Bitter Pill to Swallow

"Our country was founded on a distrust of government. Our founding fathers gave power to the people to keep an eye on government. So when politicians say, Trust me, they're actually being very un-American."

-- David Duchovny, Canadian actor, "X Files"

I'm having the sort of week where I want a refund from my place of employment for the piece of my soul that they took from me this week. The very essence of my being is slowly being sucked out my rectum and deposited in a little bottle of formaldehyde they keep near my desk. Any "work" based sanity I had has slowly been drained from me like the fat out of a liposuctioned body of an B-level celebrity desperately holding on to what is left of their 15 minutes. So all in all it's been an average week.

I stopped reading the newspaper and watching the news. I started this practice after I noticed that if I remove anything having to do with the Presidential election or Iraq hype from my viewing and reading regime, I get more done and I don't have to deal with reports about people being beheaded, bombed, maimed, attacked, killed, labeled, discredited, falsely accused, or politically pressured. It nice to see only two newspaper articles and the sports every day. Yes I live in a cloudy haze, but then again my attention is more on Mr A-Ren who has discovered that he enjoys rolling from his belly to his back and back again. (No weeble-wobble comments)

In good news land, I've scored a ticket to Morrissey at Radio City Music Hall. If anyone wants me to throw their phone numbers to him I'll gladly forward it on attached to a nice pair of panties to get his attention. Is it wrong to want him to play some Smiths songs? This was a topic of conversation at lunch today. Should a singer who is just as well known for songs he did with a group play any of said song at a concert where he is promoting his solo material? Can Jon Bon Jovi play "Wanted Dead or Alive" right after he finishes "Blaze of Glory"? Can Velvet Revolver play "Sweet Child O' Mine" or "Plush" after a good rendition of "I Go to Pieces"?
Even better question...Why in the world did I just reference Jon Bon Jovi as a relevant example of a musician in concert?

Ok I need some whiskey.


Latest Entertainment: Mystic River (DVD) and Monster (DVD) - I watched these two lovelies back to back on my Oscar Movie Saturday viewing. Mystic River made me think of a good Law and Order episode. Monster made me think of a Lifetime movie. Neither moved me very much.

Is This Me?

Xander: Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to anger. No, wait, hold on. Fear leads to hate, hate leads to the dark side. Hold on, no... First you get the women, then you get the money, then you... Okay, can we forget that?
Buffy: Thanks for the Dada-ist pep talk. I feel much more abstract now.

-Buffy the Vampire Slayer- Season 4 - The Freshman

You'll have to excuse the lack of any confirmation that I am still alive. Unfortunately as the world continues revolving, I have enter that state known only as "Beginning of School Year". I knew I entered this state when I started receiving 100 voice and e-mails everyday at work looking for help when it comes to where certain children should go for their special education instruction. It is so not worth the explanation... Quick summation. I get paperwork from people that says X child needs Y placement. I find Y placement at Z school. I call B Child Study Team member and tell them to send X child to Z school for Y placement and I follow it up with lovely form letter C. Now if a train leaves Chicago traveling at 55 miles an hour while a chicken lays eggs on the Brooklyn Bridge at 3 eggs every 2 hours, how long until my brain is scrambled and in New Mexico:

A. 1 day
B. 6 hours
C. 45 Degrees
D. The surface of the sun

Anyhoot.

I'm looking into absentee voting for this upcoming election. I'm going to be out of state and I'll be damned if my vote isn't going to be ignored like everyone else's. Is Spuds MacKenzie still a viable candidate? How about the lady on those bottles of St. Pauli's Girl beer? She looks like she knows politics. I'll just go with my first idea... Bicyclemark.

For those of you enjoying the mentions of my boy A-Ren (AKA Mr Wiggles), he is 4 months old today and currently is featuring two lovely front teeth that he enjoys jabbing into any fleshy piece of skin you present to him (my sincerest regrets to Jen who breastfeeds him).

Optruth continues to post some very interesting articles. Please give them a view and remember to hug a soldier when they come home. They have been through a horrible ordeal.

You'll have to excuse the randomness of my thought pattern. I'm suffering from work induced stress and I cannot focus on any one topic without feeling completely exhausted. I think I'll read this past Sunday's paper and see what is going on in the world.

*notices the icon for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic on his desktop*

Or maybe not.


Latest Entertainment: Star Wars:Knights of the Old Republic (PC) - Compared to me, Yoda was a nerf-herder.

Importance of Being Me

All change is a miracle to contemplate; but it is a miracle which is taking place every instant. - Henry David Thoreau


Mr. A-Ren has brought a lot of changes into my life. A change in schedule, alteration of responsibilities, added pressure, enormous joy, large sense of pride, elevated self-esteem, and a great feeling of self-worth. He has also given me reason to look back on my life and what I have accomplished so far, what I plan to accomplish, and what have I done to my life up to this point.

It's hard to explain to someone younger than you what happens to time as you grow older. When you are younger, or maybe looking through a younger person's eyes, each experience is so fresh and new. With a minimum of responsibilities, you are able to live in the moment and enjoys it as if no other will ever come. As you make major decisions in your life (career, life partner, children), and responsibilities mount, you find that time becomes an after thought. It's an item on your shopping list that isn't on sale so you just pass it by on that shelf of important items (just to the left of the Oreos and above the Ramen Noodles). Joyous moments of your life are replaced with the last 2 hour meeting you sat in. Plans to go take a walk and enjoy the outdoors take second seat to getting the oil changed in your car and getting the tires rotated. It's so disturbing how quickly you dismiss a book as a time waster and grab the remote to turn on the latest HBO movie based on the book you just pushed away.

As I watch the young Mr. Xander, now approaching the completion of his 4th month of life, it strikes me how quick time passes. Two months ago he was a small quivering being trying to understand the world around him. In two months he has learned to grab things with his hands (my wife's hair), stand up on your lap when you hold him (on my balls), cry when he's hungry (2 AM), and a variety of other little "tricks", as some people call them. To me they are all little miracles. This little being is becoming his own person right before me and with a speed I desperately wish he would slow. He is my constant reminder that I must take time to not only enjoy his life, but to love mine as well. So I'm making myself some deals. I will not stay late at work anymore. I will find my tennis racket and rediscover the game I enjoyed so much once. I will find moments where turning off the TV will lead to new discoveries and adventures with my wife and son. I will take pictures of anything that catches my eye so that I can look back and remember how those moments made me feel. I will tell my wife and son that I love them, not only with my words, but with my every deed and thought.

Hug someone today that you haven't hugged in a long time. Keep that feeling with you and watch the beauty of your life grow.

Today's Entertainment- MTV2 and Fuse - I need my music fix and at least these two stations still have music videos playing.