March Blog

Oh, hi there. You remember me, right? The blog that blogged everyday for some time. Some time ago in fact. Now a forced effort is required to make sure each month has a single entry. Last post: February 1st. Quite a drought. In fact, it was pretty juicy around these parts, making a trip outside with the laptop and dogs unwise, unlikely and unhappening. That's no excuse for almost 60 days of nothing. Sometimes it just shuts itself down. There was travel and sickness, which are also not worthwhile excuses since both could have and should have provided some material. Some tidbits. Some thing. But no. Maybe life's little details didn't seem interesting. That happens. The minutia, just too minute too mention. The big stuff too big to tackle. Not enough outdoor dog time has some effect on me. I get a different perspective. A different field of vision opens up, closes, twists, turns, fades and heaves. The dogs let me know how exciting it would be to go outside right now. And how much fun it would be to lay on my back with my mouth half open, eyes rolled back in my head, softly snoring. An occasional dreamtwitch of my leg the only movement besides my chest rising and falling with each unconscious breath.

So, I'm not saying I'm back or promising any specific blog frequency in the coming weeks. But, I am here right now. (cue Doogie Howser M.D. closing music)

read?

Can't seem to do it these days. I just finished the first novel by Gary Shteyngart, the Russian Debutante's Handbook. It was good, not as entertaining as Absurdistan. I guess he progressed nicely in his sophomore effort. I read Debutante and thought this isn't that great, but if I wrote a novel I'd be thrilled if it was half as good. I have a(n) Haruki Murakami book on deck, but haven't pushed into it yet. I also have a couple business books that I'd like to want to read, but I can't commit myself. A Scrabble obsession has taken hold here, so the focus is more on individual words, sometimes two words, sometimes several two letter words, but complete thoughts created in intently formed sentences are on vacation. There was a chess obsession for a few weeks back in the fall, but you wouldn't know it to look at me at the time. I dream in Scrabble. Triple word has taken over my life. Either the prevention of or the taking advantage... uh... you see? I've lost my vocabulary. Plenty of words, but no vocabulary. Certainly nothing longer than seven letters. What would be the point? How would that help me score? I'd rather turn "ox" into "toxic" for 36 points than put together a thought. And what of the carpal tunnel strain all this mousing around is causing? Yes. What of that... indeed. Slushy brain keeps thinking of ta tam tame tamer oi oil oiled roiled broiled. Ah the waste. But it draws me in, like golf. One good shot, one killer word. I started out with a seventy pointer last night... it's intoxicating. The rush! The thrill! Nerdiness run amok. Dorkfest. Geek Week. Still I play. I'm cool, right? I swear I like sports. I can play guitar, too. Surprisingly well (at times). I'm aware of pop culture. Sure, most of it scares me, but at least I'm aware of it. I'm not totally out of touch. I'm hipper than most 35 year-olds, right? "Hipper" is a cool word, right? Cool is cool, yeah? I'm not a square. Mmmmh, squared... 17 points, but wait... triple letter on the "d", double word overall... 42 points. Excellent. Ahhhhhh. Oh yeah, I'm cool. 42 points cooler than you.

42 points
cooler
than
you

write?

What to write on a cold and juicy day? Low 30's and drizzly outside. Lazy and full of dog snoozing inside. No snow to look at. No ice to fear. No sun to see. Blankets and couches. Beds and blankets. Dogs sleep. Cat sleeps. Grey. Gray. Grey. Gray. A blog sits at the crossroads once again, inactively searching for an identity. Maybe the search is the identity. No, that doesn't sound like something I'd be into.

I went to the beach the other day. My office is ten minutes away from there but I haven't seen the water in months. Many months. It was cool and crisp with a nice stiff wind. I walked a bit. Looking at shells and sand and other oceanic bric-a-brac. I sat for a bit and listened to the waves crash. It was a gentle surf. The sea was melancholy that day, my friends. I woman walked by with a dog. The dog stopped several times to bark at me. He looked like Maggie. It was good natured barking. He didn't bark at anyone else. Another dog went by without incident. There were two guys out on the water (the 48 degree water). They were standing on surfboards and paddling around. Probably a nice relaxing time for them. If it were me out there I would have been in a full body spasm of fear, panic and anxiety. Also, the odds are pretty slim that I'll ever don a wetsuit. A small man's wetsuit.

A thin mist of some form of precipitation continues to fall outside beyond our double-paned windows. My stomach hurts. The dogs want dinner. The dogs always want dinner. Soon, I'll want dinner too.

I'll Huff and I'll Puff

The Huffington Post came through in a big way tonight. Big Big Big big headline about James O'Keefe being arrested for a plot to bug Senator Mary Landrieu's office phones. The motivation was certainly to expose the 'buying' of healthcare votes from the more moderate democrats.

The Huffington Post leans left, but also has a decidedly trashy-tabloid-celebrity addiction that many other news and/or opinion sites have. I think Arianna Huffington is pretty serious in her views, but her site is a little cutesy and trite for me to embrace, no matter the opinions within it. To the story at hand. If the allegations of wrongdoing are true, and let's assume they are, then it is a pretty sleazy attempt at another undercover sting operation. You'll recall O'Keefe from his role as the pimp who went to ACORN offices for tax advice on running underage brothels, and, in fact, received advice on just that. The whole ACORN episode was ridiculous from top to bottom. From O'Keefe's Bootsy Collins look to the unbelievable response from ACORN counselors... it had the look of an SNL skit... one that goes on six minutes too long where no one ever laughs. The beauty of this article in the Huffington Post is that they quote the Twitter feed from ACORN saying: "Couldn't have happened to a more deserving soul." Did I mention that is the official twitter feed from the organization? Tacky? Yes. Unprofessional? Yes. Come on! Grow up. Move on (dot org). Also, there's a boatload of irony there that I can't begin to sort through. (The following is taken from the article... and yes, they use 'allegations' twice in the same sentence separated by only two words.) The allegations quickly inspired allegations of a "Louisiana Watergate" from state Democrats and claims of vindication at ACORN... I'm all for vast right-wing conspiracies, but for now, I think we just have an over-motivated Alex P. Keaton trying to make his mark in an environment that is all too fertile. CONCLUSION: O'Keefe, as evidenced by this arrest, is a huge goober who may get ten years for his latest exploit, but that doesn't alter what he exposed in his first grand public stunt.

Day 2

Day 2 of the new blog theme and I'm already slightly off track. I decided to face my nemesis right of the bat... I went to People.com. I went in expecting all the useless drivel I see glaring at me in the grocery store checkout aisle. None of which interests me, ever. Not Tiger, not Brangelina, not Mary-Kate, not Ashley, not Octomom, not Madonna, not any of the Baldwins, not any of them, not any of that, not any of it. At least not that I can recall or to which I am willing to admit. So I went in expecting little. It did not disappoint on that count.

What grabbed me most was an updating Twitter feed of celebrity Tweets. Aside from the occasional... "hey, donate to help Haiti" post, it was as stupid as one could expect. If you tire of reading on Facebook about how somebody's kid had the sniffles today and seeing 45 people chime in "wishing Johnny a speedy recovery" and that"there must be a bug going around" and "OMG, little Susie has a tummy ache today, too" and so forth, be warned... Twitter takes that nothingness to new heights of nothingitude. "I'm eating a healthy sandwich, chicken on whole wheat" may have been the most profound, worthwhile and engaging Tweet I saw. And let's not overlook the fact that someone at People is being paid (with a paycheck, 401K, health and dental benefits, profit-sharing, daycare, free organic coffee and an on-campus gym) to read all these celebrity Tweets and choose the "best" to cycle through on People.com for me to read. It was mesmerizing. It was all stupid. Objectively... stupid. My challenge the next time I visit is to get beyond my initial gag reflex and probe (that is, somehow do the impossible) deeper into a "story" and not immediately dismiss what I see as shallow fodder for a celebrity-loving nation of fame-obsessed zombies. But for tonight... I'll leave it at that.

Last night Conan O'Brien signed off by mentioning how cynicism was a terrible trait and to "be a good person and good things will happen to you." It was touching, nicely said and he truly meant it. He believes in his show and his comedy and I respect that completely. As the "loser" in the Tonight Show fiasco he is walking away with $33 million. His staff will split up $12 million. Surely that takes some of the sting out of losing the show, yeah? How is it that we somehow wind up feeling sorry for a guy getting a $33,000,000 severance package. I'm not being a cynic here... but that's really really really twisted.

Los Federales! Los Federales!

CNN - Bernanke Article... and no, I don't expect you to go read it, I know I wouldn't. But in the interest of full disclosure, I offer the link.

The synopsis (eerily identical to the first paragraph of the story):
"A second term for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke became more uncertain Friday as two leading liberal senators announced that they will vote no, and many other Senate Democrats said they are undecided."

Bloglas sez:
If Republicans and Democrats are split in their support (not by party line) for another term for Ben Bernanke as Chairman of the Fed, that has to be a good sign. Why is that a good sign? They must be thinking about it somewhat seriously. What makes me say that? There is no public outcry one way or the other, which to me is great evidence that there is independent thought by the lawmakers. The public could care less because they don't really understand the Federal Reserve, anyone that says they do is lying. If it's not about Health Care, Boxer Bombers or JobsJobsJobs, it's not on the radar.

Who cares about the Fed? Ron Paul and... and... only Ron Paul. Ron Paul, too crazy in his speach and earnest in his beliefs to be taken seriously by mainstream America. And even he doesn't care who heads the Fed... he cares that it exists at all... a different matter entirely.

Back to the Senate confirmation... when was the last time a vote wasn't known 14 months ahead of time? This is a good thing. This is process. It may not make for an exciting blog post... but it's worth noting. Greenspan chaired the Fed since the late 1840's. While I never much paid attention, I don't recall his position ever being challenged. His carefully chosen words caused the Dow to rise or fall. His raising and dropping of interest rates toying with inflation and deflation at his whim. Where does that now leave Bernanke? Well, at last check the interest rate was at zero... so there's nowhere to go but up. As for his words, nobody believes nothing nobody says no more... so maybe it doesn't matter. Nevertheless, the fact that the Senate is seriously thinking about something that no one cares about (but should) is encouraging. It gives me hope. That a way, politicians. Not too shabby. USA! USA! USA!

New Post (I call myself a Blogger)

Wow... what a long absence, eh? Three or four weeks may not be all that extensive, but it feels that way. To my devoted readership I offer no apology or explanation, instead I offer the future of McBlogland. I'm back in gear (perhaps) with a vision for this forum. What I'd like to try is this: every day I take the top story/headline from some news source, summarize it (if necessary) and then offer up my take on it. I'll rotate sources to take me out of my comfort zone... this may require that I read something from People. I'm prepared to make that sacrifice, all for infotainment. Infotainment... sadly passed the spell-checker. I bet the French haven't allowed infotainemènt into their language. Alas. While it's not original to have an opinion I find that positions clearly articulated and thoughtful are in short supply (which is not to claim I will provide such, but I hope to). One can blame the talking heads (Rush, Olbermann, Hannity and to a lesser extent: Lauer, Couric and Walters). I have had my stomach turned by all of them to varying degrees. I believe the real problem is not the talking heads but the nodding heads. The nodding heads of America that take the bait and are reeled in to a thoughtless stupor. The nodding heads that look at an NBC News poll and don't really care what it says (or more often, does not say) and slobber in what their favorite pundit says it means. I like to think most people mean well, but I don't think they think well, if they think at all. We'll see how this works out. Tonight is just the introduction... I'll start in tomorrow. If anyone has any suggestions for source material, I'm all for it. Send it in privately or publicly, maybe I'll give you sponsorship rights to those blog entries. Maybe I don't really know what that means. Maybe I'm rusty with these words. Maybe the brown dog has sidled up to my hip and needs (not wants) to wrestle with me. Wrestle indeed. So we shall. A black dog whines and cries in the distance for no good reason. She wrestles with her demons and anxiety, I wrestle with the brown dog. Wrestle indeed.

Do Not Delete These Cookies

Christmas Cookie
Happy Frog-like Cookie
Basketball Cookies
Jackson Pollock Cookie
Steve Buscemi Cookie

Hee Haw and Merry Christmas!

Lazy on my part

Guaranteed enjoyment. I'll watch it again and again. I laughed. I cried. I cried again. Probably I should have known about this at some point over the last several years. Now I do and my life will never be the same.

Boom goes the dynamite.

I doubt I would do much better, but Sweet Sassy Molassy this is good.

The Unfortunate Adventures of Weenis McGee

In the span of a few short unsupervised moments, Mickey was able to start (and possibly complete) a new excavation project. The result is a hole 18" deep and about that wide located along the fence. Luckily it is on the edge of the yard or surely a broken leg for man or beast would soon follow. For now it is covered by a small wooden shipping pallet. China is a few paw scratches away... hopefully the barrier holds up. I give you... the hole.The hole prompted the camera going outside which prompted some fun outdoor picture taking. I give you... Weenis McGee.I give you the jumpingest dog... Mickey McFarland.I give you, emerging from the darkness... Wiener Boy.I give you the blurry image of alien K9.I give you... date stamping. Really need to get that turned off.
12/16/2009.