Blog Archives
Five Things for Thursday, 10/8
1. I have an awesome wife, whose depth of caring and empathy for people and animals surprises me and warms my heart every day. She is so full of love and giving that it can sometimes hurt her, especially when she sees or thinks about the abuse that people can wreak on each other and defenseless animals. She makes my heart swell with love when I hear about her stopping her car and helping turtles cross the road on the way to work, or checking on dogs that she passes regularly. She does all of these things because she can’t ignore them, and I am proud and full of love for her because of it. She humbles me, and I feel a little bad that I don’t have the same empathy for my fellow man that she does (I love animals, but people – bleh). But I figure if I can give her enough love and support to help her love and support the rest of the world, then it’s a job well done.
Five Things for Tuesday, 10/6
1. I don’t believe in the Broncos. Well, I believe they exist, unlike god, but I don’t believe they are very good. I firmly believe that the Patriots will shred them apart this weekend. The Josh McDaniels Offense is a joke – neither Brandon Marshall nor Eddie Royal can get involved in their games. I also think the Bengals are paper tigers (ba-dum-bum).
Five Things for Friday, October 2nd
1. Why is it that when you drive through a poor urban neighborhood, a busy downtown district, or a college campus, pedestrians have absolutely no problem with stepping out in front of your car at any time and fully expect you to stop? I have my own theory on the matter. The poor do it because they feel that they have very little power over the world at large, and so take advantage of what little power they can as often as they can, glaring down people in their cars like they own the street. Meanwhile, those brisk-walking tools with their briefcases are too important and busy to trouble with niceties like crosswalks and crossing signs. They don’t even look at the car that almost hits them. Finally, students do it because they truly believe that the world revolves around them, and so they just glance at the car if they notice it at all. The world could use a lot less of all of them.
Five Things for Wednesday, 9/30
1. I graduated last night! My wife and I have finished our regular therapy sessions, with a healthy and happy relationship with each other, each of us better and stronger and more forgiving of ourselves even as we recognize our faults. I am incredibly proud of both of us; the road was the most difficult one I have ever had to go down, and along the journey there were many times that I just didn’t want to face another day. With hard work, honesty, trust, and willingness to fully invest in the process, we have become a healthy and happy couple once more. I can’t give enough credit to our awesome therapist, and to each of us for sticking to what we said we would do. Yay us!
Five Things for Tuesday, September 29th
1. I’ve been lifting weights pretty diligently for the last 4 or 5 months, trying to add bulk and strength. I’ve done it off and on for the last couple of years, but I am more dedicated to it now than before, pushing myself harder. It’s a nice break in the workday (I lift at lunch at the gym we have at work) and helps me keep my Hulk-like rages at bay while dealing with the moronic requests that frequently come up. I’ve recently changed my workout after reading a Fitness Tip from Paul Becker. Instead of lifting heavy weights for low reps with a minute to 2-minute break between sets, I’ve started with a heavy weight, low rep set, rest for only 15-30 seconds, then lift a slightly lower weight to fatigue, and repeat. The workout goes faster, giving me more time to do things like crunches or push-ups (175 yesterday – highest ever!), and I really think it’s making a big difference. Not that anyone who would ever read this gives a rat’s ass. It’s my blog! Deal with it!
Five Things for Monday, September 28th
1. Being right doesn’t make it better. Losing to the goddamn Lions is a disgrace, even if it is inevitable. Jim Zorn might have been an OK offensive coordinator, maybe, but he’s a bad head coach. I don’t fault him for going for it on 4th down at the one, but taking a penalty on what would have been 4th down is stupid in every way. People are saying their season is over, but it ended last week against the Rams. They alienated the fanbase, put doubts in their heads, and the head coach is losing the team. Mike Shanahan or Jon Gruden? Bill Cowher? Who will be the ‘Skins coach in 2010? I predict Mike Shanahan.
Five Things for Thursday, September 24th
1. I write this blog for me. Two (or maybe 3) people know it exists and read it as regularly as I post. I like to use it as an exercise to force myself to write, and to get better at doing so. I check my dashboard stats frequently, even though there isn’t enough traffic to warrant it. The funny thing happens when I discover that more people have visited the site and read things than the 2 or 3 people could account for. It’s funny that, right now, a complete stranger could be reading this and forming judgements. Who are they? Since a comment is never left, I never have any idea what they think. It’s like having a conversation with 2 friends in a restaurant, and a random person comes by and listens to you articulate a thought, then turns around and walks away without saying a word. It’s not a bad thing, just an interesting thing. Hey, you person I don’t know! How are you? I hope you enjoyed it!
Five Things for Monday, Sept 21
1. What an annoying day. Woke up discombobulated and running late, hit horrible traffic due to running late, got to work and discovered that I didn’t have my garage or building pass. Did fantasy football scoring, discovering that people didn’t send me their roster updates, then tried to put in players they don’t even have. Had to explain for the 5th time in 2 days what is happening with a person’s 401(k) loan deduction to the person who transmits it, who keeps saying “OK” when I’m done explaining it only to ask me again later. Turns out that what I did was wrong because he didn’t catch it the first time through, and all the shit that I’ve done with it for the last month and a half was wrong because everyone has their heads up their asses. So a good Monday.
Five Things for Friday, September 18
1. I think the Redskins will win Sunday in an atypical fashion: by actually beating their opponent by more than ten points. Their largest margin of victory in 2008? 8 points, over the Lions. They have to beat the Rams, the team that derailed their season last year thanks to a Pete Kendall fumble. Yep, when the guard fumbles, it’s a problem.
Random Thoughts
I didn’t have enough on my mind on any single subject to do anything in depth, but I did want to at least post something this week. Here are some random thoughts on subjects that had occured to me this week.
Celebrity Deaths. I was saddened to hear about Farrah Fawcet’s death. Part of me knew it was inevitable, due to her condition, and yet it was still incredibly disheartening when it happened. Michael Jackson’s death, however, was just the opposite – strange and out of nowhere. It got me thinking, though, about celebrities, and especially music artists, who die early. Many of them are venerated far above where they had been in life, like Kurt Cobain, as if their death gave them the ability to be less suseptible to criticisms like how overrated their bands and sound were. With Jackson, I had the feeling that, if he could have known in advance how and when he would die, he might have chosen to die younger, before the child molestation scandals, before the pure-drenched weirdness that his life became. It’s a shame really, to fly so high and yet fall so low. But like someone said about Icarus, “at least he flew.”
Winter in Derenemyn 