various thoughts

Just a mishmash of things...

I have a very hard time believing that upping our troop level by 21K in Iraq is going to be the ticket to Victory over there. It looks more like a desperate grasp of a president trying to salvage what will likely be his legacy. First off, I don't see much support at all for it...the House doesn't want it, the Senate doesn't want it, the Iraqis don't want it, I don't want it, and on and on. It was listed as a recommendation by the Iraq Study Group as an option that could help secure the region and for more our Armed Forces sake than Bush's I surely hope it does. This was not a war we should have gotten involved in and now it looks like there is no happy ending here. What a shame.

We only have a very limited amount of troops elgible for this additional deployment as our forces are streched very thin amongst our various conflicts and bases around the world. The number of overall troops available may be good, but the number of troops available "with combat training" is not, and those will be the ones called upon here. This also means that a lot of soldiers will be called on for a second, third, or fourth tour in Iraqi with very little recovery time at home, and that is not a good situation.

Bush stated in his speech the other night that 80% of the violence still occuring in Iraq was directly in and around Baghdad and these additional troops are needed to quell that violence so that Iraq may proceed in some semblance of normalcy...I sure hope so...

other stuff...

The UK wildcats have started out their SEC schedule looking great with a victory over Ole Miss and a trouncing of Auburn. Sure hope that continues when the tougher opponents come along, and the SEC is very tough this year (and most every year) with ranked teams like defending champ Florida, LSU, Alabama, and other traditionally tough foes like Vandy and Arkansas...Go Cats...

The hockey team I kind of inherited when I moved to Tennessee (since I get most of their games on TV), the Nashville Predators, are standing in 1st place in their division nearing the half way point; and while so many teams make the playoffs in hockey placement doesn't mean everything it's still nice to see. The front office over in the Music City have put together a team that isn't laced with superstars (well maybe Paul Kariya could count as one), but manages to play great together and get the W's.

I've been kind of keeping up with the various poker action going on via live blogs and such like the Carribean World Poker Tour Championship and The Aussie Millions. Glad to see Erik Lindgren take down the huge 100K buy-in event down under. Only the truly upper class of poker can afford a buy-in to these pricey events so with the likes of Ivey, Seidel, Negreanu, Hansen, Juanda, and more this is some good poker to watch. Lindgren is a top notch player and seems like a great guy on and off the felt. Kudos should definitely go out to the wealthy Japanese businessman Masa Aki Kagawa for hanging quite tough with the pros to finish in the money 3rd and for super star Eric Seidel for getting to heads up and taking down 2nd. Only the top three finishers got paid with Lindgren pocketing a cool million...nice! That should pay for plenty of golfing prop bets with Kid Poker, Ivey, and Doyle, although from what I hear Lindgren more than holds his own on the links.

Have been having trouble finding the time to update this here blog, but hopefully it's just a short term thing. Have fun, and more later...

Charleston, SC

Getting all of the travel behind us, a small sigh of relief was in order, with the thought that now I can just concentrate on our time together, relaxing, having fun, and most of all just watching the girls be themselves.

Right away both of them were nearly dying to spend the rest of their Christmas money, which had increased by $50 each when we picked my dad up at the airport. I had never been to Charleston, SC before so I had no idea where we might go to spend the money, but I got some luck...at least I thought I did. I noticed when we got off the highway to get checked in there was a road at another red light called Mall Dr. That surely sounded promising and gave the girls visions of Kaybee Toys, Toys-r-Us, dippin dots, EBs, Babbages, and just stores galore. So cruising slowly on Mall Dr. (even though malls are HARD to miss) we saw a giant Cinema-Plex that would usually be circumstantial evidence that a Mall was near, but the only other place resembling a mall was a gi-normous structure...easily the size of a mall. The only indication of what it might be were lighted signs proclaiming Verizon Wireless. That's got to be the biggest fucking cell phone store in the world I thought to myself. Now I live in a rednecky, wooded part of Tennessee, and the largest store in my town sells guns, knives, and hunting supplies in a building as big as a Wal-Mart, but this Verizon store was ridiculous...couldn't be, and as it turned out wasn't. It, of course, was some type of Headquaters for Verizon occupying the space that "used" to be a mall. The mall I was hoping the girls could shop in...minor set back.

Since I'm not the typical male, or the stereotype often given to the typical male, I had no problem stopping at a mini-mart and asking where I could find a mall that hadn't turned in to a corporate headquaters. As it turned out, I could find one just 8 or 9 miles north, so away we went...

As a reminder that my babies won't stay young forever they chose to buy some clothes with their money rather than just toys like always in the past. A definite (and scary for me) sign they are creeping towards teenage.

Next day we hit the beach on the Isle of Palms. It had been a long time since I had seen the ocean, and I find that first look still holds some awe. Even after spending 5 years of my life virtually living on the beach in Tampa. The girls absolutely went nuts and ignored the fact that it's DECEMBER. The wind and water were both cold, brrrrrrr cold, but still the little angels splashed and splashed. It was a beautiful day in the mid 60s, so I indulged them for a while, and then finally had to call the clock on them for fear they might get sick. So I packed the waterlogged darlings back in the heated ride, and went back to the hotel, where...they chose to swim (indoors) and play in the hot tub...much better. The hotel swims, whirlpool, and fitness room were used at least once every day while we were there, sometimes 2 or 3 times. I sure would like to have all that available all the time. It's easy to get plenty of fitness in your life if the pool and the fitness center are under the same roof as you, and available 24/7...

Time just flies when I get to spend it with my daughters...we ended the trip by hitting the SC Aquarium down town Charleston, and finally we stormed Fort Sumter. The Fort tour was awesome. You could just feel the history oozing from every nook and cranny of that place. Way back in 1861 the Civil War began at that very Fort. For 2 days the Confederates shelled the Union soldiers until the Fort and with it Charleston Harbor were surrendered to the South. The once 3 story Fort was bombarded down to the 1 story that still stands. Over 44,000 rounds of shelling, and still Sumter survived. The biggest miracle to come from those long hours of decimation...not one death through it all.

Riding in cars, with kids, with toys

Day 1: travel

Finally back from a wonderful visit with my beautiful daughters. The day after Christmas I picked them up early, the weather was nice. I had asked my ex to pack as much entertaining distractions as possible for the long, long eight to nine hour ride to Charleston, SC, and she glady obliged. Darling daughter number two fell asleep not long after the journey began. As it was still fairly early in the morning and they, like kids everywhere, stay up late...especially when school is out. Darling daughter number one though is more of a morning person so she settled in with her fully charged PSP and commenced racing, wrecking, punching, kicking, stealing, shooting, and all manner of video gaming actions. Those PSP's have some sweet graphics. So the trip was off to a wonderful start.

Darling daughter two awoke in a couple of hours and busted out her Video Now Player (Hasbro) to watch some cartoons, but soon discovered that the Player wasn't working. She put the disc she wanted to watch in and hit play, but the screen would only light up for a second and then go dark. Sound continued to work though, but as one could imagine cartoons pretty much require video to go with audio for it to entertain. I wonder if kids back in the day really "got" comedic radio broadcasts...before even my time. Anyway, I asked her to let me have a look at the Player, but after fiddling with the brightness/contrast slider, there wasn't much left to try. It was officially broken.

Since I was in no great hurry to make it to Charleston that day, and being the day after Christmas it was quite busy on the highway, I decided for an alteration in plan. I would drive until the darling daughters just got too bored and restless, then stop for the night, and get them up early the next morning so they could opt to sleep the 2 or 3 hours remaining of the drive. We stopped around 5PM in a fairly large town just outside of Charlotte...Mooreville I think it was...I only wanted it to have a movie theatre and a Wal-Mart, which it did.

The darling daughters wanted to hit the Wal-Mart to spend some of the Christmas cash that was aching to be spent, and I certainly wasn't going to get in the way. So we bought some more toys and play things on top of what they had gotten for Christmas, went back to the hotel to stow the bounty, and were off again to catch the "new" live action Charlottes Web (which wasn't bad). Just like the old animated version I grew up with only with real (or at least computer generated in Charlotte's case) animals and people. A wonderful drive and evening behind us...sleep.

Hindsight...never did get the Video Now Player to work, so upon our return I looked up the problem on Hasbro's customer service site, and it turned out that it only needed batteries. The thought just never occurred to me that all of the power juice could possibly have been drained since she only got it for Christmas the day before...such is life...

more to come...

A shot of Brandi before I go

Only a couple more days of what bears some semblance to work before the big break, and at my place of work it is a "big" break (entire week of Christmas thru Jan.2). I will be heading up I-75 to put my two beautiful daughters in tow, and then we are heading down to Charleston, SC for a post-Christmas vacation of sorts. I have never been to Charleston, but after reading a bit about it on da net, I think there will be plenty of entertainment for us to enjoy.

As is common knowledge, Charleston is an extremely old city...one of the first to be settled in this "new" world. So there is a lot of history there to be explored, and I can roll with that. My older daughter is at a point in her school where they are studying the settling, warring, and eventual independence of our great country, so it will be educational for her as well. With the city's age, there are extremely old graveyards, dungeons, and other scary structures, said to be as haunted as young Drew Barrymore's TV set. I'm not sure if both beautiful ladies will be down for the haunted tours, but we shall see. The oldest is more tom-boyee, and she will be game, the youngest is the exact opposite...100% girly girl...pink purse loving, shoe collectin', dress wearing, baby doll tea party playin', primpy, lacy, frilly GIRL. She is SO affectionate too. Back to the point though, I'm not sure she will be down for any of the haunted, spooky, tours available, but she is full of surprises like when she (and not her big sister) wanted to and did force me to ride a camel with her at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio...so perhaps she will opt for dark side adventure...

...speaking of dark, today is the Winters Solstice, traditionally a pagan partying day of wild debauchery celebrating the darkest day of the year...mmmmm, fun. Incidentally, Christmas was probably "in some sly manner" slated to be in late Dec. as a sort of way to appease the pagan need to party around this time, while also easing the heathens in to a Christian way of life. The Art of Compromise.

On a totally different topic, but one juicier than a medium rare filet mignon with a fresh squeezed lemonade chaser, WOW...is all I can say about the story of Brandi Hawbaker, Capt. Tom (and his penis), lost, stolen, donked off, handed over poker bankrolls, and all manner of craziness that truly supports the statement..."The truth is stranger than fiction"...There are links to the topic on numerous poker blogs so I'll not bore you with those. The vast majority of the story is posted in discussion on the 2+2 poker site...unREAL.

Wonderful Holidays to all...I'm gone (likely til' the new year), when I hope to return basking in history and days spent with the two girls who will always be the love of my life...perhaps there will be story or two to come...Maybe we'll storm Fort Sumter...

Send me Dead Flowers

"Well, when youre sitting back
In your rose pink cadillac
Making bets on kentucky derby day
Ill be in my basement room
With a needle and a spoon
And another girl to take my pain away

Take me down little susie, take me down
I know you think youre the queen of the underground
And you can send me dead flowers every morning
Send me dead flowers by the US mail
Say it with dead flowers at my wedding
And I wont forget to put roses on your grave"

Well the poor pitiful United States Postal Service which, no doubt, has been nearly crippled by technology and the acceptance of email as the preferred means of written communication. Finally they have been forced to remove the iconic big blue postal boxes that inhabit strip malls and street corners throughout our wonderful land. While they won't be uprooting and removing "all" of them...they will be doing away with most. The determining factor will be if the given box receives 25 or more pieces of mail on any given day. By that standard, I'm sure the number will have these pieces of history teetering on the brink of extinction.

As with so many things, the rush of newer, better, stronger, faster, and more efficient means or devices have left the mail box in the dust of history. Like the public phone booth before it, now these receptacles in which so many words, feelings, and personal information have passed through are to be no more. Now left as only something that are mentioned in tales of the past. Children today will be surprised to hear that once people actually corresponded with hand written words that were sealed and delivered in a matter of days in contrast to today's typed letters, rich in Internet shorthand and cutesy emoticons, and now delivered in a matter of milliseconds.

Ahhh, technology...a blessing or a curse?

Since I am (and have been for years) employed in the IT field, and have always loved and been amazed by all manner of gadgets and gizmos that make our lives easier, I truly have a great appreciation for technology. There is, however, a part of me somewhere that mourns the passing of the written word. As I was growing up, passing notes in school was the major form of communication. The way in which everything from a party invitation to an expression of undying (albeit puppy) love was conveyed. Now it's all about IM'ing, texting, emailing, and all things electronic and instantaneous. Somehow I can't help but think these more rapid forms of communication must have a downside, however slight, to them. Perhaps a small manner of creativity gets lost in the haste. I think so anyway...IMHO...BTW...

L8R peeps...LOL

crushed...

crushed...as a cheap Coke can squeezed in a vice

crippled...without crutches

regrets...I'm not without

passion...is alive in me

compassion...sometimes too much

stupidity...yes

intelligence...yes

love...can make you happy

love...can rob you blind

wondering...

" Wond'ring aloud --
how we feel today.
Last night sipped the sunset --
my hands in her hair.
We are our own saviours
as we start both our hearts beating life
into each other.

Wond'ring aloud --
will the years treat us well.
As she floats in the kitchen,
I'm tasting the smell
of toast as the butter runs.
Then she comes, spilling crumbs on the bed
and I shake my head.
And it's only the giving
that makes you what you are."

-Tull

thinking...thoughtfully

today...warm, sunny, bright, and dreadful

tomorrow...is never a "sure thing"

smiles...reluctant, soft, and subtle

dreams...pipe dreams...hopes and charlatans, swindlers, and frauds...beauty and knowing that rainbows follow the rain

later...there will be more

goodbyes...are sometimes left unsaid

Sometimes words, jumbled together in a seemingly mixed or somewhat arranged way leaves impressions, and displays expessions, however temporary...

temporary...as all things are

laughing...heals, helps, brightens, and smiles upon us all...

Celebrate

Since my mind/thoughts do not have it in them...lets celebrate the madness of life, and perhaps expecially love with the thoughtful words of Bruce Cockburn (and it's Co-Burn, not "Cock-burn", you not knowing Bruce Cockburn person you)...

" standing on a rock in a river
staring at the splintered sun
you could drown yourself in jewels
like a thousand other fools
while you stand there looking down at what you've won.

sitting on a mountain of ashes
face to face with past regrets
you could roll down to the canyon
piss away this incarnation
but remember that you pay for what you get.

and he says "but don't you know
how hard it is
to hit the ground and mean it,
and mean it?"

walk the jangling streets of the city
trying to find the buried sun
you could drown yourself in jewels
like a thousand other fools
while you wander, waiting for it to be done.

and he cries "why don't we celebrate?
why don't we celebrate?
love can make you sad
come on, let's drive ourselves mad."

and he's aware
how hard it is
to kiss the sun and mean it,
and mean it.

and he screams "why don't we celebrate?
why don't we celebrate?
life can make you sad
come on, let's drive ourselves mad."

standing on a rock in a river
staring at the rain made one
on the surface flashing diamonds
rolling down the twilight canyon,
and we shall kiss the sun in spite of him

so why don't we celebrate?
why don't we celebrate?
why don't we celebrate? ..."

that's all...for now...

Nice

The weekend was very good. As I commonly do when Saturday afternoon rolled around, I started randomly flipping channels in search of a game that looks interesting. I wasn't sure what time my UK Wildcats were playing, I only knew that they were playing. Lucky for me though I found them already at it after just a few clicks from the remote.

The Cats are a very young team (inexperienced) this year, so I try not to have any "final-four" type expectations of them. They are fun to watch though and have a lot of energy on the court. We usually play Indiana most every year, but it is typically done at a semi-neutral court, usually either in Louisville or Indianapolis...this year however those places could not be scheduled so UK got to host Indiana in Lexington as a home game. That was a good break for us...another huge break was the fact that the Hoosiers could not sink a three to save their life. UK had a lot of turnovers and played so sloppy at times I wondered if the freshmen were still recovering from a kegger the previous night. Upper-classmen have so much party in them their recovery time is much shorter. Like basketball itself, it's an experience thing. The Cats were able to chalk up a win Saturday, and they really needed it as the SEC is going to be a royal bitch to play in this year. About half of the teams UK will play in conference ball are ranked in the top 25...ouch!

Football Sunday...

Since I moved to Tennessee a few years back, I don't often get the Bengals (my favorite team) on TV. I do however, get the Tennessee Titans. Since I have been watching them for years now, I kind of adopted them as a team I root for too. After the Titans started the season in a miserable way, they are now just one win from being at .500 and have won 4 in a row...the last two in very dramatic fashion, so they have been a lot of fun to watch. Damn...Vince Young is starting to look like da man...I hope it keeps up.

other quickies:

Watched the Saints and the Cowboys and was very glad to see the Saints play so well and come away with the W...Damn...Reggie Bush is starting to show just how good he is...

My Bengals continued their streak of victories...even if it was just the lowly Raiders...next up is the Indy Colts, fresh off two consecutive losses and I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. The optimist in me says it's good of course...I hope so.

My teams are winning...Nice!

blues in the news

That Alexander Litvinenko story sure has been strange. I think he definitely appears to have been poisoned, and that the Russians he met with the day of his sickness were probably (who else could it have been?) responsible. One of those Russians (Andrei Lugovoi) that likely slipped him the death Mickey has, so far, refused to talk with any of the authorities, and that just "looks" guilty if nothing else. The KGB/FSB were definitely pissed off at Alexander for blowing the whistle on their assasination of Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky. Ah...well...I'm sure it will all eventually be swept under the rug. It Really sucks for young Alex though, the way I heard it explained, dying from that Polonium-210 is not a good way to go AT ALL.

Moving on, the great blues LEGEND B.B. King was awarded one of the Freedom Medals given to honorees by President Bush for all that he and his blues have done for American music tradition. Finally...something the President and I are in complete agreement about. Good for B.B...he deserves it.

...should be a great weekend coming up...my UK Wildcats play Indiana on Saturday, and I would sure like to see a win there, but it will be rough. Rougher still though are my poor Bengals, who are slated to play Indianapolis Sunday after a long layoff for the Bengals, and perhaps even scarier, following a game for Indy where they were beaten in the closing seconds on a Tennessee 60 yard field goal. I have a feeling Indy will "want" this game in a BAD way. I just hope the Bengals stellar D (over the last 2 games) shows up and denies Indy.

Might go see Casino Royale this weekend too...every blog that mentioned something about it were mostly all in favor, and the bit of Hold Em' action should be fun to watch...

...and speaking of Royale & Hold Em' for the first time ever I hit a Royal Flush in Hold Em'...very strange board that came Ad 10s Js Ks Qs (putting an Ace high straight on the board), but I took it down as I was holding the As for the highly coveted "Royal Flush"...guess that's the one I'll probably see in this life. Anything can happen though...it's poker after all.

Ch, Ch, Ch, Changes...

"I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
So the days float through my eyes
But stil the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
Theyre quite aware of what theyre going through

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
(turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-changes
Dont tell them to grow up and out of it
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
(turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-changes
Wheres your shame
Youve left us up to our necks in it
Time may change me
But you cant trace time"
-David Bowie

Changes...well the blogger decided to change the way I log in beginning this past Saturday, and while I was able to log in, I haven't been able to successfully publish a post. Since I am employed in the IT industry (and have been for years), I'm pretty competent when it comes to all things technical, so I believe I was clicking on the "Publish (post)" button correctly. Blogger even believed that it had published my post, but alas nothing was showing up after a refresh. So I fiddled around a bit, trying various things, and then "Publish" again, but still nothing. I gave up, and said to myself that "I guess that's why the new URL for posting is beta.blogger.com"...it was still a work in progress.

The weekend was good, and +EV (ever so slightly).

What a game between the Colts and the Titans in the 1PM EST slot on Sunday. I mean a 60 yard field goal to seal it for the Titans with only a few seconds left...NICE.

Changes...Well the study-group, headed by James Baker, that has been diligently searching for ways to change the course of events in Iraq is due to release it's findings today; but will it result in any meaningful change? With President Bush seemingly still convinced that "his" way is the right way, I'd say it's doubtful. Bush has of late, at least showed some small signs that he may at least be open to listening to some suggestions. Without question, change is what we need over there, change in the way we deal with all of the varied factions, tribes, and sects, change in some form to stop us from taking daily ass whippings in the Anbar province, and change in our expectation for what is and isn't considered a victory in this ill conceived war, turned civil war, turned chaos, turned turmoil, turned death, to citizen and soldier alike.

Change is definitely needed, but with this state of affairs, being messier than a drunken grape-stomping, what change(s) are the proper ones? Certainly devoting more of our already overburdened soldiers to properly train and arm (more) Iraqi's couldn't hurt. Although the insurgency is certainly wreaking plenty of havoc without us training them. Opening a dialogue with Syria and Iran, both of whom likely provide support to the ongoing violence and sectarianism, couldn't make things worse. Perhaps also bringing leaders of the various resisting factions to the table and discussing dividing the country in to states, much like the Kurds in the north have already done, could be considered for peace as well. Any division would have to come with a fair distribution of wealth (in this case Iraqi oil) among each given state. I don't know all the answer, or perhaps any of them, but I do know change is the only means to an end there now.

Change...

PPT & JT

Last night I settled in on the couch to watch a couple hours of Hold em' on the Travel Channel. The PPT to be exact, which btw is laced with talent, strictly the best of the best. They always have a "featured" table which recieves the lion's share of the coverage, but occasionally bounce around the room for big all-ins and such. One of those (sort of) memorable bounces showed Bill Gazes getting knocked out on the sickest beat I've seen in a while as his almost certain winner collapsed to a runner-runner straight on the turn/river.

Another very notable hand, and a first for me, as I have never witnessed this from any game...live, TV, or otherwise was James Woods mucking the best hand WITHOUT showing it down thereby giving up a pot he desperately needed as he was the severe short-stack at the table. He had paired a four on a board of rags, with two other players going to the end as well, and with not a whole lot of posturing or betting. Well the first player shows a pair of deuces, and a second player pipes up that "I've got that beat", which he did with a pair of treys, so Woods just mucks...ASSUMING his fours are beat as well...WITHOUT even showing them down. UnREAL!!! I guess that's why he is the actor turned wannabe poker pro and not the poker shark we all try to be.

Also...while the PPT was on, my local PBS station was showing a James Taylor tribute concert where various (and very good) artists would go on and do their rendition of a JT song. Now he has over a hundred songs to his credit, and granted it was "mostly" his hit songs that were being played, but...during a PPT commercial break I hit the "last-channel" button on the remote to return to the concert and who should appear, but two of my very favorite musicians in the whole wide world, aka Alison Krauss (what an angelic voice + she plays an extraordinary fiddle to boot) and Jerry Douglas (simply the world's best dobro player...hands down). So before they even played the first note, I announced to the room that they were going to play the song "Goin' to Carolina"...and...I was right, scary right, like Nostradamus prophecy right. At least it seemed prophetic at the time, and they did a damn fine job of it...so beautiful.

After the PPT was over, I slept. All for now...more later.

not much...

Not much to say today...kind of bummed that the brakes on my car went South, and I had to pony up for replacements. The mechanic said I should be good for long time as they used and I authorized the best brake pads known to man. Although, with any good fortune, that car will be a part of my history before the next brake job. I really did not need the added expense at this time of year, but I guess it's a Murphy's law thing. So fuck cars...is what I am pretty much saying...I mean it's nice to go places and get back and forth from work, but what a total drain on money they are. If I am not at the gas station filling up with completely over-priced petrol then I am waiting patiently for an oil change where the nice attendant informs me that I really could use a new air filter ($26), new windshield wipers ($17), and they are running a special on a coolant system flush ($99). Since I am too nice a guy to say "fuck off pal", I just politely decline. He obviously doesn't realize the kind of clothes that can buy for my #2 daughters' Bratz dolls...the twit.

Is it just me or does the Blogger spell check feature completely blow???

I think my UK Wildcats have a scrap tonight with some marginal foe so I can't wait to bolt from work and check that out. Go CATS!!!

My #1 daughter had to get 5 stiches yesterday as a little boy in her class cut her with...get this...a row of staples. I resisted the urge to pop a cap in his ass, and let him wallow in guilt and detention. In all seriousness I heard he felt so bad he broke down bawling and was somewhat inconsolable, so even though I DO NOT take lightly to harm done to my little angel, I do kinda feel for the little staple warrior. after my ex called and I spoke to daughter #1 I felt much better...apparently it is not going to effect her ability to play her X-BOX, so she isn't really fazed by it. Today happens to be her birthday and I hope it is filled with gifts, love, laughter, and happiness. She is 11 BTW. That is all for now, more later...

Monday's suck

Monday's really do suck, but they suck even more after a long holiday weekend. I know you say quit your bitchin'...at least I had Friday off as well, but bitch I must. Sleeping late and laying in a nice toasty bed in the chill of winter is truly one of life's great pleasure. Other than the birth of my children, my health, and flopping the nuts there is very little that feels better.

It's really too bad about Britney and K-Fed. I really thought their's was an enduring love that would withstand the rigors of the public pressure (dripping with sarcasm). Seriously though I sometimes wonder why celebrities bother to get married at all. It seems like such a futile endeavor, and usually leaves one or more children without the benefit of both parents. Of course Hollywood/celebrity children are reared by nannies anyway, the fact still remains. It seems like both parties somehow think the grass is always greener (granted in Brad Pitt's case, Angelina Jolie's grass is much greener than what's her name, at least imho), and so they fall in to bed with someone else, which leads to the other cheating, which leads to divorce...on and on. It seems they would all be better off just "dating" (sleeping with one another), and perhaps there would be a few less fucked up kids brought in to the world. Nannies may be capable and all, but there is NO substitute for good ole' mom and dad! nuff said...

The weekend......was good (+EV)...

- The Bengals won 30-0, even if it was just the lowly Browns

- The Steelers lost (even though against the Ravens I would have preferred they win)...what's happened to the Steelers anyway, from Superbowl winners to being on the outside looking in at the playoffs. Their personnel hasn't changed that much, but the result???...very strange. I really feel bad for Mean Gene...well not really, I mean they won the Superbowl last year!

- I played some profitable (albeit a small profit) session of on-line Omaha

- I relaxed and read...always a favorite thing to do

- I got a haircut...and man did I need one

- I didn't watch any political/war coverage so therefore had minimal rage as those subjects always light a match

I'm sure I did more, but mainly stuff too mundane to list...as if what I did list isn't mundane. I digress. Hope everyone has a wonderful day even though Monday's SUCK!!!

I have to go to Wal-Mart and pick up some milk, a bobbin for my sewing machine, get a pedicure, oil change, and maybe buy a fish to keep me company..

Just a post with no real central thought, but instead some random drivel. Hope everyone had a safe and Happy Thanksgiving, I did...

I got up this morning surprised at how warm it was, so I went to the wall thermostat and clicked it off (and down a couple of notches for good measure). A little later, after a quick meal and a shower, I stepped outside to go and run some errands. Instead of the usual cold, biting and stinging, making my hands numb, and making me wish I'd have worn something I had not...It was WARM. So warm in fact I turned right around and went back inside the house to leave my jacket behind. I even thought about changing shirts to one a bit cooler. Hard to believe it's November. I know I live in Tennessee and it's not the coldest state in the States, but even here it's never this warm. I guess it's just another thing to be thankful for (like pocket Aces when you get lots of pre-flop action) to keep in the spirit of this holiday.

After the warm start of the day...I proceeded to do one of the most necessary and dreaded things I do each week...go to Wal-Mart. I truly did like shopping better pre-Wal-Mart when you had grocery stores, department stores, shoe stores, specialty stores, and on and on. I know it's not as convenient, but there is something about the atmosphere and feel to those places that provided a strange appeal for me. Unfortunately my deeply non-conformist self has had little chance but to give in and be assimilated into the devoutly devoted masses that worship (shop at least) at the Temple of Wal-Mart. If there isn't a Wal-Mart within 20 minutes of another Wal-Mart there soon will be. I think that stat is in the rules guide for determining where to buy the land and build the next one. With what Wal-Mart brings to the given community ($$$) comes more power than Carlos Casteneda hopped up on fresh peyote buttons and his animal guide/spirit to boot. Aside: I know it takes discipline (lots) and I have never really tried...the only animal spirit I have contacted on peyote is the neighbors cat who came over to snuggle with me while I lay on the front lawn pretending the Zodiac star alignments were melting and dripping star stuff on the earth that would lead to a breakthrough in mineral research, and allow the world to produce energy with minimal effort and cost. If only peyote trips were true. Looks like I forgot where I was or where I was going with this, which I did, but it doesn't matter as I wasn't planning a direction. I guess my point is that we have forsaken neighbor to neighbor business interaction (albeit with a little effort) in exchange for the corporate low cost cost ease of getting everything all at once, without trips to multiple establishments. Shopping for vitamins...Wal-Mart, shopping for spark plugs...Wal-Mart...shopping for the latest DVD...Wal-Mart, as well as...shopping for butter...Wal-mart, H2o Wal-Mart, underwear (boxers or briefs...I am mainly a boxers man, although I used to be briefs until I found the comfort of boxers...TMI, I know), etc..., rinse, lather, repeat! I really didn't plan to go on ranting about the unfortunate reality of omni-stocked, be-all, end-all stores, but I guess I lost control. Don't worry, my psychotherapist will analyze it for the both of us, and after I find it this rant was linked to the time I broke a shoelace in the second grade on the playground at recess and had to get my dad to bring me a replacement, then surely I can begin to gently push this traumatic episode out, and go on functioning like a normal, fucked-up person that I am. I do not mean to poke fun at the problems that force someone in to psychotherapy, so please forgive if you are offended. Enough about al that...BTW...I got all my stuff uneventfully (groceries and what were previously department/specialty stores) and returned home safely.

quickies...

- Talk about upsets, USF (University of Southern Florida, even though this makes little sense since they are in Tampa,, which is NOT southern, but more central...I digress) pulled out a win over a very talented West Virginia team...maybe WVU were looking past this game or just bummed about their first loss, this is a game they should have taken down. For those who had money wagered on USF, congrats. You should be eating well tonight.

- In Gatlinburg, TN. ( a "touristy", romantic getaway in the Smokie mountains, about an hour or so from my living quarters), a big family was enjoying a reunion of sorts and decided they would snap a picture for remembrance. They proceeded to organize on the steps of their 2nd story cabin and before the picture could be snapped even...the stairs collapsed sending 11 of them to the hospital, 5 fairly seriously, and all of them with scrapes, bumps and bruises.

- I have lots of shopping to do as I am not an organized, plan-ahead, or motivated Christmas shopper. Thankfully the only really important items I need (am bound by a endless heart felt love) to get are thos for my 2 daughters. At least that make out a very long and extensive list of what they want, exactly, and provide it to me as a road map. The shopping will get done, even if I take the short road, and order the majority of the items off the Internet.

- people are paying more for treats for their pets than it costs for a prime rib, drinks, and 2 appetizers at . Unreal!!!

- Dick Cheney is a crook, and his daughter is a lesbian (not that ther's anything wrong with that). I used to date a recovering lesbian, and I liked her very much!!! Still do to this day, though she is married and just had a baby now. Congrats HLN!

I guess that is enough for now, as they say down here in the South (although I don't, as I'm not from here...I still love it though) Take it easy y'all, don't be a stranger.

Happy T-day, and three worthy clicks

bored, here's something to do...click

this is disgusting

this is kinda cool and worth the 3.5 or 4 minutes to watch...enjoy

very cool way to impress friends and score with the ladies (well the really geeky, smart, librarian types anyway)

have a wonderful Thanksgiving...eat, drink, and watch football (and maybe play some poker online...while you still can)