gonna put that on here.

2. A bottle of good Whiskey.

I actually have half a bottle of good whiskey at my house now. But I need another. Just in case. Boy scout, be prepared. You never know. I am not a lush.

1. A Good Dinner. With Sporty.

What can I say? Those evenings I spent sharing a table with her resonate even now. It's magical when you can sit down with someone and it just feels right. We clicked. On so many levels. If you've ever been there you know why I still wax nostalgic about it. And hope to get there again.

Going Back to My Grind

2011-06-23T23:34:00.004-04:00

Ramblings Post #150
One day you get up, hit the alarm, snooze for a while, hit the alarm again, snooze, look over at the clock and try to figure how it got so late because you set the alarm for like 20 minutes before now, go to the bathroom look in the mirror and try to figure out who that person is staring back at you. He's heavier than you remember, and he's never looked that old or that tired. And that's the day you change. Well, not really that day, but like sometime that week...or later that month. And that for me was like last Tuesday...or Wednesday. Look it happened so, whatever.

Riley Freeman (Boondocks). Working the Grind.

On this coming Monday, I'm going back to where I was last year. I'm going back to my diet. Strong.

Since last late last fall, I've been in semi-regular mode for my diet. I still do parts of it because I like it - I eat a lot more fruit than I used to before this dietary change, cut back on the red meat to maybe twice a week, a lot less sugar, salads every day, etc. But I've indulged. Cake and pie from time to time. Fried chicken dinners. Sausage and Pepperoni pizza. A big bowl of cereal. Fries. And it's getting more frequent.

And remarkably, my size has not just ballooned back up. I'm a little bigger than I was at the bottom when I was in the 250 range, but I'm still on the downsize belt, the one I bought when pants started falling off. And I like them Oak Hill shirts I bought, so I gotta do something. I fully expected to wake up one morning having wiped away all the weight loss. I'd emerge from a fitful slumber and look down to find my frame grossly bloated from late night binges of Waffle House, Mayfield Ice Cream and Chinese food.

So it's not the end. I haven't regressed too far.

But, I now feel fat.

They tricked me. I looked in the mirror the other day and although I didn't look much different than I did the week before I noticed my cheeks were a little fuller, my stomach a touch softer. Not that I had gotten to a six pack the first time (way too much work in maintenance), but I was close. A stone's throw away. In the neighborhood. Not that damn far. Anyway...it looked, well, puffy. And i don't know why. Okay, I know why. Humor me. Them brownies from Boston Market? They the bizness.

But in any case, I'm going back in. The days were simpler, no figuring out what was for lunch, I knew I was headed to Subway. I knew pretty much what breakfast was. Dinner wasn't where I was going, but what I was making. I've been using the rationale that no AC means not turning on the stove, but that's just a cop out.

So, as the young boys say...back to the grind.

Hey, at least this time I'm starting a lot farther along. Six pack? Um...let's not get crazy.

Yes, Barkeep, I'm starting AFTER my birthday. Damn. Like what?

My Day

2011-06-21T01:20:00.005-04:00

Ramblings Post #149
Sometimes, I don't think I'm normal. I have the correct number of fingers and toes, nothing like that. But from time to tome I look at myself and how I do things, and at others and how they do things, and there is a disconnect. Am I only noticing my own disconnect for my personal issues? Does everyone have these same incongruities of life for other areas? If only life came with instructions. With diagrams. And a do over option.

Since I've been an adult, I've never really celebrated my birthday. Now don't get me wrong, I've been some epic parties around the time of my birthday, but those parties were never really for me. You see, as it turns out my RP were born two days apart, and when I first moved to Atlanta he'd already had a regular birthday festival going with another running partner of ours born five days before me. So my birthday just got added to the mix. A number of years passed with a great number of regular party goers never really realizing it was my birthday as well. No big, I had a good time too.

But nothing that was ever uniquely for me. No cake. No songs. Not a lot of presents. Etc.

This started really from being a summer child, living in a subdivision with no other kids. In effect my birthdays as a youth really drilled down to a gift and maybe a dinner with the family. College birthdays were usually a call from the folks (I went to summer school pretty much every year) and a drink or two with a buddy. Atlanta birthdays have been a whirlwind of other folks parties, although by tending bar I usually ended up with an unintentional present, I guess, a fairly large wad of cash. The last few birthdays have been marred by heartbreak and break-ins at the house.

Looking back at that, you can understand why I generally don't make that big a fuss.

This year's excuse is Summer School again, with finals for the shortened semester right around the corner. I call it an excuse, because Shade is going to be in town and is asking what the plan is when I have no plan. My plan was head home from work, eat dinner, have a drink, go to sleep. Maybe a little Playstation in there. The idea of riding around the city with the top down, hitting the clubs just doesn't appeal right now (we're expecting this feeling is a temporary condition).

What do I really want?

Well, first this assumes my AC is working by the end of the week, and that I have furniture, which I don't. But what I really want is a quiet dinner at home with some friends. The kind that ends with folks lazing about, talking about nothing and everything. Where secrets pop out, and truths are told. It's a vibe I used to get after a party was over, when all the stragglers were gone and all that was left was your people and the stories of the good time they just had. We don't live like that anymore. We just don't.

As a second choice, some consensual nudity with a female...er... "friend". Er, I know don't really celebrate my birthday, but I am still a GUY. Testosterone is testosterone. I'm touch with my feelings, and can look into my soul, but let's get realistic. Note: This wish also assumes the AC is working. I'm a guy, but practical.

So, what happens on my birthday? We shall see.

Probably not much.

The Beginning of the Next Part

2011-06-15T23:57:00.006-04:00

Ramblings Post #148
Things are in flux. If this were a dramatic film written by your average hack screenwriter, it would be the part right before the montage, where the hero has that moment of doubt or learns a lesson, or reaches deep inside themselves and finds...something. Only my life isn't a dramatic film, it's more a dark comedy. So there won't be a montage, but if I'm lucky maybe I can get Morgan Freeman for the voice over on the DVD. Or at least Keith David.

If you read this ...thing I'm doing, you know that at the end of every semester three things happen. First, as finals loom all law students start to wonder why they're putting themselves through the madness that is cases and rule application (and why nobody can use plain english). Second comes the finals, which are either not as bad as you imagined or leave you in a stupor as you stagger out of the room. And finally, comes the waiting for grades. That long period swings between brash confidence because you know you nailed it and self doubt because you just realized something else you could have added or should have changed. It's a vicious little cycle that repeats again and again until get to take the bar.

This semester in summer school one professor is threatening to bring Thursday night drinking back into vogue, and the other class is once a week so it feels like I've barely even been there. The semester feels so short I almost wonder if this will really count. I feel strange.

Then grades for last Spring came out. And suddenly I'm wondering why I'm doing all this.

Don't get me wrong, grades were very good. I didn't get the fanciful A out of that litigation class, but I did pass, so now I could be less than twelve months from graduation. And as its all starting to crystallize, to become reality, I'm looking at the whole thing with a skeptical eye.

If you read back far enough, you know I started school for the wrong reasons. It wasn't a love of the law, to help people, a desire to right the wrongs of man or even something as selfish as just making more money that got me in the door. I went to school to occupy my time, and to keep my mind from going off track after Sporty left. I'm good at that - crafting a character to play and then finding way to inhabit it on the way to self renovation. The me right now is a work in progress, with the new education, the weight loss and the inversion of my social persona. And it worked, for a minute. But then, the unexpected happened. And I'm a hopeless romantic. (Read that any way you want)

Now I'm in the fourth quarter, and LeBron I'm not.

The question is what comes next? I got way too comfortable plucking them chickens. Now I'm about wander into the wilderness with a gleam in my eye towards conquer... just because.

I had no illusions that getting a law degree would magically change my life overnight. Maybe had I attended full time, been immersed in the whole process I might have a different viewpoint. Not that I haven't grown to find it's nuances a worthy challenge, and can now better appreciate the craft. But as it stands, I've gotten a degree in exile by going part-time. Exile meaning I cut out a great deal to focus on what needed to be done. And it's looking now I'm going to stay in exile for a while trying to get something started in this new profession. Which is anathema to one my pillars of existence - I don't really enjoy being alone.

So what comes next? Not just school wise, or career wise, but in relation to life. There has to more than...just this. Than just me. Isn't there?

Barkeep, strongest thing you got. And light it on fire.

Things I meant to comment on... (Politically)

2011-06-12T13:09:00.008-04:00

This is a Political Post
A lot happened in the last week. But since I'm still a law student, I can't always get it all in. I'm both elated that we're finally taking an interest in our leaders, but saddened that we've turned them into reality show characters. Well, it's a start anyway...

Weinergate

Anthony Weiner, with the big...situation.

Really? We got unemployment, climate change, debt ceiling, and everything else...and this is what's dominating the headlines? Really. A picture of a guy's who-whatzis?

How it should have gone:

"That picture? The one of the large endowment? Yep, that's mine. Big ain't it. Ha ha. Since you're asking, I didn't cheat on my wife, it was all internet. But now me and her we're going to work our issues out in private. Private. And the people in my district, the one's that elected me, aren't upset, so what's your problem? Why do you keep bringing it up?"

5 minutes. In and out. (Pun intended)

The dignity of the office isn't even an issue, considering the number of Congressmen who've lied, cheated, floated checks, taken bribes and kickbacks... and in the case of David Vitter, actually used prostitutes... but remain sitting members in good standing. Its not like this could lower our opinion of Congress. And I think the Conservatives are just elated its not one of theirs this time, and they can play the shocked role.

But here's where you'll note the Democrats are showing an inexperience with modern scandal, actually upset instead of employing the usual political tactic of their opponents of sweeping stuff under the rug - i.e., mess up, coverup, get caught, lie, admit, rehab, restart, etc. Even easier, since the crux of the average scandal is that the party out philandering touts family values as a key selling points, the lack of hypocrisy should be the first defense.

The good folks at LDT&UD are ready to help put this thing to bed if anyone calls by the way. And we're thinking about putting the rib tips on special

Seriously, we've spent how many days talking about married guy trying to hook up on the sly using the internet? I'm not sure this qualifies for news even on the Duh Channel.

Newt Gingrich

It's easier to list the problems than the solutions. He stumbled out of the gate by being reasonable and it just got worse. The jewerly tab, and then the Greek vacation less than two weeks into the "campaign". Now, the crack political posse he'd assembled to track down that villian of a President decides to head back to town rather follow him further into the wilderness.

Because, as I understand it, his wife really doesn't understand what it actually takes - the glad handing, the running around chasing early support in the caucuses - to be President.

I want to say stop, it over Newt, but really, it can only get better for him. Right? Right?

Sarah Palin

Apparently she really isn't smarter than a fifth grader.

Thinking about Palin has me wondering what the definition of a "gotcha" question would be. Technically, a gotcha question only exists for those who profess to speak about something they don't know about or are just plain lying. For thoughtful people, intelligent people, reasonable people, there really aren't any gotcha questions. But I'm thinking that questions about American history - especially the American patriots revered so much by the Tea party - most certainly wouldn't fall into that classification. When you take great pains to wrap your image in the flag, it would be a bonus if you knew what it stood for.

And the aftermath, I'm not sure which would have been the better course. She could have admitted she got it wrong, but then she would have looked rather silly for not knowing basic history. She may not know it, but we don't think she's that smart anyway, so this wouldn't have been as bad as she thinks. Or her second option, which she chose to execute, was to loudly double down, and defend her ignorance as a different interpretation. It's closer to revisionist history or Axe Cop than reality, but a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do.

However, much like the famously thin skinned Donald Trump, she might want to just keep grifting off her followers. She got to the last election after all the infighting and name calling, when it was pretty much smooth sailing. I don't think she has the mettle for a full bore campaign and all the foolishness that goes with it. If she thought it was bad before...

Herman Cain

Larry Wilmore (NOT Herman Cain)

Larry Wilmore, Senior Black Correspondent for the Daily Show, put it best this week in that Obama was in danger of losing the incredible 96% penetration he received among black voters last election. If he isn't careful, Wilmore said, it might go as low as 94%. The only way to get it any lower would be, to quote a colorful Louisana politician would be if Obama got caught "in bed with a dead woman or a live boy." Then it might go as low as 92%. Black people tend to vote for black people.

It is this certainty that fuels the Cain for president campaign. He has some reason to believe he can split that black vote. Um... right. Although an accomplished business man and popular in some sections of the tea party, he right now strikes me as an political opportunist. Further, he subscribes to the odd notion to good businessmen make good politicians, because of the underlying belief that the large amounts of money the government handles mean a good business acumen would be handy. Unfortunately, because business and government have completely different underlying principles, that isn't the case. Which will quickly become evident once people start asking REAL questions.

So, If Cain somehow wins the nomination, Obama might get that number back up to 94%.

And that's when Larry Wilmore will get his own show on CNN.

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means

2011-06-09T22:17:00.005-04:00

This is a political post.

Inigo Montoya by Brian Stelfreeze...

Ingio : You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
- in the Princess Bride

On every political talk show, rounded up in the talking points of some of our leaders, is the continuing push from one side of the apparently rock solid contention that cutting taxes on businesses creates jobs. The way it is presented, time and time again, a listener might take away that the supposition that there is somehow a one to one ratio. That's it automatic.

The logic is that companies can't be profitable under these harsh taxes, and until they can turn a profit the economy won't recover.

This is hammered again and again, despite that looming, almost imposing evidence that the previous tax cuts, remember ...the Bush tax cuts that were extended last year, have failed to magically create those jobs the collapse of the housing bubble sucked away. Wait, didn't the collapse of the economy happen during the period of lowering taxes? And now, with taxes the lowest in a generation, even comparatively lower than those under conservative Saint Regan, using the logic that these talking points foist upon us, jobs should be plentiful. Technically, considering the number of firms that have paid little or no taxes, and that are indicating literally RECORD profits for their shareholders, job recruiters should be tackling people in the street. Instead, Phd's are lining up for work as cashiers at Target.

Lowering taxes to create jobs lacks any credible foundation. The company's have profits now, but they're not hiring. This mounting evidence shows that the given viewpoint is, and should be characterized as, almost child-like in its hopefulness. Politically this idea should be regarded for the most part as a confirmation bias with no basis.

And yet the idea is stills shouted from the rooftops, with zest and vigor.

Let me be clear : Lowering taxes to increase company profits do not make companies hire people.

Consider what you, the reader, already knows. Perhaps your own place of employ has "right sized" in the past year. And after the layoff, the remaining workers are expected to pick up the slack. And if those employees can handle it...why would a company bring in someone else just to add to their expenditures? The oil companies are making multi-billion dollar profits per quarter. Per quarter. By the conservative logic those firms alone should have sucked up the pool of unemployed. But this hasn't occurred.

Because the simplistic model being espoused seems to forget that extra people don't guarantee extra income, meaning why hire extra people to make more profit, when you can just work the hell out of the ones you have. Right now, if a company has a million dollars in profit, it keeps it in cash reserves (holding money out of the market) or in some cases distributes that to the shareholders (but paid dividends are a rarity).

On the other hand, properly structured taxes tend to encourage companies to make capital expenditures, which in turn drive the economy.

In other words, that company with a million dollar profit would have choice: buy something you can benefit from or the government wants a cut. A big cut. The company then usually gets new assets, the shareholders maintain value, the money goes back into the economy, everybody wins. Sure their cash cushion is gone and they might have to do some actual whatchamacallit, ...er, management. In a worst case scenario, if something goes wrong, like bad management, the company goes out of business instead of getting bailed out. And then, forty little replacement companies pop up to fill the void, lower prices and increase innovation as they fight for market share. Which is the American way.

Taxes, to wit, create jobs.

Profits just tend to drive wealth accumulation.

The reality is that the vast majority of jobs aren't created by the big companies lobbying for lower taxes. Jobs are created by the small companies too busy trying to stay one step ahead of the competition to worry about 3% here or 5% there. That's where the change in thinking will have to happen. That level of company can do without higher taxes. It's the guy in suits on Wall Street that need to be "shook down".

We've been told lowering taxes cures everything from corruption to the heartbreak of psoriasis, that they pay for themselves (they don't), that they stimulate growth (they don't) and I think they might even cure athlete's foot. And all it's done is ...lower taxes.

I think it's time we move on.

Her Schmoopy-ness

2011-06-08T23:46:00.006-04:00

Ramblings Post #146
I know a lot of folks, simply because I know a lot of folks. Well, know is an odd way to put it. Because I'm horrible with names, and I don't call people, and have lately become a wee bit anti-social. But the number of times I've been greeted warmly by a semi-familiar face astounds me. So, the people whose names I actually know...and call or text, are on an extremely short list. And I hope they appreciate it.

Schmoopy is now the subject of adoration and adulation. Well, internet adoration and adulation. Since she got the fitness thing working, she's been giggling about how some fitness photos she took have found there way around the web. The photos and grand compliments about her, er...workout ethic...have found their way onto at least two web shows that we know of. The various hosts drooled over her. She joked she might get her own fitness video to capitalize on the whole exposure.

But when I first saw the photos? My first reaction? She's wearing too much makeup.

Note: I refuse the put the picture up here, as will NOT exploit a friend for a few measly blog hits. Well, not a picture of a friend, I'll talk about them to death..but no pics. I have some ethics. Kinda.

I've known this little power ranger for almost a decade. I've done volunteer work with her, hung out with her, did a 5k with her, and that - why is she wearing so much makeup? - was my first reaction. When other guys are drooling at the body, I'm like, she looks funny.

One of my defining features is that in the end, I actually like people. As who they are, their personality, what they represent, what they stand for. And as a consequence of that, I will occasionally notice things that I probably shouldn't. I'm mean I'm friend but I'm still a guy, and I should have been checking her out! Instead of being concerned with how she looked, I was concerned with her apperance. [it's a fine line]

I think I need therapy.

In any case, I took a few minutes the other day after we chatted and photoshopped up a preliminary cover for her joked about exercise vid. I hope I didn't start nothing.

Barkeep, a tall water. My AC still doesn't work.

The Hotness

2011-06-07T00:46:00.006-04:00

Ramblings Post #192
This post does not involve the Miami Heat, or the movie Heat, or hot chicks, or Will Smith, or chili peppers, or any of the things the internet associates with the phrase Heat. Sometimes I'll just put in a word, click on the Image link and see what the algorithms pop up. This also isn't about a country band, a Latin band, really any band, a perfume or an old film from the 1940's. It's about, well...read on and see...

Sometime in the last month, or maybe it was before that, they got me while I wasn't looking. Apparently, one of my "neighbors" to use the term loosely, decided that a piece on the exterior part of my AC unit would probably work better on theirs, or perhaps could be sold for a extra nickel or two. Who knows, but in any case, the unit currently is not functional, and pieces that were there last fall aren't there now. Which kinda made a difference during the recent mini-heat wave that struck the state.

How much of a difference? Without the AC unit, but with the fan running, the temperature inside my house topped ninety degrees. I re-invented the concept of hydration drinking between eight to ten quarts of Crystal Light. Friday night I lay down on my bed and either drifted off to sleep or passed out from the heat (not sure which), when I awoke couple of hours later, the spot where my body had been was marked with a clear body outline made of sweat. I took cold showers twice a day, and kept the front door open for the breeze, damn the bugs. It was Amistad hot.

On the upside, my pores have to be clear considering how open they've been.

I joked with Schmoopy that I was going to get some ice and some ice cream, and sit in the tub in the ice eating the ice cream. As her AC had been out last week, she didn't think it was as crazy an idea as I might have imagined. I've always liked it warm, but this is ridiculous. I thought about heading over to Slim's or Spanky's and camping out, but everybody is doing something now, so no go. By the time I remembered the law library, the heat had sapped my will. I finally ended up fake grocery shopping so I could stand in front of the meat section for a while, and wander back and forth in frozen foods.

My uncle does heating and air and I having him check it out, but his voice mail is perpetually full, so I'll have to contact him at home. If I can catch him. I'll still have to pay him, at least I know I won't get robbed. (or at least get robbed by family)

I'm thinking of this as getting back to my roots. My South Carolina roots. My childhood mama said don't play in the house roots. My "so this is a farm" roots.

Man I hope it gets down to sixty one of these nights.

Barkeep. A glass of ice, with a splash of bourbon and a splash of coke.

Five Minutes Watching: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

2011-06-03T00:32:00.004-04:00

This was the poster...for Scott Pilgrim.

Completely lost me. Now, I get the story, which was different - one guy fighting this chick's seven evil ex's to win her affection, all kung fu flick style. It was different. The hero didn't take off his shirt and suddenly have muscles and be cool. The dialogue was cheesy, the cartoon effects were cool - especially since it was comic based and the whole thing wouldn't have made sense without them. Then I saw his still devoted ex. And the chick he'd chosen over her, the colored hair chick.

And the whole premise fell apart.

You don't leave the hot "excited into you"chick for the average "whatever" chick.

Duh.

Bringing Back the Fire

2011-05-31T23:18:00.002-04:00

Ramblings Post #191
Find something you like to do, figure out how to make money at it, and you'll never work a day in your life is how the saying goes. This assumes that the thing you really like to involves wood working, teaching or farming. You know, ... productive things. Not killing zombies, being an nearly unkillable secret agent or becoming the greatest space marine the world has ever seen. Not that I enjoy killing zombies as creatively as possible, but these things have to be done. Luckily, I also enjoy making people happy. Maybe I should have been a concierge. Or a mime.

Sunday I studied. Well kinda studied. I fully intended to study. I did some laundry, cleaned up what I'm going to turn into my home office (it will resemble a home office eventually - no really!) - bumbled around the kitchen, played some video games and occasionally looked at my tax law book picking my way through the problems and code sections. The class is uninspiring. During the break in Thursday's class, someone said something that I ended up using as my Facebook status - "I want to understand, but the professor won't let me." Not only is the subject matter mentally brutal, his teaching style isn't helping. A number of students have already dropped the class. But I will suffer through, which is why on Sunday I tried to decipher tax rules regarding what is and what isn't alimony for the purposes of taxation, and the theory and mathematics of recapture.

I did this so on Monday, I could go play chef.

Me? I like cooking out. I enjoy getting on the grill, watching the meat cook...seasoning, tenderizing, watching people eat it, the whole schmear. And because I have been on a self imposed social lock down because, well, I know how I can get, I haven't been doing it much lately. But it was a holiday, my RP had asked, I showed up ready to burn. And burn I did, for four or five hours. Burgers, hotdogs, kabobs, chicken, turkey burgers, ribs, brats, etc. I got into a grilling groove. And since it turned out to be less a party - and more this chick's family gathering it was good that I found something to do.

So for the holiday, I didn't hit five or six cookouts. I didn't end up at bistro on the deck trying to drink my way back to sober. I didn't end up at a jazz club at 2am, trying to figure where else I could go. I did not once see the inside of a Waffle House. I didn't end up hoping the work week would start so I could stop hanging out.

When it was all said and done, I didn't end up doing anything I would have done five years ago, except maybe grill. But that was okay.

Note: I just realized I haven't been to the movies since Sporty moved/going to Law School. And I really want to see the Hangover II. Hmmmmm...

Barkeep. I'm gonna need whatever they was drinking in that movie...I'm joking, joking. Let me just have a sprite. In a can.

Bad Concepts - Revisited

2011-05-28T20:45:00.005-04:00

Ramblings Post #190
There was a time when Saturday Night Live was funny. Okay, maybe I was thirteen and my finely tuned sensor humor still had some growing to do. But there was a time a long long time ago when Saturday Night meant a bowl of snacks and large glass of Kool-aid. Not much longer after that it meant beer and babes, loud music and a greasy breakfast at a roadside diner. Its someplace else now, but I'm not quite sure where that is.

Bill Murray on SNL's Weekend Update...sometime in the Late 70's

A few years ago, some friends of mine trying to make a few quick bucks, decided to throw a party on a Sunday. Because in Georgia you can't buy liquor on Sunday, the rule was bring a bottle or give up $20. After they charged for "PREMIUM" parking they made quite a pretty penny.

However, when you throw a party and charge - people expect a party. So the people who arrived at 11pm and paid $20 expected a party to still be going on until they got done. Which might have as been as late...as till they're ready to go home. And since the people throwing the party had these things called JOBS to go to Monday morning, this eventually turned into a BAD CONCEPT.

Earlier this week I updated Sporty to my weekend plans - A pool party an old partner of mine was throwing, studying all day Sunday, and a helping my RP cookout on Monday. Not as ambitious as say, five or six years ago, when Friday would have been two or three functions, Saturday would have been three or four cookouts, Sunday my home town crew would have rolled in and we'd have ended up somewhere until 3 or 4am, and then Monday an easy breezy recovery cookout somewhere else. I used to send out a newsletter at work. I guess I've gotten slow in my old age. Well, not really, I've just changed my priorities and taken myself out of the mix so I can concentrate.

So today is Saturday. And the party is today starting at 3pm. At Piedmont Park.

If you live in Atlanta, you know why that statement makes this party - a BAD CONCEPT.

Piedmont Park is Atlanta's way downmarket version of Central Park. It does however have a just finished remodeling Pool Complex. Unfortunately, the people who designed the park figured that at most 25 or 30 folks would ever want to use it at one time. Maybe 50 on a sunny day. Because there is NO parking. And the streets that surround it a small and narrow. And it's four blocks from the Atlanta Metro Transportation system. And the second the sun comes out on a Saturday, an estimated 2 billion people immediately try to squeeze into the space. Or something like that. Traffic is a nightmare. Parking, as I mentioned before, is non-existent. None of this came to mine until I was in the car...on the way. At 6pm.

I had gotten the email with the rules for the party on Friday, an had become a little less than excited. The term "party" had been mis-used, as in reality this was a closed market situation - pay to get in, pay for drinks, pay for food, pay for towels, etc. But I hadn't been out in a while, so meh. In and out. I waited until the sun started going down, figuring most of the crowds would have dissipated. But traffic was still bumper to bumper. There was no parking. Even the secret lot I used to use was full. And I wasn't about to park on a side street and risk getting towed by an over zealous someone who felt I shouldn't be parking on their street...despite the fact they moved next to the park knowing people would park on their street.

So, I'm not going to the pool party.

Thank god I have that bottle of Knob Creek in my liquor closet.

Barkeep, I'm gonna need a little cola to go with this.

Five Minutes Watching : Too Big to Fail.

2011-05-25T22:42:00.004-04:00

William Hurt as Hank Paulson in HBO's "Too Big To Fail"

Hank Paulson sure was great guy. Yeah, right.

One day, when I have time I'm going to go back through and see if this movie was financed by Goldman Sachs. Because in it the masters of modern finance - the aforementioned Goldman - look like ordinary bankers, and their former head, and then Treasury guy Paulson is a selfless paragon of patriotic virtue. Um, you don't get to be the head of Goldman Sachs, the dominant financial beast on Wall Street of the last two decades, by being a selfless paragon of virtue. You just don't.

Other than that, it does a fair job of explaining what happened to cause the failure. And if you watched the last few seconds, yes, that number is about right. That's what Duke and Harvard have it figured at.

They should have been finished before they got started

2011-05-20T23:50:00.004-04:00

This is a political post.

Newt Gingrich.

President Newt Gingrich.

Nope. Just doesn't feel right.

I still remember the opening of the Olympics held in Atlanta. There was a moment after I got misty when Ali appeared to light the torch and the stadium screamed his name, during the majestic international pageantry, that the organizers had twenty or so Chevy 4x4s driven into the stadium. With headlights blazing it looked almost bizarre. Mentally, it was as jarring as if as if in the middle of the royal wedding, Kate had emerged from the limo wearing Juggalo makeup. Which brings us brings year's field of Republican nominees, or specifically Newt Gingrich.

As it's been pointed out around the web, it's been a rough week for Mr. Gingrich. First he goes onto a political show and denounces his own party's budget plan, calling it radical right-wing social engineering. He opposes it on the basic premise that we just shouldn't be radical in our governance, liberal or conservative. He for the moment sounds respectable, almost thoughtful and intelligent.

It doesn't last.

The people he's trying to get the nomination from castigate him for not towing the party line. Which sounds peculiar for people screaming for freedom from having the government "shove things down their throat". Apparently they don't mind shoving things down throats, as long as they get to be the top. Some random guy denounces him on camera after meeting and it skitters all over the web. The pundits who welcomed him as a candidate less than 10 days earlier act as if Newt said that this skirt really does make their butt look big. So to try and fix things, Gingrich goes on another television show and says with a straight face that the show he's been on 35 times unexpectedly tricked him and if you quote exactly what he said, in context, you are misrepresenting him.

Note: If you really want to make a daming commercial, forget the statement Sunday. It would be more damaging to use the "if you quote me then you've quoted me wrong" statement. Autotune it and put a funky little beat to it. You don't even have to say anything, just end it after 30 seconds on a loop with the tag line..."For President. Really?"

Newt, who quietly has been for years appeared to be the intelligent conservative option (minus the whole getting his wife to sign the divorce papers right after her surgery in the hospital recovery room fiasco) suddenly appeared dumb as a post. He misread the party, and his likability. The party wasn't looking for new ideas, or even a re-framing of the ones they already have. They just wanted a name to stand out front.

Plus he missed his Joe the Plumber moment - that moment when you could show you know more than the other guy without belittling him. When the random guy stopped him the hall, it was a moment to showcase his argument to the general public. When confronted as a candidate, Obama stopped and tried to explain the finer points of his plan to Joe. He didn't just smile and walk away. Its a way of looking at the world. A leader of men, even if he knows he's smarter than them, must still respect those men. You can't just tell people stuff is better, you have to explain to them why.

Newt's response, as has been those of a number of this year's candidates have been that of ideologues, rather than leaders. Community organizer was probably the most important thing Obama did to win the Presidency. I think of more of our politicians did a little of that, helping folks with the basic fabric of their lives, we'd live in a different country.

We're not even going to comment on the glitter incident.

To finish off the week, his campaign put out a press release that made ridiculous images of action hero Newt come to mind. Written in a style that would have made Shakespeare giggle and has to have two or three comedians practically salivating to get on stage, one almost has to wonder were they serious? Have the past few years of serious and thoughtfulness been the facade?

For years, the Republicans, the party of rich and powerful, have somehow managed to create the image of underdog of people like Gingrich. But his egotistical, almost insistent "I am Great, and you should bow down" attitude promises to make this harder. And if they pull it off, you'll realize that they've really earned their money.

Walked up on Bucket of Chicken

2011-05-19T01:47:00.006-04:00

Aw, why not Post #1
The other day, visiting my where my old desk was, in talking to someone we walked into the break room , and saw what looked like one of those old KFC buckets, the ones that come with 10 or 12 pieces that your mother would buy on Sundays when she didn't want to cook. It was a promotional bucket for somebody trying to see the company something, and I joked that for a second "it looked like I'd just walked up on a bucket of chicken." We were all black, it was cool. Someone commented, that my quip sounded like the start of blues song. That stuck in my head, and since the dude that said it actually is a musician, and because it wouldn't get out of my head until I did, I wrote some lyrics. Now, I only know one blues riff. That "da da da da dump" basic if you want blues in your movie riff. That's what we're using. I imagine there's a guitar solo in there too. Who knows.

"Walked up on Bucket of Chicken"

So I went down to Miss Mary's
round a quarter to twelve
do me lil dranking and dancing
and raise me a lil hell

I got me my drank
and started looking for Mabel
so I eased around the club
and came up on Skeeter's table.

I walked up on a bucket of chicken and I knew it was gonna be a good night... I tell you I walked up on a bucket of chicken.. and everything was gonna be alright

I knew Skeeter's have a bottle
and half a pack of black and mild's
and if he was eating chicken at midnight
I knows it's about to get buck wild

Then along come Mabel
wearing her tight red dress
I wish I could tell you the rest of the story
but the whole thing was a mess...

You see I walked up on a bucket of chicken and I knew it was gonna be a good night... I tell you I walked up on a bucket of chicken.. and everything was gonna be alright

[guitar solo]

You see that whole night was blur
but I remember shiny chicken bones
and I think Skeeter got married
and some chick putting her draws back on

I woke up early the next morning
got out of jail 'round noon
found Mabel and got us some pork chops
then headed back to the saloon

You betta know, I walked up on a bucket of chicken and I knew it was gonna be a good night... I tell you I walked up on a bucket of chicken..and everything was gonna be alright

Computer Issues

2011-05-16T17:32:00.005-04:00

Ramblings Post #189
Chicken wings. Fried hard. Crinkle cut fries. Warm ketchup. A tall cold Beer. Some good friends, on a deck outside under a setting sun, where the breeze isn't too bad. Not that this has anything at all to do with post that follows, but it sure is a nice mental picture. Okay, maybe some BBQ, instead. I'm not allowed to have pork anymore, and it really ain't BBQ if its not pork.

I'm big on computers. When I first started messing with computers, it was the mid-80's, you had to bring your own copy of MS-DOS on a floppy diskette, everything was a command line function, and my parents Commodore was a magic device because it came preloaded with games - if a football game with four different plays per side constituted a "game." Now, as I grew older I developed other interests, but I kept an eye on computing. I was the "unofficial" computer lab tech in college, and my father still calls for help from time to time.

In the end, I didn't end up a fat bulk huddled over a screen hacking to systems world wide because I could. I could have, but instead I ended up a fat bulk chasing women I couldn't have, drinking too much and trying to skate through reality until the good part started. But that is the whole rest of this blog, so I shant bore you with this.

But my aloofness fades and it all seems to come rushing back to me in an instant when I have a computer issue.

Currently, at some point when I wasn't paying attention ( probably from one of those stealth update), my Windows stopped talking to the modem on my home system. I plug the modem in directly, it talks to the Vista machine, but not the Windows 7. I've been tinkering with it for about a day or so, and hopefully will have it all sorted out in the next day or so.

I'm pissed because as a pseudo techie, I should have had this licked in the first five minutes. But because everything is so dumbed down, and finding the actual controls to anything in Windows now takes a veritable roadmap (not to mention nothing comes with "Worst Case" instructions) I've been less than effective.

There really is no other point to this post.

Oh, and classes just started for the summer. I'm still not too sure about this. But then again, this is the largest class I've taken in a while - more than 30 people!

Barkeep...whatever it is you drink to make it all chill. Wait, that's also legal to drink. Yeah, that.

Updates, Fill-ins, and French Fries...

2011-05-14T02:06:00.003-04:00

Ramblings Post #188
Confidence is a good thing. Cocky is bad. I'm still a little cocky, as evidenced by my continuing inclusion of the occasional eye opener in an other wise well crafted legal brief. As a 1L sticking it in was a cross between a show of false bravado and a smile when you think you're holding all the aces. As a 2L I did it when I was either completely frustrated or exasperated (or just done). Now it seems like habit, and I need to stop it. Let me note now that my sometimes funny, sometimes snide remarks have never helped.

I guess that fix worked. So, onto the updates...

School...

The semester is OVA!! Not "over", but the incorrect ethnic pronunciation that is normally proceeded by expletives I used. I took a week off to do my two finals, a 24 hour progressively harder situation and then a 72 hour that was either fairly easy or I really was paying attention in class. Weird. That is another semester down, and I'm looking at what could be four to go. With this semester, I'm at 60 hours total, and you need 90 to graduate. I'm taking 5 this summer, and staying in the part time program I can do a 9, a 10, and 6 and be done by the end of next summer.

It's amazing how fast this all has passed.

But no time to rest or slack off. One of the great missed messages is exactly how many people I know who took a year of law school. And one of my most gut wrenching discoveries was that people still flunk out in their 3rd year. So its not over. Not by a long shot.

And since summer school kicks off on May 16th, roughly 4 days after all finals are over, ain't no time to slack off.

Life...

Where to start?

I went to Serve's for a cookout on the Saturday before finals to stay for "a couple of hours". But that trick never works! This time for sure. So, after 4 or 5 hours I finally made myself leave. It was a chill little affair - a little spades playing, Trini food, more than a little noise talking. And its moments like that, that remind me why I stay home to make sure I get what I need to get.

After finals , went home for mother's day and saw the family, ate good, went to Church. It's odd watching people you've known your whole life grow old, but as my father likes to say, its better than the alternative. We discussed my folks retirement, and my father again brought up my going to law school full time. The difference in this case now down to a achingly long 3 months difference in graduation, while adding 9 months of personal expenses to any student loan. I told him I'd think about it.

To get to the country I spent several hours in the car with my brother, a man of many talents most of them wasted, much like myself. My brother's a talker, I'm a good listener, it's a good fit. He's got something new on the books that just might be worth something, but we'll see. You see, I think where my father gave us an understanding and appreciation of hard work, he may have unintentionally sapped the ambition out of us. We go in spurts.

Spanky is still seeing the butcher boy, that last temp, much to my personal distaste. But then its her life, so I'm just gonna shut up and keep it moving. And get the emotional mop ready.

Slim needed a shoulder cry on. Her job was apparently out to get her because she's making them look bad with a client - by actually getting the job done when they indicated it couldn't be done. She "womaned" up and its cool now, but she looked hemmed up for a minute.

Sporty and I still converse on the semi-daily if not daily, with emails and forwards. Someone on the internet once wrote that we shouldn't be mad our people fill our inboxes, because its them wanting to talk but having nothing to say. She can have nothing to say all day to me.

And my "junior drinking buddy" came back. It was odd, just out of the blue like that. She'd mysteriously booted me off her FB friends list last year with only the most cryptic of explanations. And surprisingly, it actually hurt. There are few people who if I woke up tomorrow and found out I'd been defriended would I really be concerned (#1. Sporty), and apparently she's one of them. Not that I've actually seen her after this re-friending... which is weird. Yet the friending is oddly comforting.

Job

So I amble back into the job after being gone a week. I turn my stuff on and make the joke that "Hey, my password still works. I guess I still have a job." A few people chuckle. Fifteen minutes later my section person calls me into her office to let me know that on the previous Friday, the company decided it needed a few less "chicken pluckers". One of the senior people in my new department was let go. He'd been here...let's see, through at least five or six company names (over a decade). So my joke really wasn't.

Awkward.

It's always odd after a purge. People you know and like suddenly having to scramble. I've often thought that I'd be next, as my erstwhile assistant (and current backup) Hugo just happens to married to a director. So that would have been how that works. I realize where I am.

I guess that's why I told my dad I'd think about full time.

I'm going to spend the summer looking around for something in the legal field. In any case I'll need to start moving in that direction soon. Starting over. Man I'll miss these five weeks of vacation I mostly never get to take.

Diet

That finals week I had burgers, chicken fingers, fried fish, and other food I ain't had not business eating. And I don't feel good about it. My belt is still at the same loop, and my slim shirts still fit. But still, I'm going back to my basics...the wheat bread, the grilled chicken, the fruit, the salads...and I feel better already.

Damn these diet folks have got me trained.

Barkeep. Carrot Juice and Gin. I'm going back on this diet dealie. Um, no, this ain't on it, but it's a start. Kinda.

Bar Chatter

2011-05-11T22:40:00.000-04:00

Bar Chatter #22
Sometimes it just ain't enough to make a post, but it's still needs to go out....it's just bar chatter.

I'm having computer issues.

My Firefox ate something it didn't like, and now its acting all funny. Pages I visit regularly keep popping up the just the source code, my blog page won't load right so I can update, the sites I occasionally frequent to, er..."examine the wondrous beauty of the human condition", I can't reach.

On a side note, I qualified for the Master's on the new Tiger Woods, and I now fully understand why it is called the Masters.

The past few days I've been scouring the web for an answer to my issue. I've started in safe mode, unloaded and reloaded FF, switched to IE (which just looks at me funny) and then Opera (which has the same issue) and was about to reload Windows. I'm giving something else a whirl tonight first.

This post may not see the light of day until after everything else is working.

Late night on CNN...

2011-05-02T23:00:00.003-04:00

This is a political post.

THE President of the United States of America....Motherf****

I've been prepping for my first exam for the past two days, reading the book, then going back and reading my notes, then going through the printouts of the power-points the prof used in class. Its a vicious circle, but since I'm currently in the middle of the the exam - don't worry, it's a take home and I've got 24 hours to finish - it seems to have paid off. I'm through two thirds of it, and I've still got more than 17 hours to go.

But last night, as I made a last swoop through the internet before turning it all off so I could get a good night's sleep, one of those many lil' messages caught my eye.

So I clicked over to CNN which had it on the front page. More than a little skeptical, and concerned that somebody was trying to punk my President, I immediately surfed over to Al-Jazzera. I mean, if they said he was dead, then damnit he was dead.

I was up another two hours watching the revolving pundits who knew absolutely nothing, but felt compelled to keep talking. I got on Google Maps and looked for the house, which I didn't find. I flipped over to Fox news to listen how they gonna make this bad for the President, but they never did. At least not while I was watching.

The whole thing was a little surreal.

This morning it all came back to normal when the first of those who just cannot find a reason to like the President took umbrage with his wording of the decision to go forward, as though in making the decision meant he was trying to claim all the glory for himself. It was a cheap shot, the only shot they had really. Because it's a situation where if it all had gone wrong, the President would have borne the brunt of the blame, but in triumph he was supposed to take none of the credit. It was his political career on the limb here, and even so, he like every President before him, he properly thanked the troops and those behind the scenes, whose names we may never know, who worked so hard to make this thing happened.

At the end he even asked God to bless America.

I mean, come'on.

Those who don't like the President never will. This thing that literally caused cheering in the streets did not sway them. He can do nothing to curry their favor and should probably stop trying. The problem is he's not just the President of those who elected him. He's also President of those who did not. And he knows that more than they do.

Now, I got an exam to finish.

The Royal Wedding (As required by Internet Rule #47854b)

2011-04-29T19:57:00.003-04:00

Ramblings Post #187
There are certain Rules. You don't scream fire in a crowded theater. If get served, then you tip. You don't talk about fight club. You don't tug on Superman's cape or spit into the wind. You don't press the little red button. The correct answer for "does this make my butt look fat" is always NO. And if it is a hot topic, you blog must comment on it...if only in passing. So, today, we discuss of all things, that thing that happened in Britain.

As required by the internet rule, I'm making a post concerning the most important nuptials of some unknown period of time until the next really important nuptials between two people I've never met but are for some reason real...real important. Again. Didn't we just do this for something else that was the really big something for something until some really unbelievably long amount of time...until next season?

As you may have not realized by now, I'm not big fan of the ruckus surrounding the circus that is the marriage of Willie and Katie-bear.

To quote the president "I don't have time for this."

And I damn sure wasn't waking up at 4am to sit down and catch the festivities. First, who gets married on a Friday? I thought the whole thing was tomorrow. Now, when I did rise I was greeted by people on my Facebook page who had indulged their curiosity, and become spellbound. Some were taken with the pomp and circumstance. Some with the spectacle. Some with the fashion. I never realized hats were such a big thing. Most of my friends who viewed it were women, so I'm certain there may even have been a big wedding/princess fantasy afoot out there somewhere.

I've already admitted I've thought about my own possible wedding. My current understanding however is that the best I can hope for regarding "our day" is being allowed to pick out my undies. I'm expecting my duties will consist of be here at this time, stand here and say I do when I poke you in the ribs. But that was whole different story.

There, comment over. You know with what they paid, I understand you could have rented Lichtenstein for a week. Oh, wait, why rent when you already own...

My bad.

You wouldn't believe me if I told ya...

2011-04-27T20:02:00.005-04:00

This a political post...
(...like i was gonna let this go by with no comment)

Why does only the black guy have to have his paperwork?

As I understand it, Donald Trump at first did not supply his actual birth certificate for inspection, handing over a piece paper that looks suspiciously like a certificate you can win to certify your hotness from the local carnival. Mitt Romney's birth certificate is sealed, and there is a nary a peep raised. But Obama has to show his driver's license, social security card, birth certificate (both copies), high school diploma, immunization card, a recent cable and power bill, a bank statement and get two references. So here it is. The long form birth certificate. Properly authenticated by the appropriate state officials...from the opposing party.

And wouldn't you know it, now the Republicans are mad at him for releasing it! Although my understanding is something along the lines of 40% of their party members had serious doubts on the matter. And some GOP office holders encouraged the rhetoric. And the GOP party leaders would never go so far as to say it, only that they "took the President at his word". The line now is that it was always a "settled issue."

The sad part is, this will not make this story go away.

Rarely has their existed a weaker, more insane conspiracy than the idea that Obama wasn't born in Hawaii. Despite no evidence to the contrary, other than his father was Kenyan, the idea that he was a Sleeper Muslim planted over 40 years ago by radical socialists unknown found a deep seated place in the mindset of the troubled Republican mind and stayed there. It was as sure a sign of the aboriginal racist that still lurks around some of the darker parts of the national psyche as possible. That the Republican nominee wasn't born in the US (John McCain was born in Panama on a military base) was no issue.

The original crazy lady, Dr/Attorney/Real Estate agent/Carnival Barker Orly Taitz has already chimed in, claiming the document should read Negro, not African...although Obama's father was African, not an American Negro. There will be others who feel the paper isn't the right color...or the type looks like a typewriter used in the hospital reception, not the maternity ward....or something. Anything. Because, this just can't be right. Because they need their America back. Please?

My understanding, although a bit foggy, is that now, the birther crowd is already looking for a new hook. I mean the meetings were so nice, and they already got a bowling league started. So why quit now? How did Obama get into an Ivy League school like Columbia and then Harvard is already percolating in the pot of questions. Um.. he's black. Affirmative Action?

Why, that's a conspiracy!

Those who didn't believe the short form will never believe. And even if you prove A, they'll be onto B so quickly, and C once the second concept has been dis-proven, that you'll quickly realize that these are folks just looking for a reason, any reason at all, to not like the man. To discredit him somehow. For reasons I'm certain that some of them don't even understand.

The Obama didn't bring us into a post-racial America. It just made the ugly lingering scars of it more stark against the background of our imagined reality.

Bar Chatter

2011-04-25T01:50:00.002-04:00

Bar Chatter #21
Sometimes it just ain't enough to make a post, but it's still needs to go out....it's just bar chatter.

I went. I saw. I conquered.

Yeah, I won that damn case on Saturday. And that's that.

And afterward, I went home and had me a tall whiskey and soda, fell in the bed and slept 'til morning. And think I went to bed around 9pm. I didn't even realize how serious it was.

Now, onto the rest of it...

You Betta Check Yourself...

2011-04-22T23:08:00.003-04:00

Ramblings Post #186
"You betta check yourself before you wreck yourself". The words from the wise sage of my age, an O'Shea Jackson, better known by his public persona Ice Cube. It's a way of saying that overconfidence can get you big trouble. I'm no stranger to overconfidence, especially on those things I think I know. Okay, call it arrogance. And since I don't like myself when I get like that, and it's a slippery slope, I tend to stay low-key. But then there are moments like this...

Yes, that is a "Mike Tyson" quote....go figure.

I'm getting the big head.

My litigation class, and the subsequent exercise associated, is a pass/fail class. Now, they are handing out two A's in the section, but provided you showed up enough, turn in all the assigned work, participated and can actually show them you have a grasp of the material via the aforesaid exercise, you get to pass the class. Which is how the vast majority of the class views it. Way too much work for just a chance at an actual grade.

And since I have two other what look like very lengthy exams, a 24 hour and a 72 hour open book take home, I was all ready to just get on through this so I could concentrate on my "substantive" coursework. I really hadn't thought about being a litigator. Then my first assignment got good marks and I started thinking I could get the A, I got a little excited. I mean, who couldn't use an A on their transcript? But I figured it was wishful thinking.

Then it happened.

My "opposing counsel" had a mini-fit over a minor difference of interpretation, and insisted we all interpret the discrepancy his way, which happened to be in his favor. I had originally joked to the three people in my exercise, my trial partner and the two opposing counsel, that we simply script the whole thing out, pass and keep it moving. Then he decided he wanted to win. Needed to win. You could see it in his eyes. It was a must have.

So I'm not gonna let him.

So for the past two weeks, I've actually gone over this thing with a fine tooth comb. And since you've got either be a witness or juror for one other exercise besides your own, I've been to a pair that have been pretty straight forward if not basic. The exercise is a "fact pattern", designed to have issues both sides are supposed to exploit to show they understand the law and it's application. Our little two person teams will make the legal arguments, develop testimony, the whole schmear, as judged by an actual practicing litigator.

The whole idea of the problem as proposed is that there is no actual answer. Both sides are supposed to put on the best presentation and a group of individuals, typically the first year law students - who know none of the facts until we present them - act as a jury. In the end they reach a verdict and we get graded on if we hit all the needed parts to pass the class. It's a murder case, and its supposed to so ambiguous it could go either way.

Now, I think I've solved it. THINK, mind you. Solved it as in figured out who the real killer is. You see, when I was a kid, my mother got us a subscription to GAMES magazine, which my brother I fought over, and it included puzzles like the two minute mystery. So I've been looking at this as a big something to unravel. I don't think I was supposed do that though, so I got a problem.

What I'm trying to do now is figure out how to get through the session without getting smug. Okay, overly smug. Without playing to the imaginary cameras in the back of the room. Without turning into Vinny Gambini. Without believing that I have been anointed with the undeniable truth and will smite those who blaspheme against my message, as no weapon can be formed that can cleave the solidity of the word, as I have seen it. Which I have occasionally been prone to do. And have occasionally been wrong while doing it.

I mean, I could use the A, but I'm not sure what I want to do, how I want to play the whole thing will actually get it.

Some of my previous strategic decisions regarding law school have not gone over as well as I'd hoped (no complete disasters, I'm still IN law school). I so want to just get through this. Well, wanted. Past tense.

Now, because of my ego. I have to win.

Whoa. I DO have an ego. Well, there goes that theory.

Barkeep. A five hour energy drink and hot toddy.

Tell me you a little about yourself...

2011-04-19T23:43:00.003-04:00

Ramblings Post #185
I'm probably the most forward shy person you'd ever meet. I can be jovial, warm and friendly and it might months before you realize you know little about me other than my name and that I like brunch and sweet tea. I can be a fascinating conversationalist on a number of topics, none of which include myself. Yet, as in poker, there is always a tell. And me thinks I've found mine.

I wrote a quick little story the other day, which I posted on my FB account. The idea came to me in a blur, and over the course of the day, between my job and making notes for my upcoming "litigation exercise"...formerly referred to as the mock trial... I sewed together the little idea chunks into a quick little story about a guy in love over the course of a lifetime, held together by a single act of intimacy.

I put it up as a note, attached the names of some friends, and the rest is publishing history. Well, not really. Is putting it up on FB really publishing? Anyway, it was a nice little short, I got some positive responses, but it still could use a little polish.

But reading it again, looking for those ever present polishing points, I realize now that a lot of my stories have less than happy endings. Okay, sad endings. In my stories the guy never gets the girl. There is usually lots of love and emotion, but they always seem to come up short, the "happily ever after" appears to have eluded me. Not even the happily for a little while at least until the story ends endings. In one of my stories, the guy gets hit walking off the sidewalk after getting rejected, another it turns out after he dies he finds out the he was never supposed to have existed, and in another the guy and girl meet again in the twilight of their lives and he lets her go even though he's just going through the motions without her.

Me thinks me got a problem.

I like to think of myself a fairly happy person. Reasonably happy. I'm doing okay. A "make the best of the situation you're in" kinda guy. Flexible. Amenable. Resilient. I have a good time, I have good friends, I enjoy the challenge of law school (did I just write that?), and just like everyone else there is good and bad in my life but all in all I'm way ahead of the curve here. I think.

But ... then I use writing as an outlet for a lot of things I don't talk about. Is that I believe I'm never going to get the girl?

Admittedly, my romantic life has never turned out quite the way I figured. But in reality, whose has?

Wait, did I just write "never"? Never. That's a mighty long time.

Hmmm...

My poetry always seems to mention hope and possibility.
Well, except for the dirty stuff. Er...more adult fare.
My novels are always over plotted and start good but lose their way.
My stories are sad little tales of woe.

Hmmmm...

Maybe I do have an issue.

Barkeep, I need some thinking alcohol.

A pre-movie Review: The Hangover - Part II

2011-04-17T13:57:00.005-04:00

Ramblings Post #184
I don't go to the movies. The last time I actually went to the movies I think it was me and Sporty, and come to think of it we still were supposed to go see Honeydripper, which I sincerely doubt is going BACK to the theaters, so we missed one. But I have a bunch of movie channels and can't sleep some nights. In any case, I know a good movie when I see one. And this has so much potential.

The trailer for the upcoming movie the Hangover II was pulled because it gave away too much of the story, which if you watched the trailer is pretty much exactly the same story as the first movie. Now the producers are scared that by letting people know that they've just moved the same story to some place in Thailand people will be disappointed.

Did the producers even see the first movie?

The Hangover was funny. Really funny.

Like Coming to America Funny. Like Animal House funny. Like Blazing Saddles, My Cousin Vinny, Caddyshack kinda funny. Technically, the film was so funny, they could have just re-shot the entire first movie from different angles and it would still make a mint. I still watch it every time it comes on HBO or Showtime.

So it's the same premise as the first film. Impending wedding, one forgotten night of debauchery, someone important goes missing, they spend the day trying to find him while they have to go back and face the by the light a re-hash of their shenanigans. So what? If the using the same basic idea was a film killer, the there would no such thing as a romantic comedy film. Boy and girl can't get along then fall in love. Bruce Willis would still be tending bar, Arnold would just be an old guy at the gym and Steven Segal would be your kid's karate instructor who hits him in the back of the head while you aren't looking, because we used up the idea of the action hero sometime in the mid 70's.

So it's the same?

So what? It will still be funny. I was laughing at the trailer and I knew it was gonna be the same thing.

For an industry that prides itself on turning out familiar fare, think of how many remakes and sequels you've seen in the past few years, now they want to get skittish? Really?

This one, I might actually have to go see. Maybe. I am taking classes this summer.

Barkeep. A Zambucca shake. Yes. No really, that's what I want. Seriously.

A Short...short...story.

2011-04-15T23:48:00.006-04:00

Ramblings Post #183
Suddenly it bursts forth. Little bits of inspiration. Bits of mental images to fill in the blank spots that are the stories in progress in my mind, those stories half written, outlined or started and never finished. Little shorts. Little scenes that encapsulate the moment. Poetry, from an age long ago when everything was pure and hope stared me back in the eye every morning instead of leaving a note promising his return.

A Great Evening.

A noisy restaurant, but all the sound has faded away.
An empty wine glass.
A dark whiskey.
Napkins covering plates.
Deep, easy, conversation.
Her smile.

Ahhh...

Adding up

2011-04-12T22:28:00.006-04:00

Ramblings Post #182
My friend Schmoopy once admonished me for not writing a little opening piece like this, and it turns out my brother thinks I skim them from the internet. These extra forty or fifty, or sometimes few hundred words are like that little quotation at the beginning of the chapter of a long novel, meant to prepare your mind for what's to come, or set the stage for that part of the story. Or like this one, to explain why they're here, because I damns sure couldn't think of anything else to write. I got too much else on my mind.

Lately I've been spending a lot of time alone.

Not metaphorically speaking, in that I'm not dancing with thoughts inside my own head like a good version of Suckerpunch while the people around me just don't understand my inner turmoil and a silent epic battle for my sanity rages. I mean I'm actually alone. I got work, then school, then studying, then sleep which means you don't have a lot of time for social life, AND when you factor in that all my folk have lives that they are getting on with just like I'm getting on with mine, my previously tightly packed social calender has seen better times.

As such I am getting introspective in these increasingly long quiet moments. But then there aren't any raging inner storms, so much as looking around my psyche and trying to figure out what the sum total of me adds up to. More like accounting that involves columns like soul fulfillment, present value of future potential evaluation and life goals. And I've realized, when I its my time, that I'm going to be on my way with a shit ton of regret over moments not seized, opportunities not taken, adventures postponed. It's not a good look.

Don't get me wrong, I've lived a full life. I've had more "good times" than most people my age, good being a subjective term (very subjective). More opportunities than I probably should have. Many moments, good and bad. But when I look back at my overall potential...well, let's just say I got a lot of explaining to do. To me and God.

There a lot of things I wish I could go back and change:

I wish that when I was thirteen I could have manned up and actually talked to her, the first object of my affection. And then when it didn't work out, that I could have just moved on.

I wish I had been a little more dedicated in college, the first time, instead of indulging in a gadabout fantasy. I had a real shot, and those moments could have reshaped my entire existence.

I wish that my time that girl in college who said to me "leave if I ever tell you I love you" had ended on better terms. And that I had stayed after she said it.

I wish I could have realized I needed to commit to something earlier in my life, and worked my way through my need to be a jack of all trades, a small part of everything. I think that because I needed to be part of everything, I think I missed out on a lot.

I wish I had said yes, to one of those times heaven had smiled in my direction and made me the object of someone’s desire to marry. A lot of things I treasure that happened later in life would have been forestalled then, and maybe it might not have worked out in the end. But the possibility....

I wish I had taken that hookup job through a friend of a friend. Maybe I was too concerned about getting in over my head, and should have been more focused on taking the chance. Or even that offer in New York, that might have been half conjured fantasy or an inducement to neophyte peon labor.

I wish I had taken the chance to find something else back before I got too used to heat, digital TV and eating in nice restaurants. But then I never would have met Sporty...so that’s kinda iffy.

I wish I had told Sporty how I really felt about her when first started hanging out, and not when we stopped.

I wish I had bought the other house. The house with the full basement and the huge master bath that as I was walking through I could already see the people coming through in my head, as opposed to the house that I bought because I thought I could sell it quickly, on the come up.

I wish I had gone to law school earlier, when I was certain there was more ahead of me than there is now.

I wish I could make the words sing. Not the breezy melody or the song I can make them do that now, but to craft a whole symphony, a complete beginning, middle and ending of what my brother would call the 21st Century Classic American novel.

This last one isn’t all the way behind me. That’s where I’ll start. I’ve always been a writer. Since I scribbled out stories on the back of old ticket books at my father’s dry cleaners I’ve had a story to tell. I am going to finish one these books in my head. It won't change my past, and might not even fix my future. In fact I'm sure it won't. But it will be something.

I'm not looking for the quick fix, 'cause it ain't coming.

But, to paraphrase Kipling, after it all fades away if I can pick up those tools worn of use and start over as though I had nothing... which is what the reality is about to be professionally... and maybe emotionally ... and get back at it, without fear of failure, quiet grumblings or issue, then maybe I can, I dunno, something. Get my mental, emotional and spiritual accounts in order?

I don't know where I'm going, but I do know I can't go back.

Barkeep. If you have to ask, then I haven't been sitting here long enough.

Sparring Sessions

2011-04-05T21:19:00.005-04:00

Ramblings Post #181
In boxing, your average contender prepares by dueling in sparring sessions where they get in the ring with guys paid to mimic the style of their upcoming foes. It can be educational, insightful, occasionally painful when you find where your own weak spots are... and they charge tickets for you to see it. So you can pay to watch him spar, and then pay again to watch him box which is a hell of a racket. They ought to be 'shame of themselves. What does that have to do with this entry? This is legal sparring.

Our law school "Mock Trials" are almost upon us, and for the first time I'm feeling a little nervous about this particular legal sparring session.

You see, as part of my law school's program, all students have to put together one side of a trial, as either the attorney for the plaintiff/state or defendant. Opening statements, direct, cross, objections, closing all that, closer to real life than Matlock or Law and Order. During one of those frequent "why are we doing this" discussions the infest law school, I was informed by a classmate, most law schools don't require this, because the truth of the matter is most lawyers don't go to court. The best ones keep you out. Lawyers are by in large negotiators and counselors, so knowing how to effectively run a trial is one more specialized skill in the legal quiver. But then my school also starts you off in Property law, which a lot of schools also don't require, so I guess everyone's mix is a little different.

I work for a living, so I went over my pre-trial motions this weekend, sat down last night and put a few final hours into it and sent if off...incidentally fifteen minutes before the power went off at my house due to the storm that rolled through.

I was feeling good about the whole thing until I got the motions from our opposing counsel today around noon. I thought I had crafted a fairly good argument in mine. I had researched a mix of motion formats from a couple of sources since I figured mine was fairly cut and dried, basic rules of evidence stuff, and cobbled together what seemed like a comprehensive motion. What I got from opposing counsel used the single example the prof sent out as a blueprint, and included what I consider to be a lot more depth than mine. A lot more. I cited rules and made impassioned argument - they cited case law.

I only just got the lasagna right, as evidenced by my previous brief earning a few good comments for being logical and easy to follow. My prof had given indicated it seemed like I was getting it. Did I get smug while I wasn't looking? I'm hoping it's that I just misunderstood the assignment or using the model I constructed was an acceptable option. I was just getting into the swing of this, getting all hyped up to get my Johnnie Cochran on, but now I'm not so sure. Yes, I figured not only would I do all those things necessary to show I understood the procedure (the point of the class)...I would win the case too! But that's just confidence, not arrogance, right?

Right?

In any case, its done and gone, and oral arguments are upon me - again. I need to get with my trial partner to see which motion she wants to handle.

Barkeep - one them aperitifs. I don't know why.

Wasted Posts

2011-04-01T21:52:00.002-04:00

Ramblings Post #180
This is a behind the scenes look at how all the magic comes together. A guided tour of the Mind Distillery. Please keep your hands and feet inside the tour vehicle at all times, there will be a question answer session at the end, it is $3 to take a photo, no snacks will be provided, a bag lunch might be served, everyone is required to line dance, please have your passports ready, and again ladies, autographs will be on the left bosom only.

Because I write a lot these in free moments while I'm supposed to be doing other things, a lot of these don't get finished. Which is why occasionally you'll see one of those "Things I meant to comment on" entries. I'll have a great point I want to make, or a thought I want to get to the meat of, then realize it looks a little lonely and its been awhile, so I'll start to tinker...

...and never actually get anything that amounts to anything. A fleshed out paragraph that needs a introduction, and that leads to other points. An outline of story. One great point connected to nothing. A scribble that looks like it might have potential. So I throw it all into a big entry. Or make bar chatter.

(Note: This has been open on screen at work for at least two hours as little window in the background. I'm just adding points when I get a minute or two.)

I hate when I get an idea, in the middle of an idea...and then I want to split it out into two updates. Which means even more writing during time I don't really have. I don't really like to let a good idea for a entry get gobbled up by another idea. And since I get ideas for stories all the time, what would make you think the errant update is any different?

(Note: At some point it happened today, and started writing literature about waiting for a phone call. Grand and prosaic language, themes and imagery. About a phone call. And in the end I decided I should call...or at least text if it was that damned important. Sigh)

At the end of the day, I'll wrap up. Now, there are times when I get home and have to put a polish on it or look up source for the political ones, but a good part of the writing is piecemeal. And idea. Then work. Then expanding the idea. Then more work. Then finally a good 75 to 80% done and its time to head home.

Or there are entries like this one, which is now in day Two (or really day three, because is started it two days ago but didn't touch it yesterday). Meaning I wrote what I thought was it, and then didn't put it up. So, I go back and, what's the correct phrase here? Oh yeah, fuck it up so that it doesn't read near as smooth as it used to. Or I stick in yet another brilliant idea that really should have been constructed into an entry of its own.

See, here we are roughly...two hours later, it's still open in the background, and I'm dashing off thoughts before one last round of checking for fresh chicken to pluck. And polishing on that phone call story. Which is at the bottom of the this same little window, saved in the same text file for ease of access. Typing in text allows me to type without having to worry about formatting, spelling. I don't realize how badly I spell until it hits the page here, and spell check comes on.

Then a last read through. A bit more polish. And ...

...well, that's really it. Seriously.

Barkeep...give it to me straight.

Batman Obama Returns...

2011-03-28T20:18:00.004-04:00

This is a political post...

Do NOT play cards with this man!

A person I'm seriously considering defriending on Facebook seems to believe that a our President, a former constitutional law professor, has no understanding of the constitution. This isn't the only reason I'm considering cutting that rope, we go back a long way, but his attacks on the current administration all tend to work the same way: its a great argument that leaves out a few fairly pertinent facts and a lot of reality. Now, Obama has done three or four things you actually can be mad at him about - Wall Street, dragging his feet on gridlock over judges, etc - , so manufactured outrage because you just don't like him tends to grate on my nerves.

Let's talk Libya.

The current diatribe is the President can't declare war without Congress's approval, and Obama doesn't have it so he's, and this is my favorite term, "shredding the constitution." This idea usually comes from people who haven't actually read the thing they so proudly want to waive in someone's face. So let's take a quick look at the law...

The relevant law is in the US Code, Title 50, Chapter 33. (This by the way is not the Constitution, but it IS the applicable law.) If you look at section 1541 (c) you it explains the Presidential power of using the United States Armed Forces. There the President is limited to using our troops except under a declaration of war, an attack upon the united states OR..a specific statutory authority. Actually, authority is second, but I wanted to point that one out.

Now, the next relevant part is section 1543 (a) which in states that in the absence of declaration of war the President can commit US troops without Congress's approval if he does three things within 48 hours: explain the circumstances, give his legal basis, and estimates the scope of his action. And he can do it for up to 60 days. Which in pure legal terms means the President CAN commit troops without calling Congress first.

Now...he can't call it a "war", which a lot of anti-Obama pundits want to shout that this act is from the rooftops. But it isn't actually a war until Congress says it is. This is really more a police action. But where is the authority you ask? Well, that's why the administration waited for the UN Resolution. As a member of the UN, we're can by treaty aid in the enforcement of the decisions of the Security Council, which effectively said "go get'em" in calling for the no-fly zone, so the legislative authority originates via treaty.

And although turning it over the operation to NATO seems like a smoke and mirror concept, it really is a deft legal maneuver. Okay it is legal smoke and mirrors, but the that treaty allows us to turn off the authority needed from Congress. How you ask? Again, via treaty, in which the US as a treaty partner supports NATO actions. It's not just them helping us, we have to support their wants too. And our NATO partners want to do this. Bad.

So are you mad we're there? Look, my personal opinion is let's not restock fifteen of them two hundred or so missiles we fired and we can pay the school teachers in Wisconsin. I'm not happy we're still playing World Police Officer, but since we're here let's get in and get out.

So, let’s see. Obama gets to take out Gaddafi, a longtime issue and promote democracy. In less than 60 days, only 8.8 years shorter than Iraq and Afghanistan. Without committing ground troops, minimizing loss of life. And taking the expensive and difficult follow-up "nation building" off the table by merely supporting an existing force. And, our allies see that's its not all about us, bolstering relations.

Batman Obama does it again.

Saturday night at Regionals

2011-03-20T23:50:00.004-04:00

Ramblings Post #179
Things change. People change. It's part of the circle of life and what makes us grow stronger and get better. I've changed. I once told Sporty that in essence, we're not the same person when we go to bed at night as we were when woke up that morning. We're always becoming someone else, and that's who we are. That said, when we stop changing - except when forced - is when we get old. And I'm not getting old any time soon.

So Saturday night, I go to Schmoopy's "thing" to support.

For the last six months or so, she's been on a health kick that makes my weight loss deal look like I've been eating brownies for breakfast and taking pizza through an Iv. Where as I get grapes, wheat toast and one scrambled egg for breakfast, she got a single small bowl of oatmeal and an hour of cardio.

She went hard core.

Which is how I ended up at the Georgia International Convention Center for the Atlantic Bodybuilding Regional show. Tickets were $35. I told Schmoopy that I really must like her to spending this kinda loot. But I do really like her, so I went on and ponied up the cash.

When ESPN was down at the bottom of its programming barrel a few years back, I would occasionally flip past a bodybuilding show, so I had some idea of what it was. And since the fitness model swimsuit issue was, at least to me way better than the SI swimsuit issue, I had at one time owned at least an issue or two of a body building magazine. Ages ago I might have even read one back when I was in shape. Way back, in the long, long ago.

So I show up, and it's now quite what I expected. Well, to be realistic, I wasn't sure what too expect, so anything that happened would have been unexpected. Part of my confusion came because I found out later that the most of the actual judging had actually happened that morning at 10am, when I was in class and which required a separate ticket. So, initially when the guys came out, posed for 90 seconds to some music and trophies were briskly awarded, I wasn't sure what was going on. The stunning woman sitting in front of me filled me in on that part.

To be honest most interesting part of the show, however....was the crowd. I sat in the back so I could watch most of them come in. The room was a mix of other bodybuilders, family, friends, friends who were also body builders, the large black guys that are ubiquitous in Atlanta, and the women. Apparently muscular guys in little trunks attract a lot of women. Who knew?

So then it happens. The guys have posed. Trophy are awarded. The the fitness model portion of the show starts. And suddenly the place turned into a pep rally. At Hooters.

Now, because I hadn't actually seen Schmoopy since she started this...and the last FB pic I had seen of her made her arms look a little muscular, I figured this was one more thing I had to sit through until the muscular women came out. The fitness models came on stage, skimpy bikini's, bouncing and strutting and bodies glistening. I was still in the back, trying to figure out much longer this would last and marveling at the sudden turn of the crowd from family friendly to a more "adult" atmosphere.

It wasn't until they announced Schmoopy's real name for winning Second place that I realized she had been on stage. The woman who had been explaining the nuances of the event to me laughed at my shock. Schmoopy hadn't been gearing up for the bodybuilder part...she'd been working hard to be a bikini model.

Side note: Considering she restricted her diet to the basics and did a twice a day crippling workout, I have new respect for fitness models.

Schmoopy is a normally a conservative person, and so the idea of her onstage during this portion of the show, where the girls acted bubbly and the announcer didn't have to exhort the crowd in applause surprised me. When I talked to her later, she said that the swagger she'd had on stage was her being "in character". Turns out a bubbly beach bunny type actually works out hard to look like that. Go figure. She felt it was a good experience and that she's gonna continue it as hobby.

So, $35 for 90 seconds. Which is about how long she was onstage. And for 89 of those seconds I didn't even know it was her, I was so far in the back. But then they'd done the judging in the morning so this was for the crowd. After she'd gone up, gotten her trophy and I'd let her know I had been there because she asked, I left. Maybe I was intimated by the guys in the 50 and older division. Maybe I felt a little bad as the women looked through me to guy with D-cup pecs. Maybe I decided to go and work on my own transformation via law school.

Barkeep. Water for me and whatever it is fitness models drink for my girl.

A Quick Restaurant Review - Highland Bakery

2011-03-19T23:22:00.003-04:00

After Litigation class, where my Cross Examination was deemed good and my trial notebook well received, AND I got back my brief which the teacher thought flowed well and might be good enough to use as a writing sample, I called up Spanky and suggested brunch. She suggested Highland Bakery, and I asked did they have bacon? That really was my only concern. I really need to think things through better.

Then I couldn't find the place. The address as written - 644 Highland - should put it next door to the Highland Inn which is at 656. Ah, not so, it's actually at the other end where the number loop around or the street name is South Highland or something. So although I was downtown and the place was around the corner in the Fourth Ward, she beat me there. I was double pissed to find out I had turned at the corner to go to the other end of Highland and had missed the sign by not looking the other way.

That's the narrow end. The other end was twice that size. Maybe.

But I digress. Highland Bakery. Which actually is a bakery, with cookies and cupcakes and Honey Wheat Bread in it's tiny little lobby. Despite it being warm out, and that meaning crowds of folks looking to "be out", we were seated fairly quickly. The crowd in a city yuppie and urban mix. And then the waitress showed up promptly. And took our order quickly.

And it was such a nice day too. Bummer.

Before I get into the food, Spanky has started a night job - Bartending - at some little hood spot. She says it's to get her mind off last manfriend and make a few extra tips. I told her, bluntly, just don't let that get in the way of real job. I had to tell her this while leaning over the table and half shouting, as the acoutics in the dining area leave quite a bit to be desired. It had club level noise, in a restaurant at 12:45pm. It's laid out like...of all places, the Majestic...with a long skinny part and then a bigger room. Not a big room, a "bigger" room, meaning it was just bigger than the wide hallway they'd stuffed the first tables in. Just know, the spot was loud.

Then the food came. Spanky ordered their BLT and I had the basic bacon, eggs and grits. I always order that the first time I go somewhere, figuring if they mess up bacon and eggs, the rest of menu is hopeless.

They messed up the bacon and eggs.

The bacon was burnt. Not crispy...burnt. The eggs were overcooked and the grits were lukewarm. Wait, sorry, the bacon was burnt when it came, because they originally brought mine with grits, eggs and turkey sausage.

Let's just say the conversation was..wait, no. I couldn't even hear Spanky. Bad acoustics.

And her BLT was huge...and mostly bread from their own bakery..and it came with rice, and she wasn't impressed either. She covered up I would guess 70% when she was done.

Side item: Why does the waitress ALWAYS love something, and you get it, and then you can't stand it?

We settled up, and wandered out onto the sidewalk, where the restaurant to maximize tables had artfully set up seats three feet from the curb. Classy joint. I think the best part of the spot was the Mexican Place Across the Street. No, that's it's name...Across the Street.

I told Spanky that next time we eat, I would pick the spot. Seriously.

Obama and the NCAA tourney

2011-03-17T21:51:00.003-04:00

This is a political post...kinda.

The President of the United States has made his picks. And for some reason he is catching flak for not "concentrating" on the real issues of the day?

Perhaps the people who think the President has more important things to do need a quick reality check of what the man actually does AND need an update about just how long it takes to fill out a bracket.

The President isn't down at Andrews Air Force base loading the C-130s personally to get aid to Japan, nor is he preparing to MacGuyver into the meltdown to personally pull the nuclear rods out and cool them off with a mix of slushie and applesauce. He isn't watching a live satellite feed of the Libyan opposition engaged in street battles with pro-Gaddafi forces and barking out orders into a headset as though he were playing Call of Duty. He's not personally filling out unemployment paperwork to make sure you get your check. And all he can do is wait for Congress to present him a budget to sign. It's in the constitution. In the modern age, he sends Congress his proposal, they do as they will. All he can do is wait.

So you know, he's got a few minutes.

And because this morning, I filled out my third bracket, using the time honored method of "Um...they'll win" and pure guesswork I know how long it takes to do a bracket. Took me two minutes. And with a country to run and two children, I sincerely doubt Obama is little more than vaguely aware of the nuances of this college basketball season. The tout picks that factor in whose hot, who's hurt, or how far somebody is playing from home probably had no bearing on his selections.

However long the piece on ESPN lasted is probably all the thought Obama put into it. Five or ten minutes. Like most Americans. And it only lasted that long because it was a television piece. Any comments he made probably came from note given to him by a junior staffer who got them from his little brother who actually has time to watch the games. It's not like he flew to Bristol on Air Force One, they came to his house!

But by now you realize that the people that want to get him, will try to get him for any reason. Any, no matter how trivial.

Now, he's got get on a spin bike to keep Tokyo's lights on and personally go chin check to Wall Street Bankers...no, wait, he doesn't have to do that either.

Things I meant to comment on...

2011-03-16T01:03:00.003-04:00

Ramblings Post #178
Sometimes you get busy. It happens. You don't see it coming, but you turn around and you've been up for 24 hours working on a brief and haven't eaten since that piece of fudge brownie sometime around lunch yesterday. It happens. All you can do is stop, take a deep breath, and keep it moving.

Japan

I loathe to call it disaster porn, but that's what it is. This maybe one of the first disasters to get the full treatment of the internet, and I cannot tell you how many times I've clicked an update and felt compelled to watch one more video of the destruction from some new vantage - while it happened, from the chopper, graphic, I keep waiting for the animation. It is a remarkable achievement, showing the depth of our shallow. I am ashamed to say I have joined the masses and spent inordinate amounts of time watching the wave hit the airport, or destroy a town from ground level, or ticking through the montage of destruction on so many sites. And while it is thrilling, it is then equally heartbreaking when you realize that this is very real, and not a movie or some conjured video game apocalypse. Those are real people, some of whom now only own what they have on. When you add in that we may be seeing a complete meltdown of a nuclear reactor only makes it more dramatic...in the worst possible sense.

Wisconsin

Really? I mean, really? I would really like to see the briefs the lawyers put forth to justify how a idea that was promoted as dire fiscal need can suddenly have its classification changed. Or that they believe this will stand through the next election. There is outcry and then there is Wisconsin. When you get thousands and thousands of folks standing in your front yard indicating they don't like your idea, how can one - in this poll driven age - honestly claim to represent the people? Or worse, be able to stand there and claim the other side isn't listening during some future protest? Politics is strange.

Libya

We need to intervene? Wait, what? Um, do the people who are clamoring for miliary intervention think it will be for free? On one hand we need to cut government spending, except of course unless it means we'll get to shoot some people, in which case break out the American Express cards! We already have two very expensive wars in progress. And while we would like Brother Leader "however you spell his name" gone, opening a third front doesn't strike me as the most fiscally prudent idea right this second. Even the proposed no-fly zone isn't gonna be cheap. Have you seen the price of gas lately? Planes use gas...premium, not that 87 octane crap I put in my car!

Government Shutdown

When I was kid, I learned that since the victors usually get to write the history, a quick trip through the last few centuries will bear evidence that the "good guys" always won. And that the term the "good guys" is very subjective.

The internet is changing all that.

Or it could be. Right now, in the name of ideology, one party wants to shutdown the government. Not over budget cuts, which everyone has been coerced into thinking (for some reason), but over a personal moral agenda. And normally, the one in control of the basic airwaves would explain how they're wearing the white hats and the other side isn't...and prevail. Which side they were actually on is irrelevant. I would fill in the blanks, but the information is out there.

You know, now that I think about it, this really is more of a political post. My bad.

It Caught Me!

2011-03-14T19:31:00.003-04:00

Ramblings Post #177
Every now and then, things catch up with you. Those shots at the bar. That taco salad with extra beans. That guy with the eye patch who swears you owe him a kidney and $500 from that one time. That forgotten delinquent credit card from college. They catch you when you least expect it, when you aren't looking, and then suddenly...you got to pay. Or explain why of all the kidneys in the world, the one you got is probably isn't the best on the market today.

I slept.

Saturday I woke up and went to class. Then I went home and went to bed. And that was Saturday.

When I was a kid, like most small kids, I resisted that nap. Now? Let me find a cozy spot to sleep. Gone like that. Bye bye. So Saturday, I got home after a blistering Litigation class, and took a few minutes to talk to Spanky and the birthday girl (see previous post) on a conference call...briefly. They had plans and things they wanted to do, going out, seeing this, drinks there, and somehow I got volunteered. So I said fine, whatever, just let me do a little of the reading for class, then I would get a nap and be ready to roll.

I think I got in bed around three. Yes, bed. No weak couch "resting my eyes", but an actual crawl under the covers bury my head in the pillows knock out nap. Note here, as it always has been, my cell phone is vibrate. There is no ring. So, it was almost 10 pm when I woke up. On a Saturday night. So I ate a little something, watched some bad TV and was back in the bed two hours later.

Sleep.

Not asleep, but sleep. Not resting, or slumbering, or in repose...but sleep.

I awoke Sunday around the new noon and cleaned up the bedroom, adding probably some 40 square feet of floor space in the process. Yes, it was THAT messy. I had gotten tired of looking at it. Then I read some more of my class stuff and re-dedicated myself to my diet, upon which I had been slacking for the past few weeks. I'm going back to the hardcore for least two or three weeks. Practically no sugar, no salt, lots of veggies, little red meat.

And, it just hit me that the semester is more than halfway done. Time to start the almighty gear up.

Whoooo...it's getting out of control.

Barkeep, I need something so I can keep up with all this EXCITEMENT! What's that? Red kool-aid in a sippy cup? Is it sugar free?

Friday Night, just got paid...

2011-03-12T13:42:00.008-05:00

Ramblings Post #176
Things change. The only constant is change. And that which once was becomes what it will be, which by virtue of time is always in flux. Except for Twinkies and love. Then its every man for himself.

There was in time in my life when Friday meant something.

We got free donuts at the job. I would pop up at the Happy Hour given by the spot of the minute. I could relax at a Game night with my people. Or at the bare minimum, the promise of the hot (or lazy) weekend.

But no more. I chose to go back and get my education, to better myself, to increase my depth. And so for the past few years, Friday has been more a gateway to more intense studying. All it really took was one long “after drunk” - not a hangover, but still feeling out of sorts - to tell me that heading out and drinking on Friday wasn’t the best possible plan if I actually intended to graduate. So, many a Friday I would pick up a book to get my reading started before my Saturday homework periods.

But this time, one of my old partners was in town celebrating her big four oh, the spot wasn’t that far from the house and it started early enough that I could swing in, commiserate and be out in less than an hour. I know this plan, and the outcome. But that trick NEVER works! This time for sure.

Her gathering is at Mingles, a fairly new little eatery in downtown. I get off work at seven-ish, get there around seven thirty. I’m just gonna dip in and say hi to a few folks, whoo whoo, figure I’d be out by eight or eight thirty by the latest.

Only I’m the only one there.

Mingles via BBerry...from our lonely perch.

So it’s me and the birthday girl at the bar for an hour and half. She’s quietly working up a slow fury and I’m trying to not look like a complete and utter ass by getting up and walking out. We’re in an odd little dance. It’s not helped that besides her group, there are five other....much more well attended... parties going on at the same time. Mingles is a small place, essentially one big room, and as she’s watching for her people to arrive, this isn’t lost on her.

To keep it lively, she keeps pointing out the patrons as they enter, and commenting in a fashion that can only be deemed as both evil and hilarious.

“She can’t walk in heels. She how she moves.”

“How do you do that? Have dreads from the sides but have bald patches on top.”

“If she sneezes, she’ll pop out of the dress. Give me some pepper, its about to be a show.”

Even as I both laughed and felt a little sad for her, she reminded me of the other aspect of night life I had missed, and why I don’t go out as much any more. A lot of the women she talked about, and she talked about a lot of them, where in their "Friday uniform" - mini skirt or mini-dress, heels and makeup. And they were looking nice.

Very nice.

When two of her girls finally did show up, I reminded her about my Saturday morning class and headed out. I got home just in time to have wrecked the whole evening. I tightened up my opening statement a bit, an hour or two, then hit the hay so I could get up early to work on it some more before class.

The moral of the story? I guess is that there is a lot beauty out there. In mini-skirts. But I’m focused, trying to keep my eyes on the prize, and so all that is out of my focus right now. And Mingles ain't even the hot spot!

Barkeep. Water. I need to keep my wits about me!