Personal news, commentary and ramblings

Aches & pains: sore neck and shoulders

Current reading: n/a

Recent listening: I’m With You, The Limeliters, Peaches, Philip Glass, The Social Network, Hoyt Axton, Burl Ives, Joan Baez, Peter Paul & Mary, Ricky Skaggs, The Great Adventures of Slick Rick

Recent viewing: Treme, Revolution, Lillyhammer, Burn Notice, Fringe, Grimm, The Walking Dead, Key & Peele, Sons of Anarchy, QI, Homeland

Recent playing: Letterpress, Words with Friends, Monsters Ate My Condo

Recently accomplished: finished refinancing mortgage

Imperative To Do: Doctor appointments, Troop 820 accounting

Yesterday my old boss shared this graphic on his Facebook wall:

Of course, the analogy is deliberately flawed to achieve the comic effect of calling Obama a “clown”. A more apt analogy would compare the president with McDonald’s CEO, Don Thompson. Does Mr. Thompson cook your burger when you visit McDonald’s? Of course not, but he is an important member of the team that produces all those burgers. The real question is whether Mr. Thompson deserves any credit (or blame) for your crappy McDonald’s burger?
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Aches & pains: left leg numbness and itching

Current reading: n/a

Recent listening: The Kingston Trio, Arlo Guthrie, They Might Be Giants, The Beach Boys, Rick Nelson, Frankie Vallie & the Four Seasons, Back To Mono, Live at the Apollo, Bach on Wood, Sublime

Recent viewing: Falling Skies, Homeland, Breaking Bad, Warehouse 13, 2012 Olympics

Recent playing: Plants vs. Zombies, Words with Friends, Monsters Ate My Condo

Recently accomplished: Mortgage refinancing, hair cut, the start of using the black castor oil, Crater Lake/Roseburg loop, Roundup weeds, mowed lawn

Imperative To Do: Vacuum, make doctor appointments, mail packages, turn compost, trim butterfly bushes, Troop 820 can recycling, refinish deck

A Facebook friend posted this to his pics awhile back:

Despite my friend’s protestations to the contrary, this image apparently makes the argument that an armed population is a safe population. More specifically, if considered within the context of the recent shootings in Colorado, it seemingly argues that the Aurora shooter would have fired fewer shots if that theater had more armed citizens at the movies that night.

I suppose that some might think that this image simply says that “guns prevent crime” or that “guns stop crime” but it goes beyond those assertions (with which, by the way, I would never argue). The inclusion of the word “crazy” is significant and tells us that the author is not speaking just of criminals but of people that are insane. Furthermore, the author also says that she is speaking of insane people who are armed – i.e. the kind that can “get off shots”. These two specific word choices strike a very specific chord in our psyche: vengeance.
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A friend of mine added this to his Facebook photos today:

My first reaction was to add this comment:

I’d rather see nobody drug-tested. Doesn’t that make more sense?

Then, since I remembered reading about Rick Scott’s program in Florida some time ago, I googled “florida drug testing welfare“. I skimmed two articles and added this comment:

BTW, Florida spent more money testing than they saved cutting benefits for those who tested positive. They also found that only 2.6% of those tested were drug users. Compared to Florida’s rate of 8.13% among the general population, it showed that welfare recipients actually use drugs less than everyone else.

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Aches & pains: none

Current reading: The Big Book of Basketball by Bill Simmons

Recent listening: Frank Zappa, Pink Floyd, Jane Siberry, Sam Cooke, Donovan, Nanci Griffith, John Frusciante, Deadmau5, Florence & the Machine, Earth, Wind & Fire

Recent viewing: Dexter, Twin Peaks, Anvil: The Story of Anvil, Winnebago Man, NFL Playoffs

Recent playing: DropZap, Words with Friends, Temple Run

Recently accomplished: Mowed lawn to remove most leaves, taxi service, Christmas tree recyling

Imperative To Do: Finish Neil Young “liner notes”, finish 2011 FY for Troop 820, clean office, pay bills, call DirecTV, Troop 820 can recycling

Aches & pains: unmentionable

Current reading: undecided

Recent listening: Ray Charles, Harry Belafonte, Bonnie Raitt, Glenn Gould’s Goldberg Variations, Allman Brothers Band, Country Joe and the Fish, Pictures from Life’s Other Side by Johnny Dowd, Forever Changes by Love

Recent viewing: Raising Hope, Community, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, 60 Minutes, Stargate SG-1, Sons of Anarchy, South Park, The Office, The Walking Dead

Recent playing: DropZap, Words with Friends, Bloons

Recently accomplished: Cleaned roof and gutters, outdoor winterization, iPhone LCD replacement, Christmas vacation planning, booked December work trip

Imperative To Do: Finish Neil Young “liner notes”, put away hoses, organize recent garage additions, finish Xbox repair, reassemble Graham’s computer, Christmas CD burning

Aches & pains: left foot arch and ankle

Current reading: Fahrenheit 451

Recent listening: Sufjan Stevens/Come on Feel The Illinoise!; Blood, Sweat and Tears; Frank Zappa; Ray Charles; Dinah Washington; Uncle Dave Macon; The Beatles/Anthology

Recent viewing: Breaking Bad, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Columbo, 200 Motels, True Confessions, Modern Family, Glee, Community, How I Met Your Mother, Sons of Anarchy, Wilfred

Recent playing: DropZap, Words with Friends

Recently accomplished: Replaced Scion stereo, lawn care, invites for 40th birthday party

Imperative To Do: Finish Neil Young “liner notes”, pickup new glasses, Troop 820 treasurer duties, 40th birthday party

September 3, 2011

Dear Lorell,

When I was a kid there were few things I liked more than going to my uncles’ farms. Being a “city slicker” (as my classmates often called me), the farm was a completely different world to me. When I visited my Uncle Merlin’s farm it was mostly about hanging out with my cousins who were close in age to me, but when I visited your farm, it was always about you and I spending time together. That is a gift that I will always treasure.

One time when I was there “helping” you, we tried to take a dent out of the local rat population. I’ll never forget when you lifted up a piece of plywood (or maybe it was corrugated tin) that was laying behind the big machine shed. The plywood was laying on a small pile of corn and when you lifted it, it revealed several rat “tunnels” and the rats inside them. I was surprised but you were not because you had a gun and started shooting the rats as they scurried away. Guns, rats, tunnels – everything about being on the farm was so cool.

You’ve always been there. You were at Grandma Christensen’s for all those Christmases with the toys in the bedrooms and the money in the envelopes. And you were at Grandma Ring’s for the oyster stew. I remember sitting in that little living room watching Vitas Gerulaitis play tennis and you laughing when I joked that his name sounded like a disease. Harold was there. And my dad. And Gene.

So many memories I have of you and so little time to tell you about them. You kept your golf cart in Grandma Ring’s garage. You drove that giant green Cadillac. You visited me at my first house in Portland. Remember? You got lost and I told you “find the first bridge you see and cross it.” I was so sad to spend what I thought would be our last birthday together three years ago but now I’m so glad that you have had three more years in this world. I’ve never had a birthday where I didn’t think of you. And I never will.

As I sit here with all these thoughts and memories swirling through my head, I’m desperately trying to figure out how to end this note to you in a meaningful way. I suppose that life mostly doesn’t come to an end in a dramatic or meaningful way so perhaps I should just end this by saying that I thank you for your many kindnesses towards me over the last (almost) 45 years and that I think you’ve been a good uncle and a fine man. I also thank you for my double cousins without whom my life would be lesser. I hope that you reach the end of your days peacefully and without regret. And I love you.

Mick

Aches & pains: left foot arch

Current reading: Fahrenheit 451

Recent listening: Harry Nilsson, Billy Holiday, Green Day, The Zombies, The Clash, Matisyahu, Concrete Blonde

Recent viewing: Warehouse 13, Real Time with Bill Maher, The Colbert Report, The Daily Show, Louie, Falling Skies, Leverage, Stargate SG-1, Columbo, The Benson Interruption, H.R. Punfnstuf, The God Who Wasn’t There

Recent playing: DropZap, Words with Friends, Mondo Solitaire

Recently accomplished: Bug fixing for new job, bug fixing for old job, lawn care

Imperative To Do: Clean garage, clean gutters, new shelves for stereo, bark dust, doctor appointments