Tuesday, 31 Oct 2006
Happy Holloween!
(10:45am) -- It's Halloween and we've got "Return of the Swamp Thing" as a theme for work today. One of my co-workers played 'Clyde' in the movie; in his honor we picked his one-and-only movie role to do the decorating thing.
Lots of fun today here.
BAD night of trivia last night
(10:50am) -- Played trivia at Crown & Anchor last night. Not so blog-worthy in itself, but this time was the first time with the "Free Spirits" over-40 group at my church, not the Young Professionals group.
We blew it. Big ... out of five teams we came in dead last. It was ugly. It all started when I was utterly convinced that the answer to "What book of the Bible consists *entirely* of law?" was "Deuteronomy" ... I blew 6 points on my certainty. Luckily nobody else knew that answer.
I recouped some measure of respect when I knew that the answer to "What football player was known as 'The Galloping Ghost'?" was "Red Grange."
Unfortunately, the sixth and final round was all sex related questions. Not always good to be a group of church-goers after all :)
Tuesday, 24 Oct 2006
On Politics
(9:00am) -- I was listening this morning to NPR, like I do every morning when I'm getting ready for work. Just to set this up, I should state that NPR likes to show both sides of an issue (or at least think they do), so often there are sparring/disagreeing parties talking about some topic of community importance -- either national or local as the case may be.
Today, though, one of the stories focused on the senate race in Pennsylvania between the incumbent Rick Santorum and ... well, I can't remember his name at the moment. Today they let the opposition candidate speak, and tomorrow they will let Mr. Santorum speak.
What leads me to talk about this now is the vitriol and hatred which the opposition candidate spewed out, attacking Mr. Santorum for his choices in supporting the Bush Administration. They guy was absolutely incensed. There was nothing controlled and logical about it; he merely directed all his energies toward attacking Mr. Santorum's character for "rubber stamping" W's decisions, toeing the party line, toadying up to the President, and more.
Now it's a fact that Mr. Santorum is Republican and a powerful member of the Senate; the challenger is, of course, a Democrat. You, honored reader, could infer that I am therefore a Republican supporter trying to denigrate and belittle the Democratic challenger. To assume such would be a grievous mistake.
I am not a Democrat, although I despise the Republican Party and all the mistakes W and Co. have made since 2000. (He didn't even win the election legitimately, but of course, I digress...) I am not a Republican either, although I am equally as unhappy with some of Clinton's decisions and the behavior of the Democratic Party in the 1990's.
No, I am neither Republican nor Democrat. I am Libertarian. I am a main-stream, centrist Libertarian who believes that the U.S. Government has gotten too large, too intrusive into Americans' personal lives, and too willing to trample civil rights in the name of National Security. There is too much government, whose overwhelming size and power is such that it leads to the combined abuses of the Democrats and the Republicans. Both parties divide up the "spoils of government" between themselves, and have lost sight of the founding fathers' principles of 'the common man.' They don't support or represent the common man - rather, the men and women who make up both parties enrich themselves while only paying lip service to the common, the poor, and the disenfranchised (by "disenfranchised" I mean not just voters, but all Americans who consider themselves on the fringe and disconnected from the body politic).
From my perspective, it's time for a third party to come in and start stirring things up. The Libertarian party is that party, and I intend to support it however I am able, now, and in the future. I intend to do my part to keep its centrist ideals intact and fully addressed. It's already begun, but the party is still small and not as influential as it could and should be. There's a long way to go. The consequences and possibilities are many, both positive and negative. A three-party system in the US Government could cause all sorts of problems. However, I believe that the benefits outweigh the negatives. The back-biting, insulting nature (emotional and intellectual!) of modern politics is an air-raid siren call to the Libertarian party - the party has to answer the call.
Peace, everyone -- and God Bless America!
Wednesday, 18 Oct 2006
Pop News in bite-size pieces:
(1:00pm) -- Not quite sure about this site yet, but it appears worthy of mentioning and possibly saving permanently :) ...
The Insanely Addictive PopSugar
For Real: On the Discovery Channel Site
(1:10pm) -- WOW!!!!
(9:00am Tue 10/24) -- Eh, big deal ... I checked it out - not quite as impressive as it could be. It's for kids, definitely.
Tuesday, 17 Oct 2006
Confucius added
(8:10am) -- OK - got the "Lun Yu" added over there to the left. The secrets of life are located therein :) ...
Now, you knew before looking there (or without looking there at all) that the sayings in that book are highly vague and difficult to understand. Which begs the question: why are the "secrets of life" so mysterious? Why is there no easy checklist that we can all use to confirm and prove that we're good people?
The answer: there needs to be an element of *faith* in all our lives; something we can't *see* but have to simply *accept* - that's the world/universe/dimension/plane-of-existence we live in. It's a basic human need (hardwired in us?) to believe in a higher power than ourselves. But then of course there's the atheists ... still good people. Again with the mystery!
Monday, 16 Oct 2006
(I added some new stuff below between 6 and 8pm....)
Radio Margaritaville
(7:50am) -- Cool! Look what I found: Radio Margaritaville on Sirius has its own website. I signed up for Jimmy Buffett's newsletter. I added it as a permanent link over there on the left.
Had a great weekend. Terrible news about the earthquake in Hawaii, though. And the death toll in Iraq is taking serious turns for the worse. Of course, the Dolphins and the Gators both lost this weekend, the Gators to Auburn and the Dolphins to the hated Jets, but neither one of those is as important as what's going on in the world....
Saturday night I skipped the first half of the Florida game to meet the "Free Spirits" group for tapas at Eclipse di Luna. Great place; I'd never been before. We had a good time but the live salsa music was too loud for us to really talk. I enjoyed it though anyway.
Confucius' teachings
(6:30pm) - I was learning a little bit about China and North Korea when I came across a book of Confucius' sayings online. I read the first two books ... I'm also adding it to My Links too ... hmm - can't right now tho ... something with the editor is acting screwy.
"The secret letter from Iraq"
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1543658,00.html
Every American needs to read that letter.
Didn't you hear me? Get crackin' ... quit reading *me* and click that link.
:)
Dolphins attacking Iraq...? Nah!
Tacked on as a tagline to a humor column I subscribe to:
"Elsewhere, a South African scientist said that dolphins are far less intelligent than originally thought, but added that they still would not have invaded Iraq." --(http://www.borowitzreport.com/)
Thursday, 12 Oct 2006
Dream Dinners
Tonight at 7pm I'm going for my first full session of Dream Dinners meal construction. I'll be putting together 48 servings (wow - but that's the minimum) and I plan on sharing a couple with my cousin Stephanie. Looking forward to it.
Here's what's on the menu :)
- Steak Gorgonzola
- Chicken Mirabella
- Chicken (lemon artichoke sauce)
- Oven-Baked Almond Chicken
- Herb-Crusted Flank Steak
- Seafood Cioppino Stew
- Pork Chops w/sweet Ginger & Apples
- Shrimp/Sausage Jambalaya
Holy Spirit "Free Spirits"
I joined a new social group at my church ... the "Free Spirits" is a singles group for folks in their 40s and 50s. I consider us the "tweeners" between the Young Professionals and the Spirited Older Seniors (SOS - for singles over 60). First function was last month -- had a great time but I had to leave early to watch the Gators pull out that squeaker vs. Tennessee.
I'll be at a place called Eclipse di Luna this Saturday. Will have to watch the Gators there. Not a problem, though, a real nice gal named Debbie tells me she's looking forward to watching it too - she's one of the organizers of the group and swears she'll have a TV near us so I can check on it occasionally ...
"I hereby swear and affirm not to ignore the other folks at the table."
(Amen)
Monday, 9 Oct 2006
Back from vacation... (a very long post)
(11:45am) - Yet again it's a beautiful day out ... but that's not what I'm talking about today.
I went with my parents to Alexandria, VA to tour as much of the museums up there as we could. We didn't have a hard and fast schedule, rather, we got a general outline of what we wanted to do. Actually, what I wanted to do, because this was my first visit as an adult to Washington, DC. (I may have mentioned before that I went in sixth grade a few times.)
Here's what I did:
Saturday (and Sunday): drove up to my parents' place in Belmont, NC in the afternoon. Spent the whole trip listening to the audiobook The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. It's a fantastic book. Gripping and exciting if you like Dracula stories! Spent the rest of the weekend hanging out with Pete, Pete, Jr. (my stepbrother), Joanne (Pete, Jr.'s wife), Connor (Pete & Joanne's 4 yr old son) and Becca, Katie, and Tommy.
Here's what my folks and I did:
Monday: DRIVE up to DC (took 6 hours). Listened to more of The Historian. After about three hours, through a cassette adapter to the stereo, we all listened to some George Carlin (When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?) on the iPod. Profane, but very funny. More political than just humorous, I think! We took Mom's Honda Pilot.
Tuesday: I slept in, then at 12pm we caught the Metro and saw the Air & Space Museum and the Archives. Spent the evening with Betsy, Clifford, Emily, and Heather. (I don't think there's much hope for me and Heather; I'm just too familiar to her....but I digress.)
Wednesday: Slept in again. About 1pm went to the Holocaust Museum. Got in about 1:45pm and spent the entire rest of the day.
One word: <shudder>.
We had dinner at a small hole-in-the-wall place called Via Veneto. It's well known but small and intimate. It was delicious. I had linguine with a red clam sauce after we split fried zucchini strips and fried mozzarella. Delicioso!! Spent the rest of the night just lounging around chatting and drinking with Betsy & Cliff again, and watched The Manchurian Candidate (2004 remake). Fantastic and very timely movie.
Thursday: Slept in (see the pattern?). About 1pm again we went to the National Museum of the American Indian. Absolutely adored it. Betsy got us a "privileged" tour by a woman named Sharyl who is Navajo/Cherokee (I think?). She was very very cute; unfortunately also married.
I could go on forever. Bought some souvenirs and a membership to the museum.
After the museum, we went to Cliff's office at 16th and K streets. He's a high-powered lawyer in the mutual funds field. Listed in Who's Who and all that rot. Very skilled and very reputable. His office showed it. The place was very stark, all white, and clinical. Not a bit of wood panelling found on a single wall anywhere :).
After a quick tour of his building, Cliff & Betsy took us to a five-star restaurant called "The Prime Rib." It was completely intimidating in every respect. The place has been there since 1948, I think they said, and is absolutely top-of-the-line. "Jacket and tie required," and they provide the jackets & ties if you need either or both (!). Food was top-tier too. I had a dish called "Steak au Poivre" which was a 12 ouncer with peppercorn butter and a special sauce which I can't recall at the moment.
For desert I had "Peanut Butter Mousse" (and our waiter brought me a special side order of hot fudge to go with it). It was generally decided that it was delicious. My mom got creme brulee which was equally well-done. (For those prices it better be!)
:)
Evidently, Cliff said, a lot of the big-time power brokers in the House and Senate eat there quite a bit. That added to the intimidation factor. But all in all it was fun, delicious, and a good chance to live like the other half live !!
We spent the rest of the short night chatting and drinking again at Betsy & Cliff's. Ominously, it started to *rain* during dinner.
Friday: Got up early because it was going to be a "catchup" day where we caught all the war and presidential memorials ... but it RAINED ALL DAY ... doh ... and I didn't even sleep in!
Left the house about 12pm again, and did the whirlwind 'rainy day' tour of some inside stuff we wouldn't have seen had it been sunny: the International Spy Museum, Ford's Theater & the house where Lincoln died, and finally the American Portrait Gallery.
Spent the rest of the night eating BBQ at Betsy & Cliff's and this time high-powered-lawyer-to-be Brian (Cliff's son) and his wife Lori were there. They also brought their kids: Wesley (7 yrs old), Catelyn (sp?) (5 yrs), and Hayley (1 yr). It was a late, late night cuz we knew Saturday we'd be leaving. .... *sigh*
Saturday: Slept in again (making it a five day perfect sweep not leaving the house before noon) and packed/loaded the car. We said our goodbyes ... not too tearfully, since we'll be back again in May ... and hit the road. Got back to my folks' place about 8:30pm (Spent a good hour or more at a "Cracker Barrel." Mom likes shopping there ;) ...)
That night we watched The Constant Gardner. Very good movie, but very intricate. You gotta pay attention to the plot.
Sunday: Installed my Sirius satellite radio! Thanks to Pete for his invaluable help routing the antenna cable down the windshield rubber, and into the driver's side door to the radio. It's working perfectly and I subscribed lifetime rather than the monthly fee.
After that I got caught up on all my email. While doing that I listened to the Dolphins/Patriots game via NFL.com. Afterwards I watched a good chunk of the Talladega NASCAR race. Becca and James came by to pick up Mom and Pete (they had tickets to Bill Cosby) and I left about 5:30pm for Atlanta. Spent the trip listening first to the Kansas City/Arizona NFL game on Sirius, then the end of the Dallas/Philly game, and finally switched off Sirius for more of The Historianon the iPod. Still not done with that book ... got about three more hours to go ... it's getting really creepy too.
I got home about 9:30pm and while watching the end of the Pittsburgh/San Diego NFL game I did laundry which I didn't quite finish and sorted through all my mail.
Post-vacation letdown
... I really don't feel it. It was a very fulfilling trip personally, reconnecting not only with Betsy and Clifford for a week, but also with American History. It felt very good refreshing those old history lessons....!
The trip provided a good conclusion to my summer. I hope Becca and James will forgive me for not spending more time with them. I'll be back up there for the weekend of Oct 28th to celebrate some Halloween a little early, and help my parents pack for their move back to Miami for the winter.
The words of the 'Dead come to me now: "...what a long, strange trip it's been...!" Only, strange in a very, very good way. My life has gotten so much better having had this summer's experiences added to it!
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Sunday, 1 October 2006
... 2:45pm ...
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Listening to:
- Banquet 400 NASCAR race ... Jimmy Johnson is leading at lab 27. Martin is 13th while Harvick is 32nd after Ryan Newman spun out and sent him into the frontstretch grass.
Random Fact:
- Heard 5 shotgun blasts this morning. We're guessing it's some of my parents neighbors getting ready for hunting.
Beautiful day today...
(2:45pm) - I've started every post this week the same way :) It's now 75 degrees and the lake is beautiful. I'm in Belmont, NC at my folks' lake house. We're going swimming later and tomorrow driving up to DC for the museum trip.
St. Vincent de Paul
(3:00pm) - A catch-up post here: I emailed Kate a few times, Paula, and Felix to get them up to speed on my vacation and the Christmas Angel program. I'm disappointed that nobody has volunteered to help us from the Young Professionals group; I can correct that by personally tapping some folks to help out with the data entry and printing labels for envelopes.
It's preparatory for the stuffing party where we put together envelopes that contain a wish list and instructions sheet, with some gift package labels and a sticker on the outside containing info about the person inside the envelope.
Our parishioners pick envelopes for individuals in the program and buy Christmas gifts totalling $75 or so for that individual. Multiply that by well over 600 individuals and you get an idea of the scope of Christmas Angel.