August 30, 2006



So I watched Spike Lee’s Documentary on hurricane Katrina. It’s probably the second time I sat that still and openly cried about something I was watching on TV. It was definitely the first time I was so aggravated at listening each branch of the government pass the buck that I threw a piece of bread at my t.v. Yeah, I know - not life altering but I really felt better.

I can’t stop thinking that alot of people voted for this president to feel safer. But are we really safer? A death toll of over 2700 for 9-11...a toll of over 1600 and rising for Katrina (and an ENTIRE displaced city) and the American Lives lost in Iraq nearing 3000. This president’s campaign was based on restoring moral integrity, bringing back the family, and I guess - reducing taxes. Those tax monies I’ve never assumed to have been mine anyway so what is three or four more dollars a check in the grand scheme of things if we can help someone’s grandmother or aid someone in caring for their kids. Reduce taxes but raise gas prices? What is that about?

I read a crude blogger’s comment somewhere that the people of New Orleans knew this was coming and that you can’t live in a bowl and expect it not to fill up and I thought how HEARTLESS can you be? None of the cities we live in are safe from natural disaster especially not with current climatic changes constantly changing? Does anyone else remember a time when it used to SNOW in Norfolk?

I know I’m not supposed to have feelings one way or the other (or at least blog about it) but times like these make you long for 2008. I’m gonna go give some money to my company’s raffle of the week for the charity of their choice. It’s only a couple of bucks for a good cause, but it is a small start and it’s nice to remind yourself that you have a heart floating around in that mass of everyday savings and sensibilities.

August 25, 2006

Break from the grumpy

I've been very grumpy this week. But I just watched this AFV montage on YouTube and it's fairly impossible to be grumpy while watching it.

August 15, 2006

FINALLY!!




My days of wandering the car desert are over! While I'm sure everyone will miss Seafish..a.k.a metro-ali-docious, I'm sure no one will miss me pandering on about cars for hours and hours. It has been a long strange trip! Now if you will excuse I'm going cruising in the Seaqual...(get it part II). K, am a dork!

August 11, 2006

Profiles in Dopeness: MOM!



(First off a confession - I wrote this P.O.D a month ago. Yeah, I know it's lame, but I'm doing a spring cleaning of sorts on my computer and decided this tribute to moms wasn't worthy of the recycle bin. So without further delay (3 months is long enough...)

On a whimsy, this past Friday my mom took a red eye drive with my aunt down to hang out with yours truly. First off the fact that she drove 5 hours just because she missed me testifies to the fact that she is a. crazy and b. a fabulous human being. Anyone crazy enough to drive that far to see you must really care alot about you. Which got me thinking about what a rock star she is.

We have our disagreements. There are these classic debates: I will never like onions. I will NOT go to bed when she tells me. I will not date men from her job that look like Tom Selleck. I will most definitely and assuredly not wear taper leg jeans with winter boots. I’m not sure I will ever stop drinking Mt. Dew that particular feat will require divine intervention. Despite these disagreements she has episodes of total fabulosity which make me prouder of her than she’ll ever imagine.

My favorite thing about my mom is that she is a doer. Never one to dilly dally, if mom says this is whats going down, it’s going down. Now I’m gonna drop some Sophia Petrillo on you. Picture this: Statesville, North Carolina. The season was autumn. We were riding in our old ass caprice classic, listening to Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers sing “Islands in the Stream”. We were on our way to my elementary school, I was happily made up for second grade; Book bag packed, lunch box in tow and cre paper leaves in seran wrap bag getting ready for the usual drop and go. When I looked up and realized mom had driven past my school. I waited til Dolly finished the last “ah, ah” to fill her in on the huge oversight. I probably could have told her at an earlier point. Hell, I was only missing the pledge of allegiance and morning announcements (which rarely if ever pertained to Miss Palmer’s second graders). She just looks at me and says, “Do you want to go to school? (My brain: “Is this a trick question?”)

Me: Well, um..I did my homework, but we don’t have any tests.
Mom: how bout we just skip work and school and go play put-put! Awesome!

I know, not a story about how a kidney saved a daughter, but it’s why my mom is great.
I’m gonna call her now and tell her how great she is.

To which she’ll say: “Can’t talk right now, watching Iron Chef! Love ya!”

August 2, 2006

Status Report


Things have been eerily silent around here, no? We missed July!

Though, I guess a four-day OEF Summit in Mays Landing, NJ accounts for that. Four days of hot dogs, dog drool, and hanging out in the kiddie end of the pool.

It's so hot outside I want to cry. Except if I were to cry it would immediately turn into a vapor. It's so hot that Uma is actually behaving---unable to jump up because the humidity is keeping her down.

Besides monitoring my dog's douchiness, not much else is shakin. July was fairly dreadful workwise, but August seems to be shaping up a little more serene. Maybe I'll get to blog a little more frequently.

Though I was reading Brendan's blog an he was pondering what there is to write about. Well, me too. In my younger blogging days, when it was called "journaling" and was considered very weird to do so, I wrote with such abandon about whatever happened to me that day. I don't know if it's paranoia brought on by World News Tonight stories about blogs getting people fired, or if I just don't think that every single thought that occurs to me is stop-the-presses fascinating. Or maybe I am secretly afraid that all my thoughts have already been expressed somewhere & I'm just regurgitating someone else's mojo?

Though, that's what my initial understanding of a blog was to be. A repository for links to other things that are interesting on the internets, accompanied by your thoughts on it.

On that note, McSweeney's has been keeping me entertained lately, particularly Guidelines for our son Jeremiah's First Birthday Party
by Christopher Monks.

Because rather than unfunnily/uninterestingly write about how boorish it can be to interact with friends that have children, you can go read that and laugh real hard at the part about Head #2.

This is going nowhere!