A Voice In The Wilderness

I can identify with John the Baptist, especially when I (foolishly) talk politics with my extended family: I say what I want to say, they hear what they want to hear. Everybody gets their feelings hurt, or ulcers, or both.

Gasoline Prices

I just got back from filling my gas tank, and do you know, the price of gasoline is down by about a dollar from a week or two ago?

Requiem for Robin

Remember Robin Hood? The guy who lived in Sherwood Forest and made a career of defending the poor and hopeless against the rich and powerful? Yeah, he broke the law, but listen up dummies! Guess what? Your freaking country was founded by guys who broke the law! So don't give me any crap about the law being the be-all and end-all of civilization!

To every thing there is a season...

Not long ago, one of my favorite authors disappeared. I don't know why, but it seemed like he just dropped off the face of the earth.

He had a terrific imagination, inventing new worlds and social structures in a kind of Utopian frenzy. His stories always carried a thread of sadness, however.

What is the opposite of xenophile?

My Honey suggests xenophobe, but I disagree: love and fear are not opposites. Love and hate, or at least dislike, come closer.

Anyway, whatever it is, I think I'm becoming one.

False Advertising

I tried to post this earlier today, but apparently MySpace had a bad case of hiccups.

I was sitting here, keeping my grandchild company while watching the "Sprout" cable channel - you know, all kid programming, all the time?Anyway, it gradually sinks into my consciousness that there, on my TV screen, is a purple T. Rex dancing around a bunch of preschool-aged children, exhorting the benefits of eating plenty of fruits and vegetables.

The Trouble With Public Schools

I had a serious case of deja vu today.

You see, when I enrolled as a graduate student in Engineering school, I became a student member of the National Society of Professional Engineers.  For student members, the fees were pretty cheap, and it seemed a good idea to have some kind of membership in a professional organization to list on my resumé when I started to look for work.

Visitation

I went back to visit my work friends today. Seems a little strange, having to be a visitor at the place where I used to work. It makes major changes in how you have to conduct yourself.

I HAVE THE POWER!

Sometimes my erstwhile quiet neighborhood sounds like a war zone. Explosions happen out of nowhere. It's not guns, though. The little subdivision I live in was built in about 1972, and I think all of the infrastructure is still the original equipment. About 2 to 3 times a week something in our local electric grid, probably a transformer, blows up, and it sounds like dynamite going off. In fact, one blew up just before I started this blog. I know that's what it is, because the lights blink, and my UPS alarm sounds, just for a moment.

Hate

Something, I'll not say what, got me to thinking about hate today.

I've done it myself - and I'm sure you have too - said, "I hate [pick a name] !" - sometimes decribing the offense or characteristic that sparked the response, sometimes not, depending on how familiar the audience was with the relationship between the speaker and the object of scorn.

Tired of hypocrisy

Even before I became an adult, I found it disturbing that a politician could get elected solely on the basis of opposition to taxes in any form, and for whatever purpose. It seems that all one has to do, to become a "champion of the sheeple," is say "I’m ag’in’ taxes".

Valentine’s Day

As I was sitting down to write this, I got curious, and decided to look up Valentine's Day on Wikipedia. Man was I surprised! My intention was to bring out a little more information about the day itself, before launching into my own thoughts, but that went out the window... if you want to know about the history of St. Valentine's day, go for it. I'm not in the mood to repeat all that I've learned.

A Night Out

I had a good time last night.

The county Parks and Recreation Department here has, for the past eight years, organized a Valentine's Dance. They sell tickets for a complete evening's enter­tainment, for couples, and it includes snacks, dinner, door prizes, and dancing with a live band, in the old historic county courthouse. My Honey found out about it at work, and arranged for us to attend.

Depressing Stuff

A few people, who are important to me, believe that I expect too much of them. They're wrong. I have no expectations at all. Just hopes.

Humor: why men die before their wives

My friend Bill sent me a list of old two-liners recently.  You know the ones, the first part is a question, the second part is the answer. Anyway, there were over a dozen of them, and they were all the kind of thing guaranteed to make some women yell chauvinist pig! Everyone has heard them before, so I won't repeat them here, except one:

Some thoughts on tattoos

I sometimes entertain myself by looking at stranger's profiles on MySpace™. The same sort of thing one does when commuting on a crowded bus. You look around, wonder about why people put on the public faces they do, hypothesize about what they're really like. It's just a game. Since I've retired, I don't ride buses and trains very much, anymore, and mission-shopping at grocery and department stores doesn't provide as many opportunities for that kind of entertainment.

Invasion

This is a highly political rant. If that kind of thing offends you, you might want to skip this one and read something else.

Last night started an exchange of emails with my youngest sibling, and I'm not sure it's done yet. Nonetheless, it brought together in my mind a few ideas and factlets, like pieces of a puzzle, and a picture began to take a shape that worries me. I haven't discussed this new picture with anyone yet, and I thought I'd like to get it out to those of you who might want to take potshots at it.

Just stuff

Yesterday was different. My Honey has been wanting to go to the High Museum for months. There were three exhibits there that she really wanted to see, and one was about to close.

Happy New Year

Well, it's just past midnight, and once again my Honey and I watched Dick Clark ring in a New Year. It would almost be comical, if it weren't so tragic to see him struggling just to speak a complete sentence.

The best part of doing this is that I get to kiss my Honey right at the stroke of midnight.  Of course, by then, I'm too sleepy for anything more complicated.

Anyway, no major new resolutions for me.  I'll continue to work on my health and fitness, keep on looking for my cruising boat, keep trying to remember to show those I love that I still do.

For now though, I'll swallow the last of my egg nog, and head for bed.