Horse Manure Park

It all started a couple of days ago when I read an article speculating coffee prices were going to skyrocket in the coming months (there are a number of reasons for this price hike, but for the sake of humanity, I won't go there). While the article did not predict how high the prices would soar, the author used the word "significant." Since then, I've been thinking about something and I suppose I'm little morbid for even broaching this squeamish thought. Like everyone else, I'm a creature of habit. And one of the worst the worst habit I have is drinking coffee. Actually, let's call it what it is: an addiction. I've said to the Speaker of the House more than once that if I was forced to make a choice, I would stop imbibing in my favorite barley and hops beverage  for life before I would cease my coffee intake. It is something I simply can't live without. But how much am I willing to pay for this bean of the gods? And how much money woul...

I'm attempting to make a few changes today, because I know when there's too much on my plate. I am speaking in figurative terms here. I never seem to know when there's literally too much on my plate. I eat everything within my ZIP code (figuratively). Especially pastries. I love me some pastries. But let me get back to my original thought... whatever that was. I shouldn't have mentioned doughnuts. Oh yeah, I was talking about changes.... Today I opted not to renew the domain name for my football web site (thelonepylon.com). It was a difficult decision, but this is about knowing one's limits: there are not enough minutes in the day for me to keep a fantasy football site up-to-date with accurate and timely information. The problem is this: I am gainfully employed, I have a couple of tax deductions, and occasionally I try to be a reasonably adequate husband. (You know, minor details.) This means something's got to give. And why pay money for a d...

At 4:21 PM on Wednesday I officially became closer to 50 than 40.  But I still feel the same.  So far, I've been blessed with reasonably good health and I'm still pretty much psychologically sound. Age is just a number.  A shitty, dirty, no-good number. Yes, it was a watershed week. We got all kinds of things accomplished this week, including yard work, splitting wood, winterizing the house and - oh, yeah - installing a new furnace.  Well, I didn't install it, but it was installed nevertheless. So, no Valley Forge this winter.  I was kind of looking forward to it. We also moved into a new storage unit this past week.  While doing so, the Speaker of the House and I decided to bring some of our old high school/elementary stuff home and weed through it.  The idea was to throw a lot of it away.  I mean, who keeps this stuff ? I ended up going through all of it and not throwing a solitary thing away.  I just didn't have the heart. On...

No one ever seems to have a problem when you say you need to "vent." "You go, girl!" they say (if you're female).  They say venting is a healthy.  They say it's good for your blood pressure and your immune system. Everybody should vent, they say. The dictionary definition of "venting" is: To express one's opinions or feelings, especially forcefully. Odd, because it sounds perilously similar to "complaining," which is defined as: To express feelings of pain, displeasure or resentment. Nobody likes a complainer, so I will take this moment to be a venter. Warning: my vents have been known to turn into rants, which is an altogether different animal. ~ Most of you know I am repulsed by WalMart and I frequent the place only in moments of despair. Yet every time I go there, I end up with awesome writing material; WalMart never fails to deliver the goods -- something that just drives me over the edge. A recent adventure ...

Yesterday was just a little less bright after learning of the passing of Maya Angelou.  As I posted on Facebook yesterday, she went to heaven because God needed a consultant.  She may have been the wisest woman to ever walk the planet. One of my passions is reading and I honestly have Ms. Angelou to thank for that.  If it wasn't for her, I don't think I would have ever made it past D.C. Comics. Sgt. Rock was an old favorite of mine.  Once upon a time, a long, long time ago. Like everyone else, my introduction to literature was in high school.  We read novels such as The Great Gatsby and The Grapes of Wrath , and while these are great works of literature, they are poor choices to get young people interested in reading. By the time I made it to college, my feelings toward reading were ambivalent: I would read if I had to, but why would I choose to?  It was boring.  Mind-numbing, even. But I was about to encounter a life-changing experience....

If there is one thing I do not like, it is arrogance.  I cannot stand cocky, conceited jerks.  A little humility goes a long way in the book of That Damn Sam. And with that thought, I suddenly really, really hope the Seahawks do not win the Super Bowl, just so this moron regrets this tattoo for the rest of his life.  [This is via KOMO News in Seattle.  It is not fake or Photoshopped.] This is what it looks like when an arrogant jackass gets a tattoo.

IF PLASTIC IS MADE OF PETROLEUM AND PETROLEUM IS A FOSSIL FUEL... THEN PLASTIC TOY DINOSAURS ARE ACTUALLY MADE OF REAL DINOSAURS.  RIGHT?

Neil woke me up again at 3:40 AM (the kid has an internal alarm clock).  He quietly pads into our room and flops on top of me every night/morning at the same time.  He is freezing cold, so I am thinking he wakes up because of that reason. I put him back to bed right away, tuck him in and he falls asleep very quickly. But I am not blessed with the ability to easily fall back asleep once I wake up.  In fact, once I'm up, I'm usually up for the day. So I started writing this entry this morning complaining about my lack of sleep.  But I found myself hitting the delete key.  Some times you've got to look at things differently. So here I sit on my couch on this chilly late-October morning trying to change my crappy attitude.  I've brewed a pot of strong really strong so-strong-it-is-illegal-in-the-State-of-California coffee (which will do wonders in changing said attitude).  The house is quietly sleeping.  And I'm finding some time to write. ...

Can you mag ne what l fe would be l ke w thout the letter " "?  t would be k nd of we rd, wouldn't  t?

Blog.  Silly name, eh?  A contraction of "web" (as in world wide web) and "log" (as in a diary or journal of events).  Put it together and what have you got? Bibbidi-bobbidi- "Blog." Right now I am at an all-time low for blog entries.  I've only logged 68 entries since the beginning of the year.  I am determined to blog more often and fill these fake digital pages from now through the end of the year, just like an unforgiving Tolstoy novel.  Blog, blog and blog some more, I say!  All I gotta do is write.  Right? It may seem like a snap, but a couple of key things are involved in writing a blog: Time and inspiration. First, you gotta have time to sit and write.  This also includes time to gather your thoughts.  It used to be pretty easy for me.  Now, it is often impossible.  I keep having this delusion that once the children are tucked in their beds, I can relax with a drink and write for a while (because I love to dri...

It was a rainy day yesterday, so I decided to catch up on some low-priority tasks, such as updating my iTunes with some old songs from my CD collection. It turned out to be a very interesting day of reflection for me. In mid-1994 I bought Counting Crows' album "August and Everything After." It remains one of my favorites, but one song in particular really moves me, even to this day.  Actually, it helped change my life.  You see, music does that to me. A little background: 1994 was a blur to me. I was going through a very tough time. I was 24 years old, had a worthless (so it seemed) bachelor's degree and suddenly I found myself going through a divorce, which totally blindsided me. My life was a screwed up mess.  I had no direction.   Life had no meaning.  I was angry.  I was lost.  It would have been easy to give up. I sure as hell wasn't interested in women. I tried dating, but I hated it. Women were nothing but trouble, anyway. The...

Experiencing a bit of Murphy's Law right now.  Nothing going on this morning and the perfect opportunity to sleep in.  Went to bed relatively early and my son decides this is not a good night to sleep.  Awake at 1:30.  Let him cry and cry.  Finally back to sleep by 2:00 AM.  Awake again at 4:30; this time he only cries for about five minutes and right back to sleep... Except now I'm wide awake. I don't think that boy has ever slept through the night.  Not sure what we've done wrong.  Ava didn't have this problem. So I laid in bed until 5:00 AM and now I'm up and at 'em.  Sort of.  Three more hours of sleep would have been wonderful.  I'm afraid it's going to be a long day. On the positive side, my sore throat seems to have finally exited the building.  It lasted three weeks.  It seems almost strange to swallow and not experience pain.  But I can live with it. I've reserved today to go birthday shopping for m...

There's really nothing interesting to say, but I'll post anyway.  Everyone in the house was asleep by 7:55 PM.  That makes for a very long evening to sit here alone, so I might as well write a little something.  Just sitting here enjoying a Liberty Ale (by the San Francisco Brewing Company) and trying to stay entertained by college basketball, although it fails to do a whole lot for me unless it is March Madness.  I've decided that it must be a requirement to have no less than 22 tattoos in order to play college basketball.  I guess it is a form of self expression, but there a lot of things I felt strongly about when I was 19 or 20 -- things I would have gotten a tattoo for -- that do not seem the least bit important anymore. The owls were back late this afternoon, both perched in a tree in our backyard and hooting like crazy, although it was too dark to take pictures this time.  They didn't stay long before flying off through the trees.  I don't s...

Had a pleasant surprise last night... got a call around 9:15 PM asking if I wanted to stay home on call.  Of course I do!  I was sure I would get called in at some point during the night, but the phone never rang.  Either that, or I never heard it ring.  Oops..... Beth and I watched the Academy Awards on Sunday.  For the second year in a row the winner of "Best Picture" was a film I had never heard of.  Last year, I think, was "Slumdog Millionaire."  This year it was "The Hurt Locker."  Never heard of it. In fact, many of the nominees for the acting awards were totally unknown to me.  Several winners were unknown as well.  Mo'Nique won for Best Support Actress.  Christoph Waltz won for Best Supporting Actor.  Not saying these folks are not brilliant at what they do, just saying I never watch movies anymore -- at least not new movies.  I've often got Turner Classic Movies or Fox Movie Classics on the tube.  ...

Tired.... sick kid.....  ridiculously busy at work....  full moon........ did I mention tired?.....  bitterly cold outside.... will this weekend ever end? Somewhere, there's a case of beer with my name on it.

It's a blue moon on New Year's Eve. Wonder how many times that has happened? I suppose once in a blue moon. Happy New Year to everyone.  Goin' to work now.

"I will be taking an indefinite break from professional golf. My pecker seems to be getting in the way of everything."

I posted this on my Facebook page, but it is worth pondering here... John Lennon was murdered 29 years ago tonight in New York City.  On this night, I am the same age as Lennon was the night he died.  He turned 40 on October 9th, 1980 and died December 8th at the age of 40 years, 55 days.  I turned 40 years old on October 8th and I am 40 years and 56 days old tonight, December 8th. Weird.  And a little disturbing. The world lost one of the greatest musicians of all time that night because of one horribly disturbed individual.  As Elton John said, "It's funny how one insect can damage so much grain." Here is the most powerful song ever written by Elton John, in memory of his friend, John Lennon, who was taken from us far too soon on this night in 1980.  

Without going into details... If you are collecting disability benefits and you are admitted to an ICU because you are high on meth, hallucinating and a danger to yourself and others -- shouldn't your eligibility for collecting disability be immediately revoked? It really pisses me off that you and I are paying for someone else's meth habit. It should really piss you off too.

Is the weekend over yet? Blah. It's cold and we now have a dusting of snow.  It feels like winter and sort of resembles it, too. How many days till Spring?